Estes Mongoose

Estes Mongoose

Contributed by Chun Mak

Construction Rating: starstarstarstar_borderstar_border
Flight Rating: starstarstar_borderstar_borderstar_border
Overall Rating: starstarstarstar_borderstar_border
Published: 2020-03-18
Diameter: 0.98 inches
Length: 26.50 inches
Manufacturer: Estes
Skill Level: 1
Style: Multi-Stage

Brief

Two-stage Estes level 1 kit

Components

  • 2 plastic fin units
  • Plastic nose cone
  • BT-50 body tube & first stage tube
  • 2 18mm motor mounts (no hooks)
  • 2 pc launch lug
  • 12" parachute
  • 1/8" shock cord
  • Self-stick markings

Construction

Very easy assembly with plastic and white glue

Traditional tube launch lug instead of new plastic double end lug used on other E2X kits

Have to be careful in scraping paint off body tube to glue launch lug

Nose cone is very loose and had to add 2 strips of masking tape to tighten it up

Finishing

No balsa fins means no sanding and sealing required

All parts are pre-finished, no painting required

All markings are self-stick

Could use a couple of more stickers for the fins

Construction Score: 3

Flight

Maiden flight using B6-0/B6-6. Pre-flight prep was simple.

Launch day conditions with slight breeze, so angled launch rod into the wind 5 degrees.

 

Added brass snap swivel for connection of shroud lines to nose cone

Added fire retardant blanket to protect chute in lieu of wadding

Booster stage did not tumble and came straight down, augering into the dirt

Parachute deployed on upper stage and recovered 500' behind launcher

Flight Rating: 2

Summary

If you want a simple kit to get out and launch quick, the Mongoose is great.  It is a very high flier, so recommend field size at least 1000'x 1000' with B's and double that with C's and you'll really have to keep an eye on it or it will disappear.

Overall Rating: 3
Other Reviews
  • Estes Mongoose By Alan and Duane Boldt (July 14, 2010)

    This review is for the 2010 EMRR Challenge "Two on One" review. Duane Boldt and Alan Boldt contributed to this review. Alan: This 26.5" 2-stage rocket is purple and yellow with cool decals. It is easy to build and there are not many parts. The Mongoose has plastic, one-piece fin units on both the booster and sustainer. Components: 1 - 18" Purple body tube 1 - 2" Purple ...

  • Estes Mongoose By John "MAX" Venable (September 13, 2009)

    This is a entry-level, two-stage ro cket with parachute recovery. The kit is a basic two-stage consisting of upper and lower body tubes, nose cone, molded plastic fins, and a basic recovery system. Construction was easy, but once again I had to tweak it! I heard that the upper and lower tubes around the motor mounts was weak so instead of centering rings, I filled the upper and lower tubes ...

  • Estes Mongoose By David Sindel (January 15, 2009)

    This is a fairly simple 2-stage, 18mm rocket from Estes. I have slightly modified mine with shortening and a modified booster motor mount to repair damage. The parts list: 18" of BT-50; mine only has 10" left. 1-15/16" of BT-50 for booster 2 magenta plastic fin units PNC-50YR: 2-part magenta nose cone 2 blue 18mm engine mount tubes of rather poor quality 2 green ...

  • Estes Mongoose By Nick Esselman

    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 ...

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