Model Profile OOP Quest HL-20

I bought two of these HL-20 kits directly from Quest during a clearance sale a few years back. At the time they were $4.99 each.

I had built and flown the old Centuri X-24 Bug in the early 1970s. This model looks to be a revised version of that original design.

Some interesting features:

1. "Aeroshroud body" - Basically a formed cone from 110 lb. printed cardstock. You don't glue the tab to join it together, a double sided tape is used with great results.

2. Vacu-form canopy - the fit is good. You can see I took the easy way out and blacked it in with a Sharpie pen.

3. Pennies used for tail weight - Two pennies are folded into a card stock piece and glued to the inside rear of the shroud. After the engine ejects, the penny weight pulls down the rear and raises the nose for a lifting body "glide".

4. Rear eject streamer - The engine is taped to a streamer. At ejection, the engine pulls the streamer from a short 1/2" diameter tube.

I never really got a good glide from the HL-20.

After reading the reviews on EMRR (rocketreviews.com) I can assume not many others had glide success either. That's probably why the kit went out-of-production.