I am thinking about trying some of the Quest D5 Rocket Engines,
has any one tried them and what delay time would is better the 4 or 6 second delay?
I would use these in my FSI Penetrator. is the sustaining thrust of the D5 powerful enough
to keep this size rocket coasting for 6 seconds?

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Neal Miller
Master Blaster NAR# 58296

Good question.

I'd like to try that motor in FSI clones as well. Penetrator, Viking I, etc.

I've burned one so far, with mixed results.

The model I used it in was a BT-60 scratch build with a 24mm motor mount and an ejection baffle. The boost was incredible - nice and straight and just as smoky as the other Chinese Quest motors. At ejection, however, everything went south.

The ejection charge shredded the motor mount and the baffle. I'm not sure if this is because the ejection was too powerful or (more likely) my baffle was just too restrictive and the tube over-pressurized. Since the shock cord was attached to the front baffle plate, the nose cone and chute drifted away, never to be seen again. The rest landed without recovery, but since it was not aerodynamic and landed in tall grass, it didn't suffer any further damage from the landing. I had just shimmed up the motor with masking tape and that was pretty much a mess - you REALLY need a motor adapter for this motor. Also, I had a lot of scorching on the outside of the motor and in the motor tube - I think in the future I'd use foil lined motor tubes with the D5. The motor hook was ripped out as well - the motor didn't eject but it was close. There is a lot of scorching of the motor tube around the front of the motor - this thing REALLY hibachis.

That said, if used right these are awesome motors. I plan to make my own motor tubes. This motor will NOT fit inside a Quest 20mm tube - the outside diameter of the motor is the same as the outside diameter of the tube. This means, however, I can use a 20mm body tube as a mandrel to make a motor tube for the D5. I plan to put an inside layer of aluminum foil around the mandrel, and then use contact cement to put the first layer of paper around that. I can then use this homemade motor tube to make a 20mm to 24mm adapter.

Greg

I built a Quest SuperBird with a mount for those motors. As long as it's not too windy, I get beautiful flights with the D5-6. If it is windy.....too much arcing. It may be that it's just too overstable as the there is a good initial thrust spike (though it does take nearly 1/2 second to get there).

Quest has motor tubes and centering rings to suit. And a 3.75 inch motor hook (Estes Es) works fine to retain them.

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Bernard Cawley
NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member
SAM 0061
AMA 42160
KG7AIE

Awesome motors and HIGHLY recommended for the Penetrator - just have a HGE field - lost my own Penetrator clone on a D5-6 .... great boost .. actually found it on the first D5 attempt at PYRO launch, after giving it up for lost.. second try , Vestal, NY - bye bye......

I just wrapped mine in tape, since it'e near exact length of an E5 / D20 then all you do is friction fit - if you set up the Penetrator for FSI motors anyways.... if you prefer an adaptor, the motor can fit into a Semroc 8F tube coupler , then into the bird.

Go for it and send launch report

~ AL

As AVI did with their motors (see: http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/nostalgia/73avi12.html ), Quest could apply metallized mylar outer wraps to their D5 motors to protect the motor mount tubes (or the body tubes, in minimum-diameter models) of the rockets in which they are used.

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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
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NAR #54895 SR

the 21mm FSI engines also get real hot, that is why FSI designed them to be warped with several layers of tape, to keep the hot engine for coming in contact with the body tube/ engine
mount tube. I never had an FSI ejection charge blow out the body tube but had an E60 turn a
OSO into confetti about 6 feet off the launch pad.

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Neal Miller
Master Blaster NAR# 58296

Use the 6 second delay. Oh, and say bye bye to your Penetrator. If you think of it, include a message in it to the Expedition 29 crew, asking if they still have my FSI Orbit, launched during Expedition 23 on 4/24/10 on a Quest D5-6.

I used a D5 in an AAW 24mm saucer (big mistake) and the 5 second burn did nothing to the motor tube. No problems at all in that department. The flight, on the other hand... These two are the only D5s that I have flown so far.

The LCO said that the Quest D5 reminded him a great deal of the FSI E5, which, he said, was really just a D.

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SAM # 0011

I made a 24mm to 20mm adapter with a length of Semroc LT-085 and an identical length of Semroc BT-40. Slit the BT-40 down the side, spread it out a little and then glue it inside the LT-085. There will be a 1/32" to 1/16" gap which you can plug with a tiny bit of epoxy putty. (You don't need to fill the whole gap, but just plug it at one end.) The D5 will fit into this adapter like a glove. LT-085, with an outside diameter of 0.0945", is a perfect fit inside a 24mm motor mount.

I used the first one I made in the aforementioned saucer flight last year, and it is right now passing over Hawaii inside the motor mount of my Orbit.

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SAM # 0011

For what it is worth:

I launched my Oso on a D6-4 back in the day.

The Superbird is dang close in size and shape to the Oso.

The FSI clones I built last week all had 18mm mount glued in. Now I'm regretting that! But I plan on eventually making more clones . . . a Viking I for sure, eventually an Orbit and Nova.