Viper

Quest Viper

	The Quest Viper was used in the 2006 Buckeye District Daycamp. About 85 of these models were built and flown on a Saturday afternoon. This rocket seems to fly best on a B6-4 engine. The rockets were purchased in lots of 2-3 dozen on Ebay for about $3.00 per rocket -- they were remaindered after a promotion. They're usually available in lots of a dozen for about $5.00 per rocket. This rocket is slightly longer than the Estes Alpha (also reviewed here) and is slightly easier to build. It has a plastic fin unit that slides onto the tail of the rocket, held in place by friction.
Engine Mount Click for larger image	The Engine Mount: If you want to build the Viper within a 1-2 hour pack meeting, you might consider pre-building the engine mount -- this is highly recommended for younger scouts. Although the engine mount is simple to build, parents/scouts are very creative at messing it up. Common mistakes include placing the slot for the engine hook too near the front of the engine tube. installing the engine mount in the plastic fin unit before the glue has set. Prebuilding this component allows the glue to dry and ensures that critical components are located in the proper position. See the diagram at left.
Click for larger image	Mounting a Shock Cord The Viper has a shock cord attached to the rocket by a Kevlar string that's attached the engine mount. The slide at left is from the Viper plans and shows the installation of the shock cord using a fire-resistant kevlar string. The kevlar string is anchored to the engine mount by the centering ring at the top of the engine tube. If you want, the string can be tied to the engine tube or temporarily held in place with a bit of tape.
Crepe Paper Attaching a Streamer Streamer packed inside rocket	Parachute or Streamer? For full details see an article at Apogee.com The Viper comes with a 12" plastic parachute. Consider giving the parachute to the scout for his/her bulletin board and using a paper streamer instead. Streamer material is a 12" to 18" inch strip of crepe paper (purchased by the roll in the birthday party section at Target). Attach it to the shock cord with a 1"x2" square of mailing label or just tie it on as illustrated in the sketch at left. The advantage of the streamer is that it tends to drop the rocket straight down. Rockets with parachutes tend to drift in the wind and often encounter the dreaded Rocket Eating Tree. Rockets make excellent tree decorations, but your scouts might not see it that way. Rocket descending using a streamer instead of a parachute

Safety Disclaimer

Model rockets activities in Scouting are described in the Webelos handbook and in the Space Exploration Merit Badge Handbook. While very effort has been made to provide accurate information as part of these model rocket discussions, the maintainers of Worthington Scouts cannot be held responsible for your rocket launching activities. In particular, it is your responsibility to carry out any necessary risk assessments and to implement appropriate safety measures.