| Construction Rating: |   | | Flight Rating: | | | Overall Rating: | |
Contributed by John Lee
 Brief:
Almost ready to Fly, twin parachute, missile-esque 4FNC.
After working on some projects that are taking a bit of time, I decided I wanted some quick gratification and
pulled this rocket out of my "build bin". It went together quickly and gave me an excuse to try the Future
acrylic tip I had read about. Besides, I kind of like the picture on the package.
Construction:
The kit includes:
- Plastic fin can assembly in two halves
- 4 plastic fins
- plastic fin locking ring
- plastic motor lock ring
- motor tube
- 3 body tubes of diminishing length and diameter (not specified)
- large plastic reducer
- small plastic reducer
- plastic nose cone
- Kevlar®
shock cord
- round elastic shock cord
- 2 14" parachute kits
- peel off sticker set
The body tubes and motor tube were grey colored and had a rough texture. The spirals were deep but part of the
ARTF karmic price. The texture is apparently part of the "finish" and distracts the eye from the spirals.
The instructions were printed on both sides of a single 11" x 17" sheet. The actual instructions were
one one side and launch info was on the other. They were illustrated adequately, in logical order, easy to understand,
and suitable to the purpose.
Assembly starts off by tying the Kevlar®
to the elastic with an overhand knot and then tying the Kevlar®
to the appropriate loop in one half of the fin can. I supplemented this by putting a drop of CA on each of the knots.
The fin can comes in 2 halves. The motor tube is notched at the top and the notch slips into a peg on either side
of the fin can. The fin can is then cemented together with plastic model cement. I used Solva-weld. Model cement is
also indicated to glue the fin can to the lower body tube. Having bad experience with Estes products doing this, I used
CA.
The plastic fins were then slipped into the provided grooves in the fin can. The instruction warn you to test fit
them first. This is a very good idea. Three of the four fit fine, though one was rather loose. The fourth was
very difficult to fit and needed some trimming with a razor. If I had not checked first, this would have cause problems
since I used CA instead of the recommended model cement. The final part of this step was to insert the fin locking ring
which I secured with Solva-weld and then inserted the motor retaining ring. Be careful not to let any solvent get onto
the motor locking ring.
I also used CA to glue in the transitions and nose cone. The design calls for the use of 2 parachutes and
separate recovery for the nose cone but I don't generally like doing that. I affixed the shock cord to the upper
transition so the rocket would recover in a single unit. I would have made the separation point on the lower transition
for easy stuffing of the parachute but there was nothing to tie it on to. I again secured the knot with a drop of CA.
Since I didn't play the "assemble the parachute" game, the model was ready for finishing.
PROs: Easy and quick assembly.
CONs: 2 piece fin can. I just know that is going to cause problems at some point and don't trust it.
Finishing:
The finishing on the instructions consists simply of applying the peel off stickers. Before putting them on, I was a
little bummed out because the rocket looked too plain. The stickers changed all that. They really complement it well.
I have two comments about the stickers though. First, they are peel 'n' stick so they are really thick. This will
invariably cause them to come off at some point. Second, the trouble with the sticker thickness is exacerbated by the
stickiness factor on these stickers. It is minimal. Since I hope to keep this rocket for a while, (I have that hope for
all of my rockets but one) I decided to try I tip I had read about.
I had read that Future floor polish really protects and holds things down. Imagine my wife's surprise when I
asked her to get some for me next time she went to the store. She is Korean, however, and that involves several side
issues:
- Why is a grown man playing with rockets?
- Why is a grown member of the clergy in mostly good standing playing with rockets?
- The language issue meant that I finally decided to procure it myself. (This is a comment on pronunciation:
apparently the sounds needed to convey future are difficult for the Han language.)
I went to that refuge of men who hate to shop: Amazon. A few days later, I had 2 bottles which stayed around for a
long time before I decided to use them. They kept disappearing because the housekeeper could not figure out why I did
not want her to put them away and I kept forgetting to leave her a note. My wife does not speak Spanish and the
housekeeper does not speak Korean. Somehow they still communicate beautifully except with trying to talk about me and
my idiosyncrasies. Rockets are some of those idiosyncrasies. But I digress. When I finally got around to trying it,
I noticed that the label said "Pledge with Future Shine". That didn't sound right. On closer examination, the
label said that it was all acrylic and the "Future" had the same little electron orbital logo I remembered
from the original tip so I went ahead.
I applied the stuff with a sponge brush. It went on easily but dripped a lot. After drying, it was nice and
shiny, but I am not sure that it conveyed any protective or sealant qualities. I need to find out if I used the right
stuff or if it was just a change in marketing strategy.
PROs: looks good, and fast and easy to build.
CONs: I worry about the stickers coming up.
Construction Rating:
4
out of 5
Flight and Recovery:
Recommended Motors: B6-4, C6-3, C6-5
 I only got to launch this one once because it was at a club launch and I wound up serving as RSO. It was
also the busiest launch my club has ever had. That's great but hard on my flying!
I used a B4-4. As it turned out, that launched the bird just fine. It flew up straight and deployed at apogee. It
recovered under a nylon 9" chute just fine. It may have been a bit fast but there were no problems.
PROs: flies well and true
CONs: none
Flight Rating:
4
out of 5
Summary:
I think this is a very fine beginner's kit. It's easy and looks good. It also looks somewhat more complex that a 3NFC
rocket. It would seem to be reliable and can get more young folk into the hobby.
Overall Rating:
4
out of 5 Flight Log| Date | Rocket Name | Motor(s) | Altitude | Notes |
|---|
| 2005-07-23 | David Montgomery's Quest Triton-X (QK) | C6-5 | 800 feet | Launched at Rushing Park, Katy, TX during the Challenger 498 club launch. Smooth flight all the... | | 2006-05-18 | David Culp's Quest Triton-X (QK) | C6-5 | - | Came off the pad and twisted left then straighted up, seemed a bit unstable. Ejection at apogee... | | 2006-06-25 | Jillian+Benjamin Fried's Quest Triton-X (QK) | C6-5 | - | Straight soaring flight! Slight drift into woods due to altitude and unforeseen winds. Ordering... | | 2006-06-25 | Jillian+Benjamin Fried's Quest Triton-X (QK) | B6-4 | - | Excellent flight! Used one 12 chute. Nose cone dislodged but recovered and reglued. | | 2006-06-26 | Richie Brunjes's Quest Triton-X (QK) | C6-3 | - | | | 2006-06-27 | Richie Brunjes's Quest Triton-X (QK) | C6-3 | - | Nice Flight | | 2006-07-22 | Peter Davidson's Quest Triton-X (QK) | B6-4 | - | Maiden flight, beautiful fast takeoff. Used a 14' chute only with the shockcord attached to the... | | 2006-07-23 | Richie Brunjes's Quest Triton-X (QK) | C6-5 | - | Great flight | | 2006-07-25 | Peter Davidson's Quest Triton-X (QK) | B6-4 | - | Beautiful straight-up flight. As per last launch the parachute didn't properly deploy and the... | | 2006-08-04 | Peter Davidson's Quest Triton-X (QK) | B6-4 | - | Straightforward launch, rocket looked absolutely majestic upon launch. Parachute split upon... | | 2006-08-13 | Peter Davidson's Quest Triton-X (QK) | B6-2 | - | Awesome straightforward launch, rocket didn't seem to be too affected by the wind as I had angled... | | 2006-08-13 | Peter Davidson's Quest Triton-X (QK) | B6-2 | - | Another straightforward launch, was drag-racing a Sunward Star Watcher. Rocket caught by a low... | | 2006-08-25 | Peter Davidson's Quest Triton-X (QK) | B6-2 | - | Launched by Marlo Davies. Beautiful straight-up flight, rocket descended very close to the launch... | | 2006-08-27 | Peter Davidson's Quest Triton-X (QK) | C6-5 | - | This rocket HAMMERS with a C6-5!!! Flight nearly perfectly straight-up, altitude an estimated... | | 2006-08-27 | Peter Davidson's Quest Triton-X (QK) | B6-2 | - | Pleasant straightforward flight but upon descent, the shockcord broke causing the bodytube to... | | 2006-09-17 | Peter Davidson's Quest Triton-X (QK) | B6-2 | - | Nice pleasant launch straight up, parachute deployed with no dramas. Upon recovery I noticed the... | | 2007-03-13 | Donald Besaw's Quest Triton-X (QK) | B6-4 | - | Great first flight, straight boost to maybe 200 feet. Recovered under dual chutes and drifted a... | | 2007-06-17 | Peter Davidson's Quest Triton-X (QK) | C6-5 | - | Great flight. Shockcord broke upon ejection with the payload section drifting out of sight on its... | | 2007-07-30 | Chris Halinaty's Quest Triton-X (QK) | C6-3 | - | | | 2007-08-10 | Chris Halinaty's Quest Triton-X (QK) | B6-4 | - | Angled launch due to wind. Drifted back close to pad. | | 2007-08-10 | Chris Halinaty's Quest Triton-X (QK) | C6-3 | - | Angled launch due to wind. Drifted back close to pad. Parachute was damaged and there was a... | | 2007-11-03 | Kyle Papps's Quest Triton-X (QK) | C6-5 | - | Blew up on pad. | | 2007-11-03 | Kyle Papps's Quest Triton-X (QK) | B6-4 | - | | | 2007-11-03 | Kyle Papps's Quest Triton-X (QK) | A8-5 | - | | | 2008-02-09 | John Lee's Quest Triton-X (QK) | B4-4 | - | Maiden Flight. It flew just find on the B4-4 even though it was not a recommended motor. Straight... | | 2008-04-12 | John Lee's Quest Triton-X (QK) | C6-5 | - | perfect | | 2008-07-12 | John Lee's Quest Triton-X (QK) | C6-3 | - | good flight | | 2009-02-12 | Donald Besaw's Quest Triton-X (QK) | C6-3 | - | Great flight, nice straight boost. Nice dual chute recovery, booster landed close but upper... | 2009-06-06  | Moe Bertrand's Quest Triton-X (QK) | B4-4 | - | Nice first flight of my daughter's Triton-X. This one has been sitting around for a couple of... | | 2009-06-06 | Moe Bertrand's Quest Triton-X (QK) | C6-5 | - | Nice second flight of the Triton-X. This time my daughter got to launch her rocket. | | 2012-01-31 | Bob Francis's Triton X | C6-5 | 238 feet | Time: 4:34 pm. Temperature: 47 degrees. Wind from the SW ~ 5mph.
Launched with the Altimeter... | | 2012-02-04 | Bob Francis's Triton X | C6-5 | - | Time: 4:50 pm. Temperature: 31 degrees. Wind calm. Mostly clear.
Launched with altimeter one... | | 2012-03-13 | Bob Francis's Triton X | C6-5 | 437 feet | Time: 4:45 pm. Temperature: 70 degrees. Wind blowing 5 - 10 mph from the south. Sunny and... | | 2012-05-07 | Bob Francis's Triton X | C6-5 | - | Time: 7:20 pm. Temperature: 64 degrees. Wind: calm. Weather: Partly cloudy.
Good flight.... |
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P.D. (July 25, 2006)