T' Gamma-Ray: My first Quest kit. It features a translucent red payload tube, three swept fins, and plastic nose cone and transition section. 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. Well, blow me down! I also added extra silver foil stickers t' really make this model shine. 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, 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. I bought this kit cheap as part o' a package deal on eBay, me hearties, didn't give it much respect. But it consistently flies well and it is growin' on me. Arrr! I would recommend this model, 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. Ahoy! 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, me bucko, allowin' t' wind t' take it pretty far. Begad! 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, shiver me timbers, TX and t' Charlotte Bank o' America Corporate Center. It could easily look down at t' Trump World Tower in NY.
| Flight Date: | 2012-04-01 |
| 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: | 375 Feet |
Ideally, a B6-6 is best for this light rocket, but in t' stronger, gusty winds I expected a lot o' weathercockin' and a lower apogee, so I chose t' -4. After t' A8 flight failed parachute deployment, I thought a B6 would give it plenty o' time t' open, shiver me timbers, but nay so. Arrr! This second attempt at testin' t' 1-inch spill hole in t' parachute did nay work either, me bucko, even though it was above 50 degrees F.
T' B6-4 motor burned for 8/10 seconds, acceleratin' t' rocket at 5.4 Gs, ya bilge rat, peakin' at 14.6 Gs. It reached a top speed o' 98 mph. Well, blow me down! These typical performance numbers exactly matched a B6-4 flight five months ago. No strong gust arrived, so this rocket continued straight up durin' t' 4 second coast. Arrr! Still rising, t' ejection fired a bit early at 366 feet, and stopped t' rocket at an altitude o' 375 feet 6/10 o' a second later.
Again t' parachute failed t' open up, matey, and t' rocket fell t' 375 feet at 22 mph, matey, landin' in t' grass undamaged 15.8 seconds after liftoff, me bucko, instead o' t' expected 45 seconds.
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Estes B6-4 |
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