Q-Jet E26 - A better E22?

[dpower]

So the Quest E26 and CTI 22 compare favorably in performance, while the E22 has a larger spike in the first 0.1s, the E26 has 3N-s more total impulse. It doesn't compare quite as well to the CTI E31, which has a significantly higher average thrust, though similar total impulse:



A 2-pack of Q-Jet E26 motors retails for $17.49, a single CTI E22 or E31 retails for $17.38 (not including case) each. Unless I really need that initial spike, I think I'll be switching to the E26. I wonder if there would be a way to get a larger initial thrust spike on the E26? Is the CTI initial spike largely due to the starter pellet getting the grain going faster?

 

[prfesser]

Possibly a larger spike could be obtained by carefully sizing (calculations, not guesswork!) the motor starter. Personally I wouldn't want to try it. I don't know how much room there is for error. And with my luck I'd probably find out a few milliseconds after the CATO.

Considering that the Q-Jets are half the price of the CTI motors, the choice seems pretty clear.

 

[neil_w]

Lack of initial thrust spike is the one aspect of the Q-jets that kind of bums me out.

 

[DigBaddy]

Lack of initial thrust spike is the one aspect of the Q-jets that kind of bums me out.

Agreed, but the D22 seems to pop well enough that my heavy Big Daddy gets going in a hurry on them. I think it's nearly 10oz with the motor in it. Can check later. Gotta carefully match motor to rocket and go with a longer rod/rail.

The E26-4 is odd. The rockets that'll work with it need to be light but super draggy. Not enough initial thrust if the rocket is heavy. If the rocket is light enough to move off the rail, but not draggy, the delay is too short.

As @dpower mentioned yesterday at the launch, it's easy to make these plugged and E26 in a quinstar would be awesome.

Or, cluster them. That works

 

[neil_w]

The E26-4 is odd. The rockets that'll work with it need to be light but super draggy. Not enough initial thrust if the rocket is heavy. If the rocket is light enough to move off the rail, but not draggy, the delay is too short.

Light and draggy is my specialty.

As @dpower mentioned yesterday at the launch, it's easy to make these plugged and E26 in a quinstar would be awesome.

Hmmm......

 

[dpower]

The Quinstar is 18mm, so a no-go for the E26. Agreed the D22 is a great motor for a Big Daddy, a much straighter flight than the D12. I plan to cluster 7 of these in my upscale Hydra VII this summer. Another nice thing is the propellant weight - 7xD22 is well under the class 1 limit, so I can launch it at our LPR field. With BP, I was limited to 4xC11 + 3xD12, and that was really too low of a flight for comfort.

 

[DigBaddy]

The Quinstar is 18mm, so a no-go for the E26.

Mine is 24mm

 

[neil_w]

Mine is 24mm

As is mine. Quinstar was born to be 24 mm.

 

[Sooner Boomer]

The Quinstar is 18mm, so a no-go for the E26. Agreed the D22 is a great motor for a Big Daddy, a much straighter flight than the D12. I plan to cluster 7 of these in my upscale Hydra VII this summer. Another nice thing is the propellant weight - 7xD22 is well under the class 1 limit, so I can launch it at our LPR field. With BP, I was limited to 4xC11 + 3xD12, and that was really too low of a flight for comfort.

Let me know how that works out. I have a 7-engine Fat Boy.