Product review - Semroc Jupiter B

 Brief Description

A sport-scale model of the Jupiter-2, the Robinson Family saucer from Lost In Space, the Jupiter B is one of the bullets that should be in your bandolier whenever you have the chance to do a small field launch.  The Jupiter B is a quick build and a great performer with slow, smoky liftoffs and "drop like a packing peanut" recovery.  No chute to powder and pack.  The monkey house erupts.

 

Parts Description

Laser cut fiber parts

18mm motor mount

           Launch Lug 

Construction Description

I bought the Jupiter B as a Christmas gift to myself in early December of 2020.  It arrived just as I was given a ten day Covid coverage sentence at a satellite location, one that I'd worked at previously, long enough to know that I'd have copious amounts of downtime to kill.  As it turned out, waiting for the glue to dry was the most time consuming part of this build.

Finishing Description

There are three words that might be the most important three words you'll read with regard to this rocket.  NO.  SANDING.  REQUIRED.  Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

Once construction is finished, spray the saucer in the color of your choice.  Silver is the correct historical color, but factory brochures showed a veritable cornucopia of possible colors and options.  Silver was only chosen after their first choice, emerald green with wood grain trim and a luggage rack, turned out to be unavailable.  Pity.

Construction Rating: 5

Flight Description

First flight for the Jupiter B would fittingly come at eRockets Field in Dayton where it could really stretch its legs.  Okay, in actuality it could stretch its legs in my back yard.  It's far from a high flyer, which is what makes it perfect for quick low & slow launches at B6-4 Field.  First flight would be on a C6-0, which would help tp boost my Ns numbers without incurring issues with small field C6 recovery.  This is a huge consideration.  Maybe not.  At any rate, the C6-0 flight was to about 250-300' and smoked nicely on the way up.  The flight itself was almost arrow straight, and recovery occurred just behind the pads in an unmown section of the football field, a recovery drift of fifty or so feet.

Second flight would be one I'm not all that proud of.  I managed  240+ flights in 2020, and couldn't see keeping up that pace in 2021, so I decided that my flight goal would be to fly every month.  June, 2021 provided me with my first challenge.  A couple of rained out club launches combined with a summer baseball and softball schedule at B6-4 Field to leave me still looking for a flight for the month.  I had purchased an Estes Pro Series launcher a few months earlier and had been looking for a chance to try it out, but the aforementioned baseball and softball schedules kept the field filled, unlike socially distant 2020.  I finally got a chance to fly on a Saturday afternoon near the end of the month, a nasty, oppressively hot night where the flies were thick and goose poo was piled all over the outfield grass.  I had packed a box of my low and slow fleet and had planned on around ten flights in the twilight.  The Jupiter B was loaded on a B6-0 because I was out of C6-0s and didn't have time to drive to Hobby Lobby.  Surprisingly, the flight was fairly close to the altitude it had attained at the Dayton launch, around 200'.  Landing was obscenely close to the pad, ten feet or less in the still, humid air.  Two subsequent flights, the Estes Space Corps Lunar Scout and Quinstar failed for reasons that likely had to do with conditions.  The combination of goose poo, heat and the biting flies that made me pack up and head home probably also caused the mis-fires.  (I'm not known for my patience where heat, flies and goose poop are concerned.).  I'd hoped to get back to the field the next day, but circumstances prevented it.  So, June was in the books.  One flight.  My shame knew no bounds.

Four months later I still had no bounds.  October passed quickly with the usual rainouts, and by the 27th I was again staring at a month ending without a flight.  Luckily I had my box of small field birds, the Quest Area 51 Saucer, Squirrel Works Rockets Ahoy!, Estes Quinstar and Space Corps Lunar Scout and the Jupiter B.  This time I made a more respectable five flights, but to be fair, most of the biting flies were dead by the time I did this launch.  This would have been a perfect launch session for the Astrodome, as none of the flights got much over 250'.

Flight/Recovery Rating: 5

Summary

         Pros: Hard to find fault with this kit, especially if you occasionally fly on a small field,                 cul-de-sac or back deck like I do.  Can be built on a lunch break. 

         Cons: Still no Robinson Family Truckster decal option

Overall Rating: 5