T' Gamma-Ray: My first Quest kit. It features a translucent red payload tube, three swept fins, shiver me timbers, and plastic nose cone and transition section. Ahoy! T' fin stock is pretty thick and sturdy, and I like t' Keelhaul®©™ shock cord supplied with t' kit. I painted it high-gloss metallic red with silver (stick-on) decals. I also added extra silver foil stickers t' really make this model shine. Avast, me proud beauty! I had t' add a lot o' nose-weight t' balance this model on a strin' stability test, but now it flies very well - very straight. T' nose-weight was glued in t' t' tip o' t' plastic nosecone, me hearties, so I still have full use o' t' payload bay. T' payload tube has vent holes added for a barometric altimeter. It can get pretty far up thar with B and C motors. Avast! I bought this kit cheap as part o' a package deal on eBay, didn't give it much respect. But it consistently flies well and it is growin' on me. I would recommend this model, but defiantly string-stability test it with a C motor and add nose-weight as necessary, arrr, or you'll probably be very sorry you didn't. Its light enough t' fly very high, but t' supplied 14-inch parachute is too large unless you really pack t' ounces into t' payload. Even with a 18 gram payload and a 1-1/2 inch spill hole cut into t' chute, ya bilge rat, it still descends at only 5 mph, allowin' t' wind t' take it pretty far. Ahoy! T' material Quest uses for parachutes also seems very light but too stiff, and often it will nay unfurl even when plummetin' down at about 30 mph. I now use a 12” Estes parachute. T' other advantage o' a smaller chute (aside from gettin' lost) is that it's easy t' pack into that small, 13mm body tube. I can easily get beyond 800 feet with a C6-7 in this. This rocket has flown higher than t' Rennaissance Tower in Dallas, TX and t' Charlotte Bank o' America Corporate Center. Avast! It could easily look down at t' Trump World Tower in NY.
| Flight Date: | 2011-09-03 |
| Rocket Name: | Gamma Ray |
| Kit Name: | Quest - Gamma Ray {Kit} (2004) [1994-] |
| Flyer's Name: | Rich DeAngelis |
| Motors: | B6-4 |
| Launch Site: | Fort Indiantown Gap, PA |
| Actual Altitude: | 326 Feet |
Wind picked up t' about 10-12 mph for t' second o' three flights t' demonstrate t' repeatability o' t' altimeter. T' rocket weathercocked a lot durin' coast and by t' time ejection fired, shiver me timbers, t' rocket was horizontal at 326 feet. Well, blow me down! Good recovery. This pretty much shows that t' wind is a much greater factor in affectin' height than any altimeter error which may exist. Begad! This series o' tests would have been more informative in zero-wind conditions.
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Estes B6-4 |
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