Quest - Zenith II {Kit} (3005) [1994-]

Quest Zenith II

Quest - Zenith II {Kit} (3005) [1994-]

Contributed by Glenn Roth

Construction Rating:
Flight Rating:
Overall Rating:

Diameter:	0.98 inches
Length:	22.80 inches
Manufacturer:	Quest
Skill Level:	3
Style:	Multi-Stage

Brief:
This is a two-staged payload rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! I highly recommend streamer recovery in 2-stage configuration. Begad! Flies on A-C engines.

Construction:
T' parts include: 1 bodytube, arrr, 1 red plastic payload section. Begad! 3 fins per stage, shiver me timbers, 18mm engine mounts, with hook. Keelhaul®©™® shock cord attaches t' engine mount up through t' body and is attached t' an elastic shock cord then t' t' chute and payload section. Plastic nosecone is attached by friction fit or can be glued in. (Mine is glued in.)

Very easy t' follow instructions in logical order. Popular opinion: skip engine hooks and use friction fit. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! Mount fins t' main rocket first. Avast! Then install booster and use a 1' piece o' wood clamped t' main fin t' align each booster fin.

Finishing:
This is one o' me prettiest rockets in factory color scheme with decals. Aye aye! Reinforce t' fin joints, especially on booster. Blimey! I started with wood glue fillets, then make epoxy fillets.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
My first flight was: B6-0 and a B6-4. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Unfortunately, matey, after a terrific booster stage, shiver me timbers, t' shock shook loose on the payload section and became unstable. Well, blow me down! (Now I see why another user strongly recommended omittin' t' coupler and go with a standard bulkhead and screw eye. Avast, me proud beauty! T' darn coupler is too loose by itself, and it's hard t' get a nice fit with tape. I'm goin' t' try clear tape next.)

Second flight used a powerful C6-0 and a B6-4 sustainer. Aye aye! ****recovery: 4 flourescent streamers, matey, 2 ft long. Angeled into wind with "tape on payload" for a tight fit. Arrr! Worth t' Wait! What a nice flight! Use plenty of wadding. (streamers slightly singed). Did use motor hooks but, u can do without. Just use "friction fit".

Nice straight flight! My 1st "kit" 2-stager.

Quest Zenith

Recovery:
Anythin' over a "B" and u want t' stay with "streamer." Shock cord is Keelhaul®©™® from motormount attached t' elastic. Arrr! Recovery was fine, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, aslong as u follow me lead and use two sets of "fillets." First a glue fillet, followed by epoxy. Begad! If u do that on both booster and main, u want have any cracked or damaged fins.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
Nice 1st time 2-stager. Consider a "standard bulkhead" from balsa. Beef up "fin fillets and use a "streamer" on 2-stage scenario, "unless really cal day."

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5

Other Reviews

Quest Zenith II By Alan Tiessen (October 28, 2012)
A nice looking two-stage payload rocket. /h2 I modified it by skipping the see-through plastic payload bay and just going with a standard tube payload bay of the same size. Easy to build. Finishing Construction Score: 4 Flight Recovery Like most everyone else, I recommend streamer recovery if you're going for altitude. I used a ...
Quest Zenith II By Kris Henderson
Brief: Two stage rocket with 14" parachute recovery. 22" tall with the payload section and booster section on. The package says it's a level three (advanced) rocket but really it's more like a level 2. The only reason I can see that it's considered a level three is because you have to line up the fins on the body tube along with the booster's fins. Construction: The kit ...
Quest Zenith II By Paul Gray
This is a two-stage payload rocket. Kit says dual parachute in some advertising but is only a single chute recovery. Flies on A through C engines. One (1) body tube, One (1) plastic payload section which is red. Three (3) fins per stage both stages use a 18mm engine mount with a hook. Kevlar shock cord attaches to engine mount and pulls up through the body which then attaches to an elastic ...

Flights

Comments:

T.E.W. (September 18, 2001)

This rocket took off successfully from my pad on its first and deployed the parachute bang on cue after a C6-0/B6-4 flight. All was well until I got it back...with no nose cone. Don't get me wrong, its a good rocket but if you get it my advice is glue the nose cone on.

T.B. (July 7, 2003)

This kit would be really nice if it used the old fashioned friction fit method for staging. The body tube isn't large enough to have the sustainer's motor mount recessed into it. The motor retaining clip has to be pressed out against the body tube to insert or remove a motor. This deforms the body tube each time. The deformation cracked and flaked the paint off the rear of my sustainer. If I had it to do over again, I'd chunk the motor clips and just build it the old fashioned way. I give it a 2.5 out of 5 because of this, but would give it at least a 4.5 out of 5 if it used the old motor mount method.

A.K.S. (December 10, 2005)

On a whim I built a new 1st stage for my well used Z-II. I made it large enough to take a D12-0 and handle a homemade E9-0. Have made two flights each on these motors. 1400' on the D12 and Rocksim says 2700' on the E9-0/C6-7 combo. I use a streamer for recovery. Engine modification is a no-no but I fly it lone ranger style in a very open field with no one around. I use a twist drill rotating by hand to clean out the plug on a E9-P to the black powder. Am told they don't make an E9-0 as people would try to use it in models that are too heavy. The Z-II is light enough to fly on it and really goes!

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