Estes Mongoose

[Aerobee300]

I think they should've just called this rocket "Goose".... I was pretty dissappointed with the overall quality ... body tube was really weak....stage connection was poor .... even worse was the directions for how the motor mounts/booster/sustainer go together .... I obviously didn't do something right ....

The launch:

Rocket leapt off the launch pad on the C6-0 booster ... nice and straight. C6-5 Sustainer ignited and everything seemed OK at that point. Then all of a sudden the rocket nosed over and did a power dive towards the ground .... the ejection charge popped just as she hit the ground about 200 feet downrange.

The Damage:

Booster finish was badly burnt but otherwise OK. The sustainer body is totally destroyed. The nose cone and the streamer are reusable. Even the bottom of the sustainer plastic fin unit is badly burnt. I will not attempt to rebuild .... she's good for parts !

Review:

On a scale of 1-5

Appearance 5 (nice bright colors ... kids liked it)
Quality of parts 3 (plastic parts OK .... tube quality very poor)
Quality of directions 2 (very hard to follow even for an oldtime kitmaker like myself)
Flight 1 (she did get off the launch pad)

 

[Rocketmaniac]

I had a similar experience with the booster and sustainer getting burned....... I thought it was just something I did wrong as it was one of my first few rockets build and my first and only 2 stage rocket........

 

[illini]

Ditto here. My son bought this one. He got two flights out of it. It is now retired.

 

[TheRadiator]

I liked the look of the Mongoose, but my assessment of the rocket is similar to yours. It flys like a pig when coasting, and the rocket pretty much destroys itself when using the stock streamer. The next Mongoose I build will be scratch. I'm not overly thrilled with plastic fin units, so I'll be using standard BT-50 tubing and balsa fins in lieu of the plastic fin set. The only things I would want to use out of the kit would be the decal set. The pre-colored BT's are low-quality, and the PNC is readily available in plastic or balsa. I'll wait till I can find a good deal on the Mongoose and get the decal set at that time.

 

[EMRR]

Well, ya can't say I didn't warn ya....

click here

Nick

 

[Stymye]

for some reason the colored estes tubes are very weak

 

[n3tjm]

The Mongoose is the reincarnated version of the Estes Scorpion... my first two stage rocket. But the Scorpion was much better built, thicker tubes. You had to paint them. My scorpion got lost with a bad nozzle on a C motor.... flew right into the woods.

That plastic fin unit design is prone to melting. Estes used that very one in several kits, and they all exibit the same problem.

I liked the colors of the Scorpion... One of these days, I am going to clone that rocket

 

[solrules]

I had the exact same problems.....after the first stage ignited the second, it took a pretty bad tumble (under power, mind you). Of course, this was when I knew little about repairing rockets, and I used paper mache (yes, paper mache) to fix the body tube. Needless to say, It did not work out too well (I also frogot to attach a launch lug). Lucily, I know more about fixing rockets today.

 

[slim_t]

Boy am I glad I read this thread. I've been wanting a Mongoose for a while now, but haven't got one yet. I was even thinking of making a 2 stage Skywriter because I have 3 of them.
So thanks for posting all of this. Now if I decide to do any of this I'll know to do it from scratch with better parts.

Tim

 

[astrowolf67]

My Mongoose flew fantastic, till the ground came up on it by surprise. The actual flight was flawless on a B6-0/B6-6. But it crimped the lower end of the tube on landing. It's about 3 inches shorter now.

 

[Larry]

Hum... mine had a perfect launch as well. When I built it I almost screwed up the motor mounting, and yes the colored tubes are somewhat thin. We launched mine on a quiet cool day with clear blue sky and a dusting of snow on the ground. C6-0 for the booster, and C6-7 for the sustainer. My son had an itchy launch button finger, and launched at the 3 count so needless to say the four of us were not ready. I was able to track the sustainer because the tracking smoke really showed up against the blue sky, and I had binoculars. The boosters pink fins showed up in the white snow. So the flight was a complete success. That has been its only flight so far. I guess this is the exception and not the rule as far as this rocket goes , by what I've read here and on Emrr..........Larry

 

[Austin]

Aerobee...sorry to hear about your luck...I still have a couple of those hanging around...I will just keep them on my wall.

Carl

 

[Aerobee300]

hahaha ... YUP .... hang that sucka on the wall !!! Maybe you can sell it on ebay in 10 years for $100 !!!! Nice collectable .... poor rocket kit !

 

[BlueNinja]

That's really what you guys think of this? I got 5-10 flights out of mine before it staged C6-C6 and went into a cloud. I didn't get any stage burning, and oly think i noticed was that on the first few flights the bottom of the fin can plastic curled up.

 

[Aerobee300]

Mongoose one it's first and last launch !!!!

Whaddaya think of the view guys ???? I have a GREAT place to launch rockets out here in rural Ohio !!!!

 

[Aerobee300]

oops, I guess I shoudv'e included the pic !

 

[EMRR]

Originally posted by Aerobee300 Mongoose one it's first and last launch !!!!

Whaddaya think of the view guys ???? I have a GREAT place to launch rockets out here in rural Ohio !!!! [/B]

Yes you do!

 

[slim_t]

Nice shot!
So why was that the last launch of the Mongoose?
With all that space out there you shouldn't have lost it.

Tim

 

[Aerobee300]

After second stage ignited she rolled over and power-dived into the ground .... but hey ... the plastic nose cone is still good ...lol