I've emailed the manufacturer.

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A dark night in a city that knows how to keep its secrets. But high above the quiet streets on the 12th floor of the Acme Building, one man is still trying to find the answers to life's persistent questions. Guy Noir, Private Eye.

Fox Valley Rocketeers: http://www.foxvalleyrocketeers.org

This one was flown and the delay was 4.9 seconds based on the video. The average delay is 6.27 from the certification letter for the motor, so if that’s typical about 1.4 seconds came off. The delay was very good for the rocket it was in but nearly a second longer than the first test.

From Aerotech:

"Hi Mark,

We don’t explicitly endorse or promote this practice on the Q-Jets, although modifying composite motor delays has been going on as long as I can remember in the hobby.

That said, the individual who was adjusting the delays appears to be an experienced flyer and went about shortening the delay in the correct manner. I can’t fault his technique or results.


Best Regards,
Gary

__________________
A dark night in a city that knows how to keep its secrets. But high above the quiet streets on the 12th floor of the Acme Building, one man is still trying to find the answers to life's persistent questions. Guy Noir, Private Eye.

Fox Valley Rocketeers: http://www.foxvalleyrocketeers.org

Thanks for following up on this with Gary, Bunny.

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Scott D. Hansen
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WOOSH NAR Section #558

Translation :

( 1 ) "We don’t explicitly endorse or promote this practice on the Q-Jets"

= We will not accept liability, at this point in time.

( 2 ) "although modifying composite motor delays has been going on as long as I can remember in the hobby"

= I know that people have been modifying delays, whether "legal" or not, for decades and I'm okay with this, as long as I don't officially endorse doing so, until I know it works.

( 3 ) "That said, the individual who was adjusting the delays appears to be an experienced flyer and went about shortening the delay in the correct manner."

= We know that this method works well and was done properly.

( 4 ) " I can’t fault his technique or results."

= As soon as we see if there is enough demand, we will be selling an "authorized tool" for shortening delays for these motors, at a good mark-up.


Dave F.

#2 should read, "I've been doing that $#i+ for decades."

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Agreed !

I am waiting for some A3-6s to arrive so I can give them a try. Will post results.

The next email should ask Gary to put it on an obscure link on the website so NAR can "contest bless" it. Everyone else is good now.

I got a Wizard for $3.24 from the Hobby Lobby clearance and built it while I was on vacation. Today I flew two Quest A3-6s in it to confirm the delays were accurate and they seemed good so I’ll try drilling a couple to four to fly in something like an Alpha.

The Wizard was originally 12.99 and for that price would have been a disappointment. The shock cord should be twice as long, and a fin was knocked loose on a normal recovery. I hope Estes puts a lot of thought into beginner’s rockets that nearly guarantee good experiences for first timers.