Estes Mongoose

Estes - Mongoose {Kit} (2092) [1994-]

Contributed by John "MAX" Venable

Construction Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Flight Rating: starstarstarstarstar
Overall Rating: starstarstarstarstar
Diameter: 0.98 inches
Length: 26.50 inches
Manufacturer: Estes
Skill Level: 1
Style: Multi-Stage

Brief:
This is a entry-level, two-stage roEstes Mongoosecket with parachute recovery.

Construction:
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 with a solid piece of tubing. I also used epoxy to construct this rocket. I used 1/8" Kevlar shock cord and an 8" nylon X-chute. No cons anymore!

Finishing:
It was super easy to paint. After motor mounts were glued in I primed all parts with BIN primer. I then applied three coats of Rustoleum metallic copper to the body tubes followed by two coats of high gloss black to the fins. No cons here.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Estes Mongoose

Flight:
The two motors were taped together and inserted into body tube. I used two pieces of 1" Nomex cloth instead of wadding. For all three flights I used a C6-0 and a C6-7. The first flight weathercocked at 300' and went horizontal. The next 2 flights were perfect at about 1000'. No cons after a few minor alignment issues.

Recovery:
1/8" Kevlar shock cord with 1" dual Nomex shields and an 8" Top Flight X-form 'chute followed by a solid lower-stage made for lots of fun.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
If you follow other people's suggestions on this site before you build this or any other rocket there will be nothing but pros.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

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 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 ...

Flights

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