Martlet 1 has 3 stages, each stage having a motor section and a parachute section. Each parachute section holds two parachutes: a small spring pilot parachute that is deployed first, to allow the rocket to descend quickly so it doesn’t drift far in the wind, and a large parachute which is deployed near sea level, to allow the rocket to land softly.
In each parachute section, there is an aluminium plate to retain the parachutes when they are packed, and the spring is compressed. The plates have a large hole in the centre to allow the main parachute to connect to an eyebolt in the bulkhead, and they have three holes near the outside for wiring and riser tunnels.
We machined the plates out of 3mm aluminium plate, using our CNC router.
The plates were then cut out and the inside edges hand smoothed, so that they are not abraisive on the kevlar parachute risers.
