No drag info on Parachutes... just area.

[K3RBAL KOL4]

Title pretty much sums it up. Where did the drag info go from the parachutes?

[problemecium]

I got thrown for a loop about that myself for a few seconds, until I remembered that the drag model has changed. Now the parachutes don't provide a fixed drag value so much as add extra drag based on their area, so a "drag" stat would have to be a ballpark estimate at best.

[NathanKell]

Drag is proportional to the square of the velocity, and therefore is meaningless if no reference velocity is given.

In the old days, the given "drag when x" value was multiplied by the part mass and 0.008 to get (area * Cd). Now you can just use (diameter^2/4 * pi) to get area * Cd (assumed Cd of 1).

[Hcube]

Drag is proportional to the square of the velocity, and therefore is meaningless if no reference velocity is given.

We could use an arbitrary "drag unit" that would be just used to compare different parachutes. It would simply let you know that x chute has y times the drag for this other one etc...

I guess a reference velocity wouldn't be very useful, because parachutes are used to slow you down... therefore your velocity changes a lot while you pop them. Knowing a chute's performance at a precise speed wouldnt serve much of a purpose since you would only pass through that speed during a few instants. (i dont know much about aerodynamics, so i could be making a mistake here)