The Gamma-Ray: My first Quest kit. It features a translucent red payload tube, three swept fins, and plastic nose cone and transition section. The fin stock is pretty thick and sturdy, and I like the Kevlar shock cord supplied with the kit. I painted it high-gloss metallic red with silver (stick-on) decals. I also added extra silver foil stickers to really make this model shine. I had to add a lot of nose-weight to balance this model on a string stability test, but now it flies very well - very straight. The nose-weight was glued in to the tip of the plastic nosecone, so I still have full use of the payload bay. The payload tube has vent holes added for a barometric altimeter. It can get pretty far up there with B and C motors. I bought this kit cheap as part of a package deal on eBay, didn't give it much respect. But it consistently flies well and it is growing on me. I would recommend this model, but defiantly string-stability test it with a C motor and add nose-weight as necessary, or you'll probably be very sorry you didn't. Its light enough to fly very high, but the supplied 14-inch parachute is too large unless you really pack the ounces into the payload. Even with a 18 gram payload and a 1-1/2 inch spill hole cut into the chute, it still descends at only 5 mph, allowing the wind to take it pretty far. The material Quest uses for parachutes also seems very light but too stiff, and often it will not unfurl even when plummeting down at about 30 mph. I now use a 12” Estes parachute. The other advantage of a smaller chute (aside from getting lost) is that it's easy to pack into that small, 13mm body tube. I can easily get beyond 800 feet with a C6-7 in this. This rocket has flown higher than the Rennaissance Tower in Dallas, TX and the Charlotte Bank of America Corporate Center. It could easily look down at the Trump World Tower in NY.
| Flight Date: | 2012-05-26 |
| Rocket Name: | Gamma Ray |
| Kit Name: | Quest - Gamma Ray {Kit} (2004) [1994-] |
| Flyer's Name: | Rich DeAngelis |
| Motors: | C6-7 |
| Expected Altitude: | 800.00 Feet |
| Wind Speed: | 5.00 mph |
| Launch Site: | Fort Indiantown Gap, PA |
| Actual Altitude: | 897.00 Feet |
It was time to try for an altitude record with the Gamma Ray Payloader, now that its parachute issues seemed to be resolved. I sent it up last year to just over 800 feet on a C6 motor, but it only had an altimeter on board and I couldn’t see it at altitude to judge the best delay. For this flight, it also carried an accelerometer to measure speed and ejection timing, which I estimated from lower flights that a delay of 7 seconds would be optimal. The weather was hot and humid, perfect conditions for maximum altitude.
The launch was uneventful and successful, with the acceleration peaking at 14.9Gs. The 2 second burn averaged 3.8Gs, plenty to prevent any winds from altering its vertical flight path significantly. After the motor burnout, it reached a speed of 167 mph. The motor’s delay was short – only 6 seconds and the ejection fired at 882 feet while still rising. In another 3/10ths of a second it reached a peak altitude of 897 feet, having gained an additional 15 feet with the new Estes parachute deploying fully. It then descended at a safe 9 mph, and remained aloft for a total flight time of 69.5 seconds, the Gamma Ray’s longest recorded flight.
Even though the new parachute provided twice the descent speed of the Quest supplied chute, it still drifted pretty far, but I was pleased that it reached the highest altitude recorded for this model, and also it was the fastest speed ecorded. 100% good flight.
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Estes C6-7 |
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