RocketReviews.com - Estes - Mini Max - Review by Jason Orosco

Brief:
The Mini Max is a single stage 13mm rocket with a streamer used for recovery. It's the baby brother to the Der Red Max.

Basic Estes Instructions well written and the fin marking guide and shock chord mount are included in the instructions you need to cut out.

I started with laser cut fins sanding both sides of the sheet and cutting them out, sanding the leading edge. The fins are nice a sturdy. The engine mount was the next process. It is a nice sturdy engine mount tube and not one of those flimsy blue tubes.

The nice sturdy laser cut center rings not the flimsy ones that in passing look like they have been hit with a punch. The next process was cutting out the tube marking guide from the instructions, wrapping it around the body tube and then marking the lines on the tube. I used wood glue to attach the fins to the body tube. While that

was drying, I cut out the shock chord mount and assembled that. That was glued in after the fins had dried. Next was the launch lug, which was glued to the body tube with white glue.

The next step was a dry test fit of the engine mount into the body. It was a nice fit without having to sand the center rings. I put a bead of white glue inside the body and engine was inserted and left to dry. Next was the screw eye which was centered into the nose cone after being sanded smooth.

I added a drop of glue in the hole to keep the screw eye from pulling out during ejection charge. The base of the nose cone needed a little sanding to get a nice snug fit. The last phase was apply a fillet of glue to the fins and launch lug and attach the streamer to the shock cord with masking tape .

Finishing:
Finishing the Mini Max was easy. I applied 2 coats of sanding sealer to the fins and nose cone, letting the coats dry between. I then applied a 3rd coat and let it dry with a final sanding of the fins and nose cone. After wiping down with a tact cloth, I applied a coat of Rustoleum White primer and let it dry, sanding between coats. After wiping with tact cloth, I applied a coat of Valspar Gloss Black paint, again letting it dry between the two coats. For the body tube and fins, they were painted using Valspar Gloss Red Paint and letting dry between the two coats. After drying for two days, I applied the decals letting them dry overnight. I then applied a light coat of Future floor finish to protect the decals. This provided a nice glossy finish and the decals were easy to apply.

Flight:
The first 2 flights were on Estes 1/2A3-2T motors. Both were nice low flights and easy to track. The last two flights of the day were on Estes A10-3 motors and nice high flights, but easy to track.

Recovery:
All flights were good and streamer fully deployed fine. On one of A10-3 flights I didn't add enough wadding and scorched the nose cone. I just need to sand and reapply a coat of paint.

Summary:
This is a great rocket. It seems Estes is moving in the right direction going with the sturdy laser cut fins and center rings. Also, it's nice to have a sturdy engine mount tube instead of the flimsy blue tube, Nice hard wood BNC that holds up well.

Flight Log

Date	Rocket Name	Motor(s)	Altitude	Notes
2010-04-18	John Bergsmith's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	Nice straight and stable boost. Good performer on the A10-3 that will work great at most small...
2010-05-09	Thomas Malthouse's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	Picture Perfect. A10-3 really is perfect for this little beastie.
2010-05-23	Todd Mullin's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-
2010-05-23	Todd Mullin's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-
2010-05-23	Todd Mullin's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-
2010-05-25	Jason Orosco's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	Nice flight a little walk to recover this one.
2010-05-25	Jason Orosco's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	Good flight.
2010-07-30	Duane Boldt's Estes Mini Max	A3-4T	-	Drag race with modified Estes Mini Max. the modified one didn't ignite because of dirty contacts....
2010-07-30	Duane Boldt's Estes Mini Max	A3-4T	-	Great flight. Both rockets ignited and flew great even in the wind we had. These are both great...
2010-07-30	Duane Boldt's Estes Mini Max	A3-4T	-	Drag raced with a modified, shortened Custom Zero Gravity. Excellent flight of both rockets.
2010-09-05	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	Motor heat melted the paint at the bottom of the motor mount and underside of the fins. ...
2010-09-05	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	I had to sand down a couple of A10s to fit into the motor mount. Seems to be a common problem...
2010-09-05	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	1/2A3-2	-	Maiden flight for the Mini Max. Flawless with 10s duration, recovered a mere 20 ft from launcher.
2010-09-06	Donald Besaw's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	Excellent first flight, nice straight flight to about 300 feet. Great streamer recovery, landed...
2010-09-19	John Bergsmith's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-
2010-09-19	John Bergsmith's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	Nice flight.
2010-10-05	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	Second flight on Estes 6 inch chute. Deployed at about 50 feet above the ground. I might be...
2010-10-05	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	The first try with a new Estes 6 inch chute. The chute didn't deploy, just a wad of plastic. ...
2010-10-23	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	Clone of previous flight. 18 second duration.
2010-10-23	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	Tried a homemade 6 mylar chute - complete failure. The chute, made from a mylar baloon, stayed...
2010-10-23	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	Used dual streamers - plenty of room in the body tube. All flights weathercocked in gusty winds.
2010-11-06	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	Another successful flight with chute deployment. 23 seconds.
2010-11-06	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	A good flight using a loosely-packed Estes 6 inch chute. There's not much room in there for much...
2011-05-30	Matthew Bond's Estes Mini Max	A3-4	-	First Flight of the Mini Max. Swapped out the streamer for a 9" nylon chute. Nice boost, very...
2011-06-01	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	First flight after some much needed maintenance on the Mini - dents filled in NC, longer shock...
2011-06-08	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	The combination of the wind and the 6 inch chute meant quite a long drift from the launch pad. ...
2011-06-30	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	A3-4	-	Perfect flight with no wind this morning. Recovered on a 6 inch chute, almost landed on top of...
2011-07-10	Glen's Mini Max	A10-3T	-
2011-07-10	Glen's Mini Max	A10-3T	-
2011-07-16	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	A3-4	-	6 inch chute didn't open until about 50 feet off the ground. Still a nice flight.
2011-07-16	Tyler Runyon's Estes Mini Max	1/2A3-4T	161 feet	Straight boost off the mini launch pad. Thought that it was going into neighbors yard, but landed...
2011-07-20	Tyler Runyon's Mini Max	A10-3T	264 feet	Straight up with a little bit of rolling. Drifted a little, at least away from trees.
2011-08-05	Chris J Taylor's Mini Max	A10-3T	-	Great little rocket flown over 10 times, cracked a fin on second launch rough landing on pavement....
2011-08-17	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	Straight up despite the gentle breeze. A pretty flight.
2011-09-21	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	A nice launch with my old reliable Mini Max. Launched with my son today.
2011-09-25	Glen's Mini Max	A10-3T	-
2011-10-05	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	A3-4	-	I haven't given up on using the Estes 6-inch chute with this rocket, even though it rarely opens...
2011-12-18	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	A10-3	-	I use the empty playground area to launch, since some RC guys were using the soccer fields. A...
2012-02-01	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	Estes A10-3T	-	First of eight flights today. Nice flight and close recovery with minimal breeze.
2012-02-01	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	Estes 1/2A3-4T	-	Oops! I meant to grab an A3-4, but mistakenly got a 1/2A3-4. Not a good thing. An unimpressive...
2012-03-14	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	Estes A10-3T	-	Routine, although the MM didn't seem to gain the altitude I normally see. This little rocket is...
2012-03-18	Dean Booth's Estes Mini Max	Estes 1/2A3-2T	-	Just a little warm up flight to check the winds for my glider launch. Not too high on 1/2A power.
2012-04-11	Paul Nortness's Mini Max	1/2A3-4T	200 feet	Great first flight. streamer took a bit long to unravel but once it did it slowed MiniMax down...
2012-04-11	Paul Nortness's Mini Max	1/2A3-4T	200 feet	Second flight, winds were a tad stronger than last time. Perfect small field flight. Got up about...
2012-05-19	John Bergsmith's Mini Red Max	Estes A10-3T	-
2012-05-20	Bill Eichelberger's Mini Max	A3-4	-	Really impressive flight that almost recovered perfectly, but it caught a thermal, then a breeze...

Estes - Mini Max

Flight Log

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