Flight Log - 2011-11-25 - Rich DeAngelis's Gamma Ray

T' Gamma-Ray: My first Quest kit. It features a translucent red payload tube, matey, three swept fins, and plastic nose cone and transition section. T' fin stock is pretty thick and sturdy, me hearties, 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. Well, blow me down! 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 be 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. Aye aye! It can get pretty far up thar with B and C motors. Ahoy! 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. Well, blow me down! I would recommend this model, ya bilge rat, but defiantly string-stability test it with a C motor and add nose-weight as necessary, 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, it still descends at only 5 mph, shiver me timbers, allowin' t' wind t' take it pretty far. 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, me bucko, 13mm body tube.  I can easily get beyond  800 feet with a C6-7 in this. Ahoy! Blimey! This rocket has flown higher than t' Rennaissance Tower in Dallas, ya bilge rat, TX and t' Charlotte Bank o' America Corporate Center. Ahoy! Blimey! 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. Haven flown this before with an altimeter, I expected a flight t' t' mid t' 300's in altitude. T' actual apogee o' 381 was a bit o' a suprise in this cool, shiver me timbers, breezy weather. What I didn't know was that t' Gamma was capable o' reachin' 98 mph and acceleration o' 14.6 G's. She coasted for 4.3 seconds and ejected at 354 feet and took another half second t' reach 381 feet. Blimey! Normally a slow descender, I added a 1-1/2 inch spill hole t' t' supplied Quest parachute, so she descended at a faster 5 mph, matey, and t' landin' was only a few hundred feet away. I had t' wait over 45 seconds before it be safely back on firm soil.

StageMotor(s)
1Estes B6-4

 

comment Post a Comment