RocketReviews.com - Estes - Mongoose (2092) [1994-]

I originally purchased an Estes' Mongoose Kit because I wanted to use it for an experiment, however, when my 8 year old nephew came to visit it seemed like a good kit to build together. So we built it.

The instructions have lots of illustrations, however, that didn't help us fully understand how to assemble the lower stage's motor mount. I think the problem starts in the first step when sliding the green booster adapter onto the motor mount tube. It tells you to slide it up to the 14mm mark, however, it is a bit confusing as to whether the front of the ring or the rear of the ring should be at 14mm. In the second step, you are told to apply glue and slide the motor mount "all the way in" the booster fin unit. The pictures show it partially out. Well, we got ours "all the way in" and flush with a bit of sanding. Of coarse, when finished the booster did not attach to the second stage flush. The remaining instructions and pictures posed no issues. [Picture]

As a side note, a young friend of mine had built the Mongoose on his own and had it at our last launch. I noticed that his rear tube was sticking out some and when attached to the second stage, it was flush.

At assembly the quality of the kit seemed fair. Plastic fin units. Plastic fin units. Standard motor mounts assembles. Two-piece plastic nose cone. Streamer recovery system. Streamer recovery system. The kit doesn't require any painting with yellow body tubes and pinkish nose cone and fin units. It also came with color scheme matching self-adhesive decals.

The weakness of the kit was seen in the sturdiness of the body tubes and the booster motor mount's susceptibility to burning away. With both my young friend's and our rocket, the booster was damaged on first flight. The damage was a slightly crushed body tube.

After 2 flights, the booster motor mount was completely burned away on our model. I think this is due to the method of motor retention that the Mongoose uses. On the booster, the engine block is mounted at the rear of the motor mount. On the second stage the engine block is mounted at the top of the motor mount like most kits. The two motors are taped together and slid into the second stage until they rest on the engine block. The booster is then slid onto the motor until is rests against it's engine block. This leaves the booster motor recessed approximately 3/8" inch. This causes two problems. First, it is a bit difficult to load the igniter and second, the rear engine block burns.

As mentioned though, flying the Mongoose also demonstrated a strength. This kit has nice flights. This kit has nice flights. With a B6-0 booster you get to see separation and watch flawless in-air ignition of the second stage. Two successful flights where impressive. My young friend's single flight faired differently but nonetheless impressive. With a [Picture]

C6 booster we barely saw the separation and with a C6 in the second stage we strained to see ejection. After ejection, we watched the wind carry the Mongoose a long distance and it was lost in trees beyond the edge of the field.

Estes calls the Mongoose a "perfect first time two-stage rocket". I would question "first time" due to the instructions. Also, I don't think anyone could keep this rocket flying for very long due to the weak body tubes and rear engine mount. The only redeeming factor is that we enjoyed several impressive flights, however, I don't think that outweighs the other issues.

Flight Log

Date	Rocket Name	Motor(s)	Altitude	Notes
1996-07-04	Ron Watkins's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/B6-6	-	Good flight-good stage separation-predicted altitude 1,010 ft. -good recovery.
1998-09-17	Paul Smith's Estes Mongoose	A8-3	-	Hit asphalt with one fin at high speed on landing. Slight BT bend just above fins. One fin...
1998-09-18	Paul Smith's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/B6-4	-	Severe BT bend. Landed on grass at high speed, but existing weakness too much. No longer fliable.
1998-09-29	Paul Smith's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/B6-4	-	Lost sight of second stage, didn't find until next launch. This was the first flight of the...
1998-10-02	Paul Smith's Estes Mongoose	B4-4	-	(Second Stage Only) Landed 20' from pad
1998-11-17	Paul Smith's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/B6-6	-	Lost a launch lug - found later still attached to launch rod. Flew perfectly, straight and quite...
1999-04-24	Paul Smith's Estes Mongoose	A8-0/1/2A6-4	-	Perfect
1999-05-02	Paul Smith's Estes Mongoose	C6-0/C6-7	-	Flew horizontally, over a woods. Never saw sustainer again. Recovered booster.
2000-03-12	Robert Schuette's Estes Mongoose	B4-4	-	Nice launch and flight. Not enough streamer, bent rocket upon landing just above fins. Still...
2000-04-04	Shawn Bradley's Estes Mongoose	4xC6	-	I modified my mongoose so it has 4 booster stages, never saw it again. Must of gone at least 2300!!
2000-05-05	Casey Smith's Estes Mongoose	C6-0/C6-7	-	Due to rod whip, this kit went at an angle of the pad and looked like a stage cruise missle. Never...
2000-11-12	David Urbanek's Estes Mongoose	C6-0/C6-7	-	Slowish boost. Arced a lot. 7 seconds too long. Streamer too small.
2001-05-17	Jonathan Elder's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/A8-3	-	Slight weather cock, early charge (duh, look at the engines used), perfect delpoyment, no dammage...
2002-04-13	Tim Burger's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/B6-6	-	Nice staged flight.
2002-05-11	Michael Mangieri's Estes Mongoose	B4-4	-	Single stage flight - very good - best launch of the day. Fins melted a bit (too close to the...
2002-05-27	Tim Burger's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/B6-6	-	Nice high flight - I was watching the booster, recovery crew watching sustainer. Both parts found...
2002-06-18	Michael Mangieri's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/A8-5	-	Nice flight - straight up, clean sustainer ignition, went quite high. Chute opened nicely - then,...
2002-09-07	Tim Burger's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/B6-6	-	Good flight - good staging. Deployed OK, but broke fin on very hard ground.
2002-11-09	Tim Burger's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/B6-6	-	Nice staging, good flight.
2003-03-22	Tim Burger's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/B6-6	-	Good stage, good flight. Gave to young D. May since his was lost earlier in the day.
2003-04-14	R Turner's Estes Mongoose	C6-0/A8-5	-	Perfect flight both motors. Booster impailed in grass huge dent in tube. Rocket drifted into...
2003-07-06	Rocky Firth's Estes Mongoose	B4-4	-	Launched just the second stage for a great flight and recovery.
2003-08-18	Lee Smith's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/C6-5	-	Wow..Lost sight of rocket. Booster crimped after hard landing. Rocket vanished for what seemed...
2003-11-16	Joe Gumby's Estes Mongoose	B6-4	-	perfect flight, B6-0 B6-6 results in out of sight flight. Streamer is far too small.
2003-11-22	David Logan's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/B6-6	-	Perfect staging and deployment. Crimped sustainer on landing. Also melted sustainer fin can a bit.
2004-05-15	Darwin May's Estes Mongoose	A8-3	-	It didn't go very high this time. I did however get a good spot landing. It was 2 inches from the...
2004-05-16	David Sindel's Estes Mongoose	A8-3	-	Launch lug stuck on pad :(
2004-06-26	David Logan's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/B6-6	-	NARTREK Bronze two stage flight. Time to retire this one soon, the fin units are starting to melt...
2004-07-19	Forrest Henry's Estes Mongoose	B6-4	-	Nose cone came untied on ejection, but everything was recovered fine and easy to repar for the 2...
2004-07-19	Forrest Henry's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/A8-3	-	Didn't want to lose the rocket on a gusty day, so we gave it a weak upper stage. Flight and...
2004-08-02	Dana Ryman's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/A8-3	-	I needed this for my last requirement for NARTREK Bronze. Excellent maiden flight. I accidently...
2004-08-09	Matt Gillard's Estes Mongoose	C6-0/A8-3	-	Good straight flight, booster stage separated from rocket, both ends recovered.
2005-03-20	James Robinson's Estes Mongoose	C6-7	800 feet	I wasted two ingniters then my wife got ingnition on third. The rocket lifted off out of sight....
2005-06-27	Reid Smith's Estes Mongoose	A8-3	-	Launched as a single stage, went up maybe 150 feet. Never slowed down before it hit the gravel...
2006-06-24	Chris Coffin's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/B6-6	-	NARTREK Bronze two stage flight requirement. Also my first ever two stage flight. Flew straight as...
2007-08-17	Chris Halinaty's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/B6-6	-
2008-03-29	Chris Halinaty's Estes Mongoose	C6-0/C6-5	-	Booster tube creased and needs repair.
2008-03-29	Chris Halinaty's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/C6-7	-
2008-10-13	David Sindel's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/B6-6	-	Sims estimated 900 feet, I concur.
2008-11-16	David Sindel's Estes Mongoose	A8-3	-
2009-01-18	David Sindel's Estes Mongoose	D12-0/A8-3	-	Used a 10 24mm saucer for the booster. Staging was at a side angle but it recovered safely.
2009-03-10	John Adams's Estes Mongoose	C6-0/C6-7	-	Nice flight. Weather vaned a bit. Booster flew a long way (kinda glided). Recovered under...
2009-03-22	Moe Bertrand's Estes Mongoose	B6-0/A6-4	-	Nice 1st flight of my Mongoose out of the tower. Booster came in ballistic just feet from the...
2009-08-03	John Adams's Estes Mongoose	C6-0/C6-7	-	Sweet flight. Weather-vaned a little. Came down on a streamer for a not-so-long walk. Booster went...
2010-09-19	John French's Estes Mongoose	C6-5	-	First flight, as single stage. Flew straight and quite high, perfect ejection at apogee, field too...
2011-08-10	Tyler Runyon's Mongoose	C6-5	-	Flew perfectly straight. I saw ejection. Looked down for a second, and it was gone! Oh well, buy...

Estes - Mongoose (2092) [1994-]

Flight Log

What You Can Do