Estes - Comanche 3 (1382) [1982-]

I built this model per instructions with the following exceptions and comments: Steps 1-3 Tied a piece of Kevlar® to the motor tube and cut it long enough to reach the top of the body tube (placed a swivel on the end) Steps 4-7 no changes Steps 8-11 Used Estes fin alignment tool (EST 2227). When I build another I will use a CA glue to attach the fins and then use epoxy fillets. I will also consider laying in some rectangular fiberglass strips in the fin joints to add strength (the fins break off a lot). Steps 12-17 I painted and added decals to match the original kit art. I first flew the 3rd stage alone, on a A8-3. The rocket performs well. Next I used the two stage configuration, B6-0 to A8-3 - amazing performance even on these minor motors. After several two stage flights I graduated to the whole show, D12-0 to C6-0 to 6-7. Unbelievable, the on-lookers amazed, beautiful flight - nearly out of site. Boosters located (thanks to spotters) and after a long walk, I find the third stage. During various flights the fins pop off and I use epoxy to re-attach. The last flight 3rd stage suffered some body crimping that I will patch with some fiberglass strips. This is one of my favorite rockets. 

Flight Log

Date	Rocket Name	Motor(s)	Altitude	Notes
1988-03-31	Matt Mathew's Estes Comanche-3	C11-7	500 feet	nosedove and stuck 3 inches into the ground
1989-12-27	Nicholas Rocketboy's Estes Comanche-3	C11-0/C6-0/C6-3	-	First engine started failed to ignite C6-0 LOUD! WISTLE! followed by a crunch cone pushed hrough...
1990-05-01	March Briner's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	By the time the 3rd stage lit, I couldn't see it anymore. Never saw it eject, never saw it come...
1999-08-21	Dave Hanson's Estes Comanche-3	B6-0/B6-6	-	Perfect staging. Broke three fins on landing
1999-09-18	Dick Stafford's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	1st & 2nd stages went, sustainer didn't ignite, amazingly the sustainer hit parallel to the ground...
2000-01-08	Dan Priven's Estes Comanche-3	B6-0/B6-6	-	It flew into a low cloud - much higher than expected. Ascent was fast. Descent with the streamers...
2000-01-08	Dan Priven's Estes Comanche-3	A8-3	-	Flight was low and generally unimpressive. Still, for 2. 5 N-s on a rocket with a 36 N-s capacity....
2000-01-15	Dan Priven's Estes Comanche-3	B6-0/B6-6	-	Beautiful flight - straight as an arrow. Descent is fast and a fin was popped, even though it...
2000-02-13	Jeff Fellman's Estes Comanche-3	A8-3	-	Due to high winds 20+ mph only launch upper stageCame down tail end first and broke fin. Will try...
2000-03-04	Dan Priven's Estes Comanche-3	C6-0/B6-6	-	Bizarre winds. The sustainer blew to the east, the booster to the south-east. Luckily, some...
2000-03-11	Dan Priven's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	I didn't affix the first two stages together tightly enough. 2nd stage didn't light. Prang, total...
2000-03-11	Dan Priven's Estes Comanche-3	C6-7	-	The engine was too tight be budged - it stuck out an extra inch, and wouldn't go in or out. After...
2000-03-11	Dan Priven's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/A8-5	-	I used a 1991 A8-5. Worked like a charm. Typically rock-like descent, but rain-softened grass and...
2000-05-05	Casey Smith's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	GREAT FLIGHT!!All engines lit for the first time. This kit went out of sight, It did not drift too...
2000-05-12	Casey Smith's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	Great boost, long arc over, never lit the top 2 stages. Disappeared behind a clump of trees never...
2000-06-10	Brian Mardirosian's Estes Comanche-3	B14-0/C6-7	-	What a combo! That B14-0 is a great booster motor! Moves out quick, and staging was about 40'...
2000-08-12	Dick Stafford's Estes Comanche-3	C6-0/C6-7	-	flew in 2 stage configuration
2000-08-26	David Virga's Estes Comanche-3	C6-0/C6-7	-	Last year, finally built the kit I bought 15yrs ago. . . 4 previous single stage flights; this was...
2000-09-09	Dick Stafford's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	never to be seen again
2001-03-24	Donald Besaw's Estes Comanche-3	B6-0/A8-3	-	Flawless staging. Fast descent on dual streamers, broke fin on landing. Repaired.
2001-03-25	Ed Scientist's Estes Comanche-3	B4-4	-	Awesome hight. One of the fins broke off and the yellow streamer tore at the bottom.
2001-03-31	Ed Scientist's Estes Comanche-3	B6-4	-	Awesome ready for 2 stages. Added longer shock cord but still hit the ground hard enough to break...
2001-04-01	Ed Scientist's Estes Comanche-3	C6-5	-	Lost another fin and had bottom of third stage mashed in. Gold streamer has more tears. Red...
2001-04-08	Ed Scientist's Estes Comanche-3	A8-3	-	Perfect flight as usual. Thinking about a parachute for single staged launches. A fin broke off as...
2001-04-29	Ed Scientist's Estes Comanche-3	B6-4	-	Straight up despite the previous fin repaires. Hit the ground perty darn hard after my homemade...
2001-05-19	Ed Scientist's Estes Comanche-3	B6-4	-	Estes chute slowed it down enough not too break a fin.
2001-06-24	Gary Meakin's Estes Comanche-3	B6-6	-	Perfect boost. Cracking of fin root even with a small parachute.
2001-07-04	David Fergus's Estes Comanche-3	B6-6	-	maiden flight of sustainer only, good flight
2001-07-07	David Fergus's Estes Comanche-3	B6-0	-	two stage flight, 2nd stage failed to light, arrowed in for good damage.
2001-07-22	Ed Scientist's Estes Comanche-3	C6-0/C6-7	-	Great boost looked like the engine pulled out at seperation. lawn darted tearing the body tube.
2001-07-22	Ed Scientist's Estes Comanche-3	C6-0/A8-3	-	Awesome straight all the way no damage. First two stage flight.
2001-08-05	Ed Scientist's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	Awesome. Slight arc when second stage ingnited. The rocket went out of sight and was not...
2001-09-02	Gary Meakin's Estes Comanche-3	C6-7	-	Good flight on single stage. Still broke a fin on landing even with a parachute.
2001-11-11	Gary Meakin's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	Didn't ignite 2nd stage and even used quickmatch between stages!
2002-05-14	Jason Vennard's Estes Comanche-3	B6-4	-	First flight, sustainer only. Good quick flight, dual streamers deployed with no problem. Fun to...
2002-06-16	Dean Cooper's Estes Comanche-3	C6-3/B6-4	-	Perfect BOOSTER flight, things went downhill from there! Booster section was too tight a fit, but...
2002-07-13	Robert LeNeal's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/B6-0/B6-6	-	Completely destroyed-1st stage shredded at separation, 2nd stage shredded during boost, and 3rd...
2002-12-20	Jim Bob's Estes Comanche-3	C6-7	-	-The C6-0 Really got it started then when the C6-7 ignited it pushed the motor mount all the way...
2003-03-09	Will Borkowski's Estes Comanche-3	C6-5	-	Sweet flight up, perfect ejection at apogee, short recovery walk.
2003-03-09	Will Borkowski's Estes Comanche-3	C5-6	-	Beautiful single stage straight flight up, ejection right at apogee, long recovery walk...
2003-04-27	Donald Besaw's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/B6-0/A8-5	-	My first 3 stage flight. All 3 stages lit perfectly, got up around 1,200-1,500 feet. Sustainer...
2003-11-30	Jason Reeder's Estes Comanche-3	C6-3	-	First flight, first stage only....Heavy winds...nice flight....very high.....landed a 1/4 mile...
2004-03-13	James Reyome's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	Holy expletives deleted, Batman! Three good stages, perfect flight, all pieces recovered but the...
2004-05-08	D Lehtola's Estes Comanche-3	D12/C6/C6-7	-	Flew nice and straight, estmatedt 2600', only 3-stage at club launch and got many ooos
2004-05-08	Michael+and+Micah Cox's Estes Comanche-3	B4-2	-	My larger mylar streamer came off (oops - not enough wadding I guess). Still, it was my son's...
2004-05-15	Michael+and+Micah Cox's Estes Comanche-3	B6-0/B6-6	-	Booster motor kicked out but stage failed to separate - major burn damage to booster. Descent rate...
2004-05-15	Michael+and+Micah Cox's Estes Comanche-3	B4-2	-	Quite a bit higher than last B4-2 flight (delay variance I suppose). Used 12 inch parachute. Nice...
2004-09-25	Andrew Grippo's Estes Comanche-3	B6-4	-	Single stage only on it's maiden flight. Used the two stock streamers at deployment and recovered...
2005-02-01	Paul Bigas's Estes Comanche-3	2xD12-3	-	The second stage did not ignite. She arced over and came in fast.
2005-02-05	Aaron Stanley's Estes Comanche-3	B6-0/C6-5	-	When the B6-0 lit the C6-5 something went wrong and the rocket completely catod. I was able to...
2005-03-19	Peter Reed's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-7	-	even on only 2 stages it still went waaayy high, this time all I have left is the 1st stage minus...
2005-03-19	Peter Reed's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	this went waaaaaaayyy high, too high to see much of anything but, it was kewl to see each stage...
2005-05-07	Aaron Stanely's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	The boost was perfect all three stages lit perfect. But I lost the middle booster.
2005-05-07	Aaron Stanely's Estes Comanche-3	C6-7	-	It was a perfect flight to about 900 feet.
2005-05-07	Aaron Stanley's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	Perfect flight except for I lost the middle booster.
2005-06-25	Linux203's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	Out of sight flight. Rocket descended extremely fast. Spotted at 100' prior to landing. Both...
2005-07-23	Linux203's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	Amazingly high flight, out of sight. Weathercocked terribly, but recovered 750 feet from launch
2005-08-13	Roy Lappalainen's Estes Comanche-3	D12/C6/C6-7	-	Stupid rocketeer trick. Put a D12-5 in the booster by accident. Second stage did not light....
2005-08-13	Daniel Griswold's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	weathercocked slightly. Broke 1 fin in 2nd stage. Broke 1 fin in sustainer. Simple glue repair.
2005-08-13	Daniel Griswold's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	Straight as an arrow. 1st stage landed 10' from the pad. 2nd stage 120' from pad. Sustainer...
2005-09-11	Daniel Griswold's Estes Comanche-3	D12-O/C6-0/C6-7	-	Recovered all three pieces. Weathercocked slightly into the wind.
2005-10-15	Aaron Stanley's Estes Comanche-3	C6-5	-	Anothe great flight this time had a glow stick taped onto the side of the rocket but still land...
2005-10-15	Aaron Stanley's Estes Comanche-3	C5-7	-	Perfect boost with a slight weather cock. The ejection was a little bit late but got to love...
2005-12-23	Jason Lenentine's Estes Comanche-3	C11-0/C6-0/B6-6	-	Fantastic flight. Recovered all three pieces. Booster landed 15 feet from pad. 3rd stage about...
2006-02-07	Tim Tyler's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	First staged rocket, perfect first staged flight. Staged higher than expected, did not see either...
2006-03-17	Jeff Hollenbeck's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-5	-	1st stage boosted properly but motor ejected, no separation at 2nd stage ignition. Charred 1st...
2006-06-24	Jason Lenentine's Estes Comanche-3	C11-0/C6-0/B6-6	-	Another great flight. Recovered all three pieces.
2006-09-16	Aaron Stanley's Estes Comanche-3	C6-7	-	I didn't have any C6-5's so I went with a C6-7 and the flight went great.
2006-09-24	Edward Chess's Estes Comanche-3	B4-4	-	Flown Single Staged
2006-11-03	Matt Gillard's Estes Comanche-3	A8-3	-	straight boost, landed close on a 12 inch parachute - dusk launch.
2007-01-28	Jesse Neufeld's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	First multi stage flight. Came down pretty fast onto ice, broke two fins on impact.
2007-01-28	Jesse Neufeld's Estes Comanche-3	B6-6	-	3rd Stage stability test flight. Straight as an arrow, but a fast decent with just streamers
2007-04-28	Andrew Grippo's Estes Comanche-3	C6-0/B6-6	-	Good flight, good motor / delay combo. Rocket retrieved from on top of theater. damage to fin,...
2007-06-16	Matt Gillard's Estes Comanche-3	B6-0/A8-3	-	clean separation of booster stage, lower unit hit my car - won't be telling the wife- had a 8 inch...
2007-07-01	Chan Stevens's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/B6-0/A8-3	-	Typical Comanche effect--sep'd stages before lighting 2nd stage, lawn dart, total loss.
2007-07-05	Peter Richardson's Estes Comanche-3	D12/B6-0/C6-7	-	Spectacular flight on a clear day with some wind. Had to aim rocket into wind. Landed nearby...
2007-07-14	Tim DaKiNg's Estes Comanche-3	C6-0/C6-7	-	Awsome flight. Flew in 2 stage configuration. Searched stage for 2h in a corn field.
2007-07-15	Ed Giugliano's Estes Comanche-3	B6-0/B6-6	-	Nice two stage flight for a windy day. Landed hard, the wind dragged it over the ground and two...
2007-07-17	Frederik Doll's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	Great Flight but burned the first and second stage. only found 2 fins of the first stage. FREAKING...
2007-07-21	Ed Giugliano's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/B6-6	-	Second time this has happened - staging failure on a D12. No successful D12 flights so far! Model...
2007-08-25	Ray King's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	Did not stage at 2nd stage - Lawn Darted = Nose cone so deep I could not remove it.
2008-05-04	Jason Orosco's Estes Comanche-3	B6-0/A8-5	-	Great flight snapped one fin off on landing. Can be repaired.
2008-10-12	Edward Chess's Estes Comanche-3	C6-0/B6-6	-	Excellent boost, clean staging. Recovered on streamers, and even found the booster!
2009-02-21	David Sindel's Estes Comanche-3	C6-0/A8-3	-	A nice flight. Nose cone separated but was found.
2009-04-09	John Bishop's Estes Comanche-3	C6-0/C6-3	-	Despite nose cone sticking, nice 2 stage flight. Came in ballistic and hit pavement- no damage to...
2009-08-01	Dave Goodwin's Estes Comanche-3	C6-0/C6-5	-	First staged flight - next time we go for 3!
2009-08-22	David Sindel's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/B6-0/A8-5	-	First sucessful 3 stage launch. Lost the 18mm booster in the high grass.
2009-11-21	Monty Liu's Estes Comanche-3	3xE9-4	425 feet	Cato'd at take off how ever the explosion set off the thirs stage(first and second stage exploded...
2009-12-19	Dave Goodwin's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/C6-0/C6-7	-	Beautiful flight, all 3 engines staging perfectly. All stages recovered, just the ubiquitous...
2010-06-12	Tyler Runyon's Estes Comanche-3	B6-2	-	Straight up, straight down. The streamers were stuck to BT.
2011-10-02	Dave B's Comanche 3	C6-5	1000"+ Est feet	Impressive launch. The nose cone and streamers failed to deploy at apogee which turned this...
2011-12-04	Rich DeAngelis's Comanche 3	B6-4	233 feet	Maiden voyage of this rocket. I loaded it up with a B6-4, then stuck the other two stages on as I...
2011-12-10	Chan Stevens's Estes Comanche-3	D12-0/B6-0/A8-5	-
2012-03-18	Rich DeAngelis's Comanche 3	C6-5	668 feet	Test flight #2 for the 3-stage Comanche 3. This flight was also a single stage mission. After the...
2012-04-27	Justin Stotter's Comanche 3	B6-4	-
2012-04-29	Justin Stotter's Comanche 3	B6-0, B6-4	-
2012-05-19	Justin Stotter's Comanche 3	B6-4	-	Testing new TTW fin design. Good flight with no damage.
2012-05-19	Justin Stotter's Comanche 3	B6, B4-4	-	First flight with two stages after upgrading to TTW fins. Separation was quite a bit higher than I...

Comments:

D.E.P. (February 1, 2000)

A small parachute is highly recommended. This model goes up like a rocket and comes down like a rock. If I ever build another, I'd replace the fins on the main rocket with through-the-wall fins of fiberglass or thin aircraft plywood. If you haven't flown a multi-stage rocket, try it - it's great fun. The review was accurate and my experiences were substantially the same.

B.M. (May 1, 2000)

Having lost the middle stage many years ago, I recently dusted off my Comanche, stuffed an empty D12 casing in the bottom stage and launched it on a B14-0/C6-7 combo. The B14-0 ripped the rocket off the pad in a blink of an eye for a great flight. Instead of a small parachute, I went with a larger streamer.

unknown (August 1, 2000)

My recoveries hit both extremes. I had a broken fin on the first single-stage A8-3 flight. My 2 stage D12-0/A8-3 flight went out of sight, and was never recovered. I'd recommend either a large spill hole, or just a larger streamer for multi-stage flights. It's a hard balance to strike.

R.LN. (April 1, 2001)

I agree that the Comanche is a great rocket. However, on my first three stage flight, something went wrong. On separation, the bottom stage proceeded to shred all of its fins. Needless to say, we had to track SIX individual pieces raining down on us. Fortunately, we found all the pieces. My only tip would be to reinforce the bottom stage with strips of fiberglass along the fin root. Otherwise, this is an awesome rocket that can fly very well on A motors, yet can be launched half a mile up using three stages and C motors in the top two. This review was very accurate. I have had the same experiences as the reviewer with the smaller motors. I liked the idea of placing a Kevlar® loop in the body tube to attach the shock cord to.

D.B.Jr. (April 1, 2001)

This is a fun rocket, however I think it should of had slotted tubes for the upper stage. I flew mine on a B6-0/A8-3 combo with perfect results with the exception of the usual popped fin on landing. This is a minor problem, but who wants to have to re-glue fins after each flight? Not me.

C.S. (April 1, 2001)

Wonderfully fun kit, I am glad they are re-issueing it. I have probably had 6 of these since the 80's. They definitely are the best 3 stagers short of the MPC Microseconde 3. I saw a guy who upscaled one for HPR, gorgeous. I have added basswood fins to all of the latter one's I have built and used 5 minute epoxy. Really helps save the fins. Also, you can put a very thin coat of CA on them as well to beef them up. Good review.

M.B.H. (October 18, 2001)

I made and flew a Commanche at a summer camp when I was 14. It was my third or forth rocket and went together great. Me and about five others all made one each, that launch was quite impressive with six or so Commanche-3s. Two or three were flown multiple times, until they were completely destroyed and one was outright lost. One rocket got kinked twice in the middle of the body tube. The last flight was simply the remains of *two* Commanches, it was just the first stage with a D12-0 (no Ds with delays) and a nosecone taped on. It was a very unstable flight, zipping around in circles until the delay went, then POP. And the fins and pieces of tubing gently floated back down. The Commanche is a very nice rocket, I still have mine, and I recommend it to anyone who wants a good altitude buster.

P.M. (November 11, 2001)

I think this is the coolest rocket I have ever built. The construction is a snap. The only problem I had was making the decals stay on. The ones on the 3rd stage fin came off, I would like to see water decals instead. If you want a smooth, fast rocket- the Commanche is it.

M.V.L. (February 20, 2002)

I've built two of these - one recently, the other about 15 years ago in 7th grade. Launched the first one full load: D12-0, C6-0, C6-7. Beautiful flight, but never saw the second stage again. Still have the sustainer! New one has flown once also on a D12-0, C6-0, C6-7. Recovered all pieces. Sustainer landed about 200 feet behind me, and came in flat and somewhat slow on two large streamers. This is my favorite kit of all time. I built it stock, and have never had a fin separation or any other problems.

W.M. (October 2, 2002)

I've flown mine several times as a 2 stager, and a couple of times as a 3 stager. A 1-3 combo gets a lot of height, not that short of the 1-2-3 combo. (Using a D as the booster really gets this bird going, especially when you don't have the weight of a second stage to lift.) As I understand it, the booster sages are likely to shed fins at separation. Sometimes the section turns sideways while still traveling at a high rate of speed, and a fin or two pops off.

unknown (June 11, 2003)

Yes, this kit does fall like a rock, especially when the streamer pops out and then melts to the side of the body...

D.L. (May 16, 2004)

First flight was on ALL stages - figured if it lawn darted or if it was damaged on recovery that I would at least see one great flight. Man did it go! Recovered all boosters and sustainer with help from fellow club members. All fins intact.

CGN (August 12, 2006)

I keep having problems with recovery. The rocket is _too_ stable on descent. Tips upside down (i.e. fins up) pulling the streamers against the body and rendering them useless. Top of body keeps getting crunched. On the plus side, the fins never impact the ground directly :)

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