Brief:
The Thunderbee is one of the latest kits from Semroc. It's the first and smallest rocket in the "Thunder" family. Each rocket in the family is around 1.5 times larger than the rocket before it! The Thunderbee is a minimum diameter 3FNC rocket. It comes down on an orange crepe streamer.

Construction:
The Thunderbee comes with the following parts:

• 1 14.7" length of BT-5
• 1 Balsa sheet of laser cut fins
• 1 Balsa nose cone
• 1 Cardboard thrust ring
• 1 Launch lug
• 1 Screw eye
• 1 Elastic cord
• 1 Kevlar® thread
• 1 Crepe streamer
• 1 Tape disc
• 1 Empty engine casing
• 1 Glue applicator
• 1 Decal sheet

The instructions included with the kit are in a logical order and easy to follow. Each step is accompanied by a clear diagram, and templates are included by the diagram of the step they are needed in.

Assembly is easy, with no real problems. Everything fit perfectly! The whole rocket is quite sturdy and would survive a recovery failure. I built mine with Medium CyA but the instructions suggest white/yellow glue.

I didn't really do anything different from the instructions, but on a rocket this simple there isn't really anything you can do differently.

Finishing:
Finishing this bird can be as simple as you want it to be! There are two decals supplied with no set place to put them. I decided to paint mine Florescent Orange all over--I want to find this thing again!--with 3 coats of white primer, 3 coats of orange, and then 3 coats of clear lacquer on the top to maximize the effect of the paint.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
The recommended motors are any 13mm motor from 1/4A3-3T to a full on A10-3T.

Prepping consists of inserting the igniter in the motor, friction fitting the motor, then pushing 3-4 sheets of recovery wadding down the tube. I found it quite difficult to roll up the streamer small enough to fit in the tube but managed it on my second try.

First flight was on a A10-3T with light winds (3-6mph). This rocket is very quick off the pad! After ignition, there was a neck snapping fast boost and ejection was just before apogee.

Second flight was on a A3-4T with light winds (3-6mph) again. This time the boost was slightly slower but longer. I almost lost it on the way up but the tracking smoke started up. Ejection was almost spot on apogee but the tape disc holding the streamer on came loose. The rocket tumbled down from 700ft, however, it landed with no damage. The streamer took about 10 minutes to come down although it landed surprisingly close to the pad. I've now fixed it back on with some masking tape.

Recovery:
PROs:

• Nice long shock cord
• Effective crepe streamer
• Good descent rate
• Rocket survived coming down with no streamer without damage!

CONS:

• Streamer attachment method

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
I think this is a great rocket from Semroc!

PROs:

• Easy to build
• Great flights
• Amazing quality materials

CONs:

• Streamer attachment method

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5