Quest Motors in Stock

[MALBAR 70]

Looks like Hobbylinc has some Quest A6-4 / B6-4 bulk packs and three packs of C6-3 / C6-5 in stock.
Quest/AT must be clearing out the old BP stock to make room for the new composite motors.

https://www.hobbylinc.com/quest-model-rocket-engines-educator-packs

https://www.hobbylinc.com/c-model-rocket-engines

 

[BigDuphis]

Now there's one less of each bulk pack! Thanks for the info, now I have a bunch more cluster igniters!

 

[RickGr4]

Not to sound negative but in my experience Hobbylinc does not have a very good handle on their Quest inventory. I have had to cancel two recent orders with them because they could not ship...even though their website said they had the product in stock.

 

[Zeus-cat]

Now there's one less of each bulk pack! Thanks for the info, now I have a bunch more cluster igniters!

They might be the new starters. Not sure how well they work in clusters.

 

[MALBAR 70]

Not to sound negative but in my experience Hobbylinc does not have a very good handle on their Quest inventory. I have had to cancel two recent orders with them because they could not ship...even though their website said they had the product in stock.

You had me nervous for a while. Apparently they are in stock, my order shipped today

 

[BigDuphis]

Mine got cancelled, none in stock

 

[dcullen]

Mine were cancelled too

 

[BEC]

Likewise - no stock (B6-4 bulk packs) despite my ordering within hours of the sale email last Friday.

 

[MALBAR 70]

Sorry guys, looks like I got the last one...

 

[RickGr4]

I bought a Quest Seeker launch kit from Hobbylinc. I wanted to check out the quality of Quest motors and launch gear.

Overall I would say the quality is typical for LPR. The "kit" that I bought came with three Quest motors. One A, one B and one C. I noticed two things about the Quest motors. First the exhaust is certainly more "black" than Estes motors and secondly the motors are at least equally as powerful as comparably rated Estes motors, maybe even a touch more powerful. I launched a Quest Triton-X with a Quest C motor and it jumped off the launcher and almost went out of sight. Later I launched a Quest Seeker with a Quest B engine and once again it jumped off the launcher and went high.

I think Estes could use some competition in the LPR/E2X market and Quest might be the company that could pull it off.

 

[Zeus-cat]

I wouldn't use a Quest motor in a rocket that had plastic parts in the motor mount or retainer. My experience is that they can get much hotter than an Estes motor and can melt plastic parts or do other heat damage. I had one rocket that required quite a bit of work to fix the plastic motor retainer that was damaged after using a Quest motor. I also think there tends to be more variability in the total impulse of Quest motors, with some of them noticeably more powerful than the Estes equivalent, and a few quite a bit weaker. I eventually used them up in rockets that weren't likely to be damaged by the motors and have avoided them since. Love the igniters, but the motors are not worth the hassle for me.

There are many manufacturers of rocket kits, but Estes has the mass market cornered. If a big box store (Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Michaels, etc.) has rocket kits, they will be Estes. If you are interested in other LPR kits look for Semroc, FlisKits, Dr Zooch, Pemberton, Sunward and many more.

 

[rstaff3]

I like (liked?) the longer burn Quest C6's. However, you are correct that they will melt plastic parts.

 

[RickGr4]

I wouldn't use a Quest motor in a rocket that had plastic parts in the motor mount or retainer. My experience is that they can get much hotter than an Estes motor and can melt plastic parts or do other heat damage. I had one rocket that required quite a bit of work to fix the plastic motor retainer that was damaged after using a Quest motor. I also think there tends to be more variability in the total impulse of Quest motors, with some of them noticeably more powerful than the Estes equivalent, and a few quite a bit weaker. I eventually used them up in rockets that weren't likely to be damaged by the motors and have avoided them since. Love the igniters, but the motors are not worth the hassle for me.


There are many manufacturers of rocket kits, but Estes has the mass market cornered. If a big box store (Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Michaels, etc.) has rocket kits, they will be Estes. If you are interested in other LPR kits look for Semroc, FlisKits, Dr Zooch, Pemberton, Sunward and many more.

Other than the "blacker" exhaust I did not notice any "heat" related issues. However it should be noted that I have done only three launches with Quest motors. I would not mind getting my hands on a few more Quest motors just for the sake of testing and comparing. I have looked at the other brands of rocket kits you are talking about but I did not see any kits that added anything to my "fleet".

 

[mwtoelle]

Only the tan colored nozzles in the Quest motors from China had the heat issues described in previous posts. The older U.S. and German made Quest motors (gray nozzles) did not have that problem.

 

[Zeus-cat]

Other than the "blacker" exhaust I did not notice any "heat" related issues. However it should be noted that I have done only three launches with Quest motors. I would not mind getting my hands on a few more Quest motors just for the sake of testing and comparing. I have looked at the other brands of rocket kits you are talking about but I did not see any kits that added anything to my "fleet".

If you use a motor with a tan colored nozzle and pull out the motor shortly after the rocket lands (10-15 seconds), you will notice that they are very hot to the touch. I also noticed that my rockets had more black soot inside from the dirty ejection charges.

Looking around on TRF and I found this old thread where I flew the same rocket with both Quest and Estes motors. https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?41190-Comparing-Quest-and-Estes-Motors&highlight=nose+cone

If you looked at FlisKits and Pemberton and others and saw nothing that interests you, it sounds like you may need to design your own rockets.

 

[10fttall]

I've only used a small sample size myself, less than 20 Quest motors. But I have had a B that burned a small hole in the casing. There was another B and a C that were paper thin and I could basically break in half after the flight.

To me, it looks like they run pretty close to the danger zone. I don't know if this was a conscious engineering decision or not.

 

[RickGr4]

Thinking about it after the fact, I seem to recall the Quest C motor was rather warm when I removed it. I better take a closer look at the rocket and check for damage.

If I stumble across any more Quest motors I will pay attention to the nozzle color.

 

[BABAR]

If you use a motor with a tan colored nozzle and pull out the motor shortly after the rocket lands (10-15 seconds), you will notice that they are very hot to the touch.

Not sure about nozzle color. But Roger on the hot engines. I have had brown scorch marks on a the OUTSIDE on a minimum diameter white rocket around the engine after using quest motors, and the motors are really hot to handle if removed just after flight.

 

[hcmbanjo]

My experience with the Quest Chinese (tan nozzle) engines showed the same results.

They are sooty! You'll see more black soot inside the body tube from ejection.
There can be some smoke residue around the upper end of the body tube which wipes off with a damp paper towel.

The Chinese made B6-4 engines seem to have higher thrust than the 'equivalent" Estes B6-4. But there are trade-offs.
As mentioned, sooty engines and weaker ejection charges.
They are louder than the Estes B6 engines.

The A6-4 engines are fun. They seem to take a moment to build up thrust. Perfect for small fields and for rockets that need a slighter longer delay.

The Chinese made C6 engines aren't as strong as the Estes C6. They are a 4 second thrust burn!
Best used in BT-50 diameter lighter models. The engine mount can insulate heat from the engine.
Don't ever use one in a two foot tall BT-60 based model! It'll be back on the ground before the ejection charge fires.
I saw a Dr. Zooch Saturn V (that weighs about 2.5 oz.) eject on the ground. These engines get very hot!

If used in a monocopter (Art Applewhite style) they can burn through the engine casing.

Quest engines can be good - if used in the right model.

 

[rstaff3]

I have only had them burn through on spinny things but have had a lot of them turn the label toasty brown. My son found an Estes RTF and the Quest C6 melted the mount. It was a challenge to get out but, oddly enough, the mount and twist lock retainer still works.

The D5s were even worse. I beta tested Art's D5 Stealth and Scimitar and they would burn thru on those too.

 

[Daddyisabar]

The Pyro guys tell me the Quest motors are about right and that Estes motors are way overbuilt, casings so thick they dig through the trash at the launch looking for ones to reuse - but those are crazy pyro guys. I say what is wrong with being way overbuilt? Estes rules and after seeing two more E9's blow this weekend from the bad January batch, I am glad fer every extra wrap!

The real question is do I buy all those motors just for the igniters, and how do you know they are the older good ones?

 

[rstaff3]

The Pyro guys tell me the Quest motors are about right and that Estes motors are way overbuilt, casings so thick they dig through the trash at the launch looking for ones to reuse - but those are crazy pyro guys. I say what is wrong with being way overbuilt? Estes rules and after seeing two more E9's blow this weekend from the bad January batch, I am glad fer every extra wrap!

The real question is do I buy all those motors just for the igniters, and how do you know they are the older good ones?

The igniters were a real bonus. I had a big stash of the Estes igniters and I saved the Quest ones for the inevitable clusters. Down to about 15 of the latter. I'd suck up quest bulk packs if they came with the old ones.

 

[MALBAR 70]

The bulk pack of B6-4s I just got has the awesome Q2G2 starters in it. I'll be saving those for clusters for sure.

 

[RIB]

The bulk pack of B6-4s I just got has the awesome Q2G2 starters in it. I'll be saving those for clusters for sure.

What are the length of the leads for those starters?

 

[ksaves2]

Lost a bunch of quest motors in a flood. City sewer line backed up and they were the only ones that I had sitting on the floor. That really hurt. Love the black smoke. Kurt

 

[MALBAR 70]

What are the length of the leads for those starters?

Standard length. I wish they were the long ones.

 

[rstaff3]

Standard length. I wish they were the long ones.

IMO, the long ones were not worth the added price as adding pigtails is cheap and easy.

 

[RIB]

Explain how to do that Mr. Stafford

 

[dhbarr]

Has anybody tried these yet? https://electricmatch.com/rocketry/see/23/6/black-powder-model-rocket-starter

 

[RIB]

Try First Fire Junior Minis