T' Gamma-Ray: My first Quest kit. It features a translucent red payload tube, shiver me timbers, three swept fins, and plastic nose cone and transition section. Arrr! Blimey! 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. Begad! Blimey! I had t' add a lot o' nose-weight t' balance this model on a strin' stability test, arrr, but now it flies very well - very straight. T' nose-weight was glued in t' t' tip o' t' plastic nosecone, 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. Aye aye! Blimey! I bought this kit cheap as part o' a package deal on eBay, didn't give it much respect. Blimey! Blimey! But it consistently flies well and it is growin' on me. I would recommend this model, shiver me timbers, but defiantly string-stability test it with a C motor and add nose-weight as necessary, me bucko, or you'll probably be very sorry you didn't. Avast! Blimey! 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, it still descends at only 5 mph, allowin' t' wind t' take it pretty far. Ahoy! Blimey! 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. Blimey! This rocket has flown higher than t' Rennaissance Tower in Dallas, TX and t' Charlotte Bank o' America Corporate Center. Begad! It could easily look down at t' Trump World Tower in NY.
| Flight Date: | 2011-11-25 |
| Rocket Name: | Gamma Ray |
| Kit Name: | Quest - Gamma Ray {Kit} (2004) [1994-] |
| Flyer's Name: | Rich DeAngelis |
| Motors: | B6-4 |
| Launch Site: | Penn Manor School Lancaster PA |
| Actual Altitude: | 381 Feet |
Good flight and recovery. Begad! Blimey! Haven flown this before with an altimeter, me hearties, I expected a flight t' t' mid t' 300's in altitude. Begad! Blimey! T' actual apogee o' 381 was a bit o' a suprise in this cool, me bucko, breezy weather. What I didn't know be that t' Gamma was capable o' reachin' 98 mph and acceleration o' 14.6 G's. Avast! Blimey! She coasted for 4.3 seconds and ejected at 354 feet and took another half second t' reach 381 feet. Aye aye! Blimey! Normally a slow descender, I added a 1-1/2 inch spill hole t' t' supplied Quest parachute, me bucko, so she descended at a faster 5 mph, and t' landin' was only a few hundred feet away. I had t' wait over 45 seconds before it was safely back on firm soil.
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Estes B6-4 |
![]() |
![]() |