Construction Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Manufacturer: | Quest |
Brief:
A 4FNC rocket designed for speed. I bought three of them on eBay. They came in
a plastic bag without the usual card insert, so I have no idea what its color
scheme is suppose to be. After visiting the Quest website, it seems that this
rocket is from the education section and not intended for general sale.
Construction:
The parts list:
A quick build standard small rocket. The instructions are well illustrated and easy to follow. The nose cone comes in two halves, which are glued together. The base of the rocket is a fin can that doubles as half of the motor mount. This fin can is joined to the body tube via a coupler with the engine block is glued in. An engine hook runs down the coupler and outside of the fin can. The hook is held in place at the bottom of the rocket by a small black plastic ring. The shock cord is made out of 12 inch of Kevlar® and 12 inch of elastic. The Kevlar® end is tied around the engine block. The recovery system is a bright pink streamer.
Finishing:
As the fin can is bright orange plastic, I found it easier to prime and spray
paint the body tube and nose cone before construction. The body tube was
without the normal grooves and did not require any filling. The choice of
colors was based on the fact that I had two cans of light yellow and lilac
spray paints. The decals provided were the sticky backed variety, printed on
thick white paper, which I found to be very poor quality and in hindsight I
wish I had not added them. If it was not for the decals this kit would get 5
out of 5.
Construction Rating: 4 out of 5
Flight:
Flies on Quest A6-4 motors only. The instruction says this is because the
plastic fins will melt on a B or above. I simmed the rocket on SpaceCAD, which
predicted a maximum height of just over 100 meters and required a four second
delay. I flew on Estes A8-3s. The heights were as predicted and deployment was
prior to apogee. To see what would happen if you did fly on a B motor I opted
for a B6-4. The flight was fast, straight, and high but did not see deployment,
so I don't know if it was early. The plastic can did not melt, and it was not
even warm so I might go for a C motor later. SpaceCAD predicted that a B motor
hits 240 meters and needs a 5 or 6 second delay, while a C motor takes it to
over 450 meters and needs a 7 second delay.
Recovery:
The pink streamer is excellent as it is really easy to pick up in the sky and
the ground--probably the best bit about the kit. Descent is at a decent speed
and the rocket has not had any damage so far.
Flight Rating: 5 out of 5
Summary:
A nice easy rocket for school kids. The decoration needs to be improved, but if
this is a first time rocket for a bunch of kids, then it's fine.
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5
This is an easy-to-build rocket intended for groups. I'm comparing it to an Estes Generic E2x in this review. Components The name of the game is "simple-to-fly" with this rocket. Plastic fins, a launch lug that is already molded into the fin can, and a simple streamer recovery make this the most foolproof rocket I'll ever assemble. ...
An education-series rocket that can only be purchased in bulk. Perfect for a group of scouts, a school project, church groups, or someone who just wants a ton of the same rocket, for whatever reason. The individual kits come in a clear plastic bag, and contain a plastic nose cone molded in orange, a plastic fin assembly of the same color, a mylar launch lug, a length of Kevlar ® shock ...
Sponsored Ads
M.P.M. (August 19, 2006)