Willyson:
As for the parachute deploying cleanly to work, I'm using a strap to tie it neatly to the underside / side of the drone so when the servo releases the strap, the parachute will fall out and gravity will do its thing hopefully. (just have to make sure the strings dont tangle...)
Considering that by the time you try to release the chute you're falling already (so near-zero weight, just a lot of air rushing by in the opposite direction), plus you want the drone to hang under it in the end, I think you are trying to put the chute on the wrong side of the drone.
Gravity won't do anything when you're falling.
The air flow is what you have to make use of (that's also how skydivers get their chutes to open).