Quest D5

Quest - D5 {Motor}

Contributed by Dick Stafford

Manufacturer: Quest

Brief:
Quest D5-P motorThis motor is a 20mm, long burn, plugged D that is suitable for rocket gliders, saucers, monocopter, and light conventional rockets. You may see its designation listed as D5-0P. The motors packaging is marked -0 even though they are plugged. I guess something was lost in translation. These were reportedly mainly produced for FAI competiton.

Because it is a non-standard diameter, you'll either have to adapt to 24mm tubing or roll your own. Quest should be releasing kits soon, Semroc has promised 20mm tubing, and Art Applewhite has a 24mm adapter, and is working on some kits.

Construction:
These motors are packets one per pack and come with two Q2/G2 igniters.

Here are the details:

  • MSRP $5.00
  • A great RC glider motor. 4 seconds of gentle burn time. Clay plug with no delay or ejection.
  • Total Impulse: 20 Ns
  • Max Thrust: 11.5 N
  • Avg Thrust: 4.93 N
  • Burn Time: 4 seconds
  • Initial weight: 38g
  • Diameter: 20mm
  • Length: 88mm
  • Propellant: Black Powder

This is an "expert level" rocket motor and is not usable in any current Quest rocket kit (they're working on one...).

Flight:
As I mentioned above, this motor comes with two Q2/G2 igniters. These are really nice. They have flexible, insulated leads and nice blob of pyrogen. Shortly after their release, Quest received reports that the continuity check on some 12V launch systems would fire them, so they issued an alert to test your launch system, pointing out two igniters were provided with each motor.

I flew four D5s at NARAM and used four spare igniters on another rocket. There was no premature ignition and they worked fine. BTW, the long flexible leads make clustering really easy!

Summary:
If you want a low thrust, long burn D, you'll love this motor. If you don't want this thrust profile, you won't. The only issue I have is the price point. Because these have limited availability (e.g., only direct from Quest), you will be able to buy E9s for a bit less. Given this and their non-standard diameter, I rate them a '3', with an extra half point just for innovation.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5

Comments:

avatar
D.S. (August 17, 2008)
I need to clear something up on my review. Can't believe I missed the obvious. After analyzing my flights to date, it seems that you must take care using this motor on spinning rockets - monocopters, spinning saucers, etc. The case seems to be thinner than on Estes motors and with the long burn time the chances of a burn-through is increased. This does not mean you can't use them for spinners, just that you have to take care. My last couple of spinning flights, made on some beta test birds, seems to be promising.

comment Post a Comment