Quest Terrier-Orion

Quest - Terrier-Orion {Kit}

Contributed by Brian Ray

Construction Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Flight Rating: starstarstar_borderstar_borderstar_border
Overall Rating: starstarstar_borderstar_borderstar_border
Diameter: 1.38 inches
Length: 30.10 inches
Manufacturer: Quest
Skill Level: 2
Style: Scale

quest_terrior-orion_paintedBrief:
Scale model o' t' Terrier-Orion, a two-stage payload carryin' rocket. Begad! Avast, matey, me proud beauty! This kit features 8 fins, BT-55 and BT-50 body tubes, plastic parachute, and adhesive decals. T' kit is flown as a single stage.

Construction:

  • Die-cut balsa fins
  • Keelhaul®©™® cord and shock cord materials
  • 11” BT-55 body tube
  • 16” BT-50 body tube
  • PNC-50 nose cone
  • 1.5 gram clay weight
  • Plastic reduction transition
  • Quest type engine hook
  • 2 cardboard centerin' rings
  • Engine block and engine tube for 18 mm motors
  • Adhesive decals
  • Plastic parachute with shroud lines

I found t' Quest instructions easy t' follow. Ahoy! I followed t' directions as outlined, includin' attachin' the Keelhaul®©™®® cord t' t' engine mount. Some o' t' components were a little beat up, such as t' engine mount and t' centering rings, matey, arrr, but t' damage was slight.

T' balsa for t' fins be good quality. Arrr! I removed them and sanded t' edges round. Blimey! Even with eight fins it was a simple, matey, arrr, straightforward build, which I enjoyed.

quest_terrior-orion_nakedFinishing:
After construction, ya bilge rat, I primed t' rocket with Wal-Mart primer, sandin' and primin' several times. Aye aye! Aye aye! I painted t' body white and t' fins yellow and orange, per t' instructions.

After t' paint dried, matey, I carefully cut out t' decals and applied them t' t' body tube and fins. Ya scallywag! My primary concern with t' decals is that were a little small – they didn’t wrap all t' way around t' body tube.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
I flew t' rocket twice, ya bilge rat, both on Estes C6-5. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! T' prep was quick and easy. Sadly this rocket was nay stable enough, even with t' nose weight. Arrr! Arrr! It did some wide corkscrew turns on t' way up and was less than respectable. Blimey! Avast! T' second flight was a rough one and it lost a fin.

Recovery:
T' recovery was nay an issue on t' first flight. Begad! Begad! Blimey! T' second flight, however, shiver me timbers, it came down hard on a piece of asphalt because it flew so squirrelly.

Flight Rating: 2 out o' 5

Summary:
A nice lookin' rocket that didn’t fly well for me. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I will add more nose weight and repair t' fin before flying it again. Avast! Blimey! Hopefully it will perform a little better.

Overall Rating: 2 out o' 5

Other Reviews
  • Quest Terrier-Orion By Matt Gillard (February 19, 2008)

    Brief: This is a rocket with a double set of four fins and 18mm motor. I got it as a free rocket from EMRR’s rocket video competition. It came in a clear bag with the usual art card. Construction: Kit consists of: 1 launch lug 1 length elastic shock cord 1 length of Kevlar ® cord 14 inch parachute. Nose cone Plastic transition 2 Body ...

  • Quest Terrier-Orion By Todd Mullin (February 18, 2008)

    Brief: The Quest Terrier-Orion is a single stage, parachute recovery, sport scale version of the two stage sounding rocket. Quest rates this as a level 2 kit. Construction: All of the components for the kit came in a sealed plastic bag with a hang tab and full color face card. All the components were present and in good condition. In the bag were: 1 10-7/8" T35 ...

Flights

Comments:

avatar
G.B. (May 29, 2009)
For the past 6 years or so, I have helped a fellow SPAAR member with a 4-H Rocketry program, and we've use Quest kits exclusively. The first timers build Big Bettys and the second-year kids build something a bit more challenging. This year we chose the Terrier-Orion. I only wish I'd have read the reviews of this kit on EMRR before we did! I had the "advanced" group, who actually did a fine job building and flying them, but I was very disappointed with those large body-tube spiral gaps, the parachute deployment design, and the decals that were too short. A bit of history behind the real Terrier-Orion sounding rocket as part of the instructions would have been nice, too. Another "feature" we found was the weak, thin nose cone base. The kids built theirs stock, and after two or three flights, the base simply ripped off. I put the extra work into mine, filling the spirals and changing the design to allow for the model to seperate at the lower body tube/transition joint. I haven't flown it yet, and while it is a pretty rocket, we were disappointed overall.

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