New Quest D's

[accooper]

Any one seen any of the new Quest D's? Why did they make them 20mm instead of 18 or 24?

Andrew
Dark Lord Of The Scratch Builders

 

[Marlin523]

Probably to encourage us to buy Quest-sized tubes.

 

[rokitflite]

Probably to encourage us to buy Quest-sized tubes.

Ironically, Quest does not have a tube to fit it...

 

[Bazookadale]

Any one seen any of the new Quest D's? Why did they make them 20mm instead of 18 or 24?

Andrew
Dark Lord Of The Scratch Builders

They are made in China - my guess is that 20mm is a size that manufacturer already made

 

[Marlin523]

How weird. I won't be stocking up on those

 

[Pantherjon]

Ahhh, a few wraps of tape and they should fit fine in a 24mm mount.

 

[Initiator001]

I purchased twenty-four of the D5 motors during the Quest President's Day sale.

It will be simple enough to make an adapter to fit these motors in a 24mm motor mount tube.

A 4.5 second burn time 'D' motor. I just have to try a few of these!

 

[n3tjm]

I believe 20mm (and 10.5mm) is/was a common motors size in the European competition size. They are nice motors, and will not be a problem to adapt to 24mm. Just remember though, they don't have much lifting power (ie the new quest C3's which are labeled C6's)

 

[MarkH]

Maybe our new guest could enlighten us about these motors.
中国模型火箭发动机 ?

 

[accooper]

From what I have read on the Quest site, these D's can lift 5 ounces. Not bad for a slow burn motor. None of my D powered rocket are over 3 ounces so they could work.

Andrew
Dark Lord Of The Scratch Builders

 

[gpoehlein]

Another alternative is to use cardstock. I, too, ordered a few during the Pres Day sale to try them out. I'm hoping they will be contest certified soon because I'd like to try them for D Helicopter Duration. Since I am building the model partially from cardstock I can make the motor tube fit the 20mm motors and then transition up to the size I need for the front end (internal blade model with 40mm Apogee nose cone). Smaller base diameter of the 20mm motor will give less base drag for the model than if I used 24mm, and I can piston the model because it is black powder.

Of course, that all depends on whether or not the motor is, indeed, contest certed by the end of March!

 

[dragon_rider10]

Smells like opportunity to me. If I had a rocket company I'd work up some kits with that diameter mount real quick. (hint hint)

 

[RoyAtl]

Any one seen any of the new Quest D's? Why did they make them 20mm instead of 18 or 24?

Andrew
Dark Lord Of The Scratch Builders

They were already being made in China with those dimensions. For quite a few years, in fact.

 

[j.a.duke]

Ironically, Quest does not have a tube to fit it...

According to Nettie, coming in March. To paraphrase her message, there were many people who wanted to get their hands on the motor, so they were released sooner, but tubes and adapters, etc. are coming soon.

Cheers,
Jon

 

[MarkII]

How weird. I won't be stocking up on those

Good! More for me...! It's simple enough to roll your own tube. The answer to the question, "why 20mm?" might be related to being able to pack in more propellant (for a longer burn) without going up to 24mm. Possibly a better thrust-weight relationship with the 20mm diameter. Just because 13-18-24 has been standard for BP motors doesn't mean that those sizes are mandatory. I see nothing wrong with thinking outside the range box. There are no motor tubes for 20mm at present because there has been no need for them; that has changed now that the Quest D5s (with ejection charges) are here. I think that we will be seeing new 20mm motor tubes, centering rings, etc, in the very near future.

MarkII

 

[powderburner]

But after receiving my order from the Pres-day-sale, I have to confess that I opened one of my new D motors to fondle it a little bit. (I know, TMI)

I am impressed that the rolled motor case appears to be high quality, and even the cuts at the end of the case are neat and clean (better quality cuts than I have often seen on many motors from a certain Penrose manufacturer).

Nozzle materials also seem impressive. The nozzles are a uniform grey/gray/whatever and seem to be made from a clay that was very finely powdered. No perceptible grit or roughness, no visible "crystal" patterns, very shiny smooth faces and sharply defined corners, very high levels of manufacturing craftsmanship (do those two even go together?). No significant nozzle-induced swell in the aft end of the case on the examples I checked.

The thing that surprised me was that the paper label is almost sloppily applied, by comparison with the rest of the motor. The loose label makes the whole thing look more like a firework toy purchased from a roadside stand. I am a little concerned if removing part/all of the label will fall into the category of "tampering" because it sure looks like a bunch of label will be scraped off when inserting these into a motormount. Label craftsmanship is definitely inconsistent with the rest of the motor.

I'm just itching to try sleeving one of these to fit a 24mm mount, and hear 4+ seconds of loud (load?) thrust!

 

[shrox]

But after receiving my order from the Pres-day-sale, I have to confess that I opened one of my new D motors to fondle it a little bit. (I know, TMI)

I am impressed that the rolled motor case appears to be high quality, and even the cuts at the end of the case are neat and clean (better quality cuts than I have often seen on many motors from a certain Penrose manufacturer).

Nozzle materials also seem impressive. The nozzles are a uniform grey/gray/whatever and seem to be made from a clay that was very finely powdered. No perceptible grit or roughness, no visible "crystal" patterns, very shiny smooth faces and sharply defined corners, very high levels of manufacturing craftsmanship (do those two even go together?). No significant nozzle-induced swell in the aft end of the case on the examples I checked.

The thing that surprised me was that the paper label is almost sloppily applied, by comparison with the rest of the motor. The loose label makes the whole thing look more like a firework toy purchased from a roadside stand. I am a little concerned if removing part/all of the label will fall into the category of "tampering" because it sure looks like a bunch of label will be scraped off when inserting these into a motormount. Label craftsmanship is definitely inconsistent with the rest of the motor.

I'm just itching to try sleeving one of these to fit a 24mm mount, and hear 4+ seconds of loud (load?) thrust!

You can peel off the label, but the printed info still applies!

We don't know just why the labels are like that, something to investigate perhaps. Appearance is important.

 

[ScrapDaddy]

The 20mm size is for the FIA Internationals in those weight is everything so every thing is coustom made from the body tubes down to the nose cone

 

[NjCo]

I am impressed that the rolled motor case appears to be high quality, and even the cuts at the end of the case are neat and clean (better quality cuts than I have often seen on many motors from a certain Penrose manufacturer).

The thing that surprised me was that the paper label is almost sloppily applied, by comparison with the rest of the motor. The loose label makes the whole thing look more like a firework toy purchased from a roadside stand.

Sounds like the motor was made in Germany and the label was applied in China.

 

[Initiator001]

I received my Quest order today.

The D5s look like they are nicely made. I've attached a few pictures.

I'll be flying at least one D5 on Sunday!

 

[mn-rocketry]

My Quest President's Day order arrived today, so I whipped up an adapter to fit the 20mm D5's into a 24mm mount.

Anyone else notice that the D5's are exactly the same length as the Estes E9?

I happened to have some scraps of Semroc ST-8 lying around. I cut a piece of that and glued an engine block into one end (used a 24mm block with some outer layers peeled off, and then an 18mm block glued inside that). I then took another scrap of ST-8, slit it lengthwise, and glued it inside the first piece of ST-8 to reduce the inner diameter. Next, I took an old motor hook (Estes E15 length), unbent the front tab and CA'ed it to the outside of the tube. Last, I added two wraps of strapping tape for good measure.

The result is a nice fit in any 24mm motor mount intended for the E9.

Now, what rocket to try it in?

 

[GuyNoir]

I'll be flying at least one D5 on Sunday!

I'll be interested in the result. My initial simulations say you have to watch the weight of models when flying this motor, but I suspect if you get that right, then you'll be rewarded with some spectacular flights that will be slow and majestic.

 

[n3tjm]

I would like to fly one in a Flis Shadowlord

 

[Initiator001]

I was able to fly one D5-4 motor at the SCRA launch in Los Angeles today/Sunday.

Rocket used was an Estes Eliminator kit.

I made a 20mm/24mm motor adapter by taking an used D12 case, knocking out the clay nozzle and peeling the inside of the casing.

Weight of the Eliminator with D5 motor was 6.1oz.

There was little/no wind when the rocket launched. That D5 seemed to burn forever.

The parachute deployed and the rocket was recovered undamaged.

Next time, I will use a lighter weight rocket.

 

[dave carver]

How weird. I won't be stocking up on those

I once wrapped a 2.5" Kosdon L1600 with enought regular old masking tape to fit it in a 3" motor tube, clamped it down and lit 'er up. Now, if I'da put more tape around the base of the nosecone it wouldn'a fell off at about 500'

Lesson learned: never fly Hi Power with the ACE blow molded bottle cone, shoulders are not anywhere near the 1 calibur lenght recommended.


I'd like to hear one of these new D motors. An old favorite was the FSI E5 Steaming Tea Kettle motor. I had a special rocket for these and even when K's ands L's and M's were going off for some reason people stopped and watched those flights

 

[Rocketjunkie]

I'd like to hear one of these new D motors. An old favorite was the FSI E5 Steaming Tea Kettle motor. I had a special rocket for these and even when K's ands L's and M's were going off for some reason people stopped and watched those flights

They're very similar. However, IIRC, the E5 had a larger initial thrust spike for lofting larger models.

 

[MarkII]

Steaming Tea Kettle, huh? This I have to hear. I just bought a dozen of these motors and I can't wait to try them out. Did the "tea kettle" sound include the whistle?

MarkII

 

[RoyAtl]

Steaming Tea Kettle, huh? This I have to hear. I just bought a dozen of these motors and I can't wait to try them out. Did the "tea kettle" sound include the whistle?

MarkII

The FSI E5 and F7 were called "Steam Machines" because they kept going and going but could barely lift more than their own weight! Put a minimum diameter airframe around them and let em go! Never heard one whistle, but that may have happened to some people.

I still have a bunch of F7 motors, but the last two I tried to ignite made like a roman candle. It's been 19 years since then, maybe they'll have settled down?

The Quest D5's I flew last year had a nice throaty sound, though probably augmented with pulsing by the Art Applewhite saucer airframe around them.

 

[shreadvector]

I actually turned around and watch it fly (most of the day I'm too busy to turn around and watch the "average" launch).

It looked just like an FSI motor specifically like an FSI E5 (which was pretty close to a D). I agree the rocket was a bit heavy for the motor and it was arcing over during the last second of propellant burn. Of course, Quest says max liftoff weight is 5 ounces. I should have weiged it, but I assumed Bob would have done so since he would not want a bad flight.

It was quite safe, but it would have gone VERY straight and INSANELY high in a 5 ounce or less rocket. By the way, he used 1/4 launch lugs and it flew from our 6 foot long steel launch rod, so it was going straight up for most of the flight, it only arced over a bit during the last second of the burn. I don't remember how fast it was moving at ejection, but it was still VERY high up there.

Thanks for bringing it and launching it.

I was able to fly one D5-4 motor at the SCRA launch in Los Angeles today/Sunday.

Rocket used was an Estes Eliminator kit.

I made a 20mm/24mm motor adapter by taking an used D12 case, knocking out the clay nozzle and peeling the inside of the casing.

Weight of the Eliminator with D5 motor was 6.1oz.

There was little/no wind when the rocket launched. That D5 seemed to burn forever.

The parachute deployed and the rocket was recovered undamaged.

Next time, I will use a lighter weight rocket.

 

[Adrian A]

Ironically, Quest does not have a tube to fit it...

Actually, they do. I bought one and a 20mm nosecone. The label will have to be peeled off to fit in the tube, and the nosecone will need a little tape on the shoulder, but it looks workable for a scratch-built high-altitude bird.