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 of the Terrier-Orion, a two-stage payload carrying rocket. This kit features 8 fins, BT-55 and BT-50 body tubes, plastic parachute, and adhesive decals. The kit is flown as a single stage.

Construction:

  • Die-cut balsa fins
  • Kevlar® 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 centering rings
  • Engine block and engine tube for 18 mm motors
  • Adhesive decals
  • Plastic parachute with shroud lines

I found the Quest instructions easy to follow. I followed the directions as outlined, including attaching the Kevlar®® cord to the engine mount. Some of the components were a little beat up, such as the engine mount and the centering rings, but the damage was slight.

The balsa for the fins was good quality. I removed them and sanded the edges round. Even with eight fins it was a simple, straightforward build, which I enjoyed.

quest_terrior-orion_nakedFinishing:
After construction, I primed the rocket with Wal-Mart primer, sanding and priming several times. I painted the body white and the fins yellow and orange, per the instructions.

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

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
I flew the rocket twice, both on Estes C6-5. The prep was quick and easy. Sadly this rocket was not stable enough, even with the nose weight. It did some wide corkscrew turns on the way up and was less than respectable. The second flight was a rough one and it lost a fin.

Recovery:
The recovery was not an issue on the first flight. The second flight, however, it came down hard on a piece of asphalt because it flew so squirrelly.

Flight Rating: 2 out of 5

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

Overall Rating: 2 out of 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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