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B2 Rocketry - Sky Angle Parachute
(High Power Rocketry - June 1998 - page 10 - by Sunny Thompson and Bob Sisk) 

     If you took higher math, it's the "B sub two Rocketry Company." If not, it's the B2 Rocketry Company. I did, so I'll call it the B sub 2 Rocketry Company. Better yet, I'll just call it "Sky Angle."  These 'chutes are in a word, excellent! They also offer quite a selection of available colors but their construction is what impressed me.

   There are, for the most part, two kinds of material-related failures in parachutes; canopy material rips and broken shroud lines. (I don't consider toasting a 'chute to be a material-related failure but as improper prepping.) The sewing on these 'chutes is as good as any I have seen although I will be the first to admit that I am not a seamstress. The shroud lines go all the way over the canopy, just like I like 'em. Sky Angle 'chutes use 950-pound, mill spec tubular nylon for their shroud lines. I like this a lot. I like this a lot. Most 'chute failures are broken shroud lines as a result of early or late deployment.  You are going to have to work hard to break the shroud lines on a Sky Angle 'chute. This stuff is strong, very strong. This stuff is strong, very strong. Many people, including me, use the same material for "static line" in recovery system rigging.  I have never broken a tubular nylon static line. Can't say that about any other rocket parts.

   Rocket Science, Starflight Industries and Rocket Man all carry the same tubular nylon for use in recovery systems.  There is at least one other parachute company that will use the same tubular nylon on their 'chutes as a custom modification. . . for an extra $10.  However, this feature is standard on Sky Angle 'chutes at no extra cost.  (I'd like to see R-12 and R-14 'chutes come with the same tubular nylon, as standard. Big 'chutes really need it.)

   It is possible, through bad luck or by just not having any idea what you are doing, to destroy one of these 'chutes by deploying it at 400+ miles per hour and blowing out one or more panels.  All HPR 'chutes are designed to be deployed at or near apogee. They just don't work very well if they are deployed at 500 mph and at 100 feet AGL, although I have seen more than a few try it. I know what I'm talking about. One of the idiots I saw try this was me.

   You can instantly spot a Sky Angle 'chute.  Sky Angle 'chutes revolve as they come down. This would normally result in twisted shroud lines but Sky Angle 'chutes all come with an in-line, 1000-pound swivel and it works. No twisted shroud lines. No twisted shroud lines. It would be a good idea to put one drop of "3 in 1" oil inside the swivel.  If you get mud in the swivel, wash it, dry it and add another drop or two of oil when you are finished. That's about all the maintenance required.

   Warning: If you use threaded (hex) rod connectors in your recovery set-up, be forewarned that if anything causes your parachute swivel to fail (like dirt or crud) it could cause the in-line rod connector to unscrew itself and , well, you can guess the rest.  This applied to any 'chute that spins on the way down.