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Smithsonian Jet-Works Battery-Operated Jet Engine Model - 82 Pieces

3.7 out of 5 stars 218 ratings
Currently unavailable.
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.
  • Control the thrust and turbine speed
  • Package Dimensions: 38.354 H x 7.874 L x 29.718 W (centimetres)
  • Package Weight: 0.907 kilograms
  • Country of Origin : China
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Product information

Product Dimensions 12 x 15 x 3 inches
Item Weight 2 pounds
ASIN B00QQYZ1CG
Item model number 49081
Manufacturer recommended age 3 years and up
Batteries 4 AA batteries required.
Best Sellers Rank #637,366 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
#5,634 in Educational Science Kits
Customer Reviews
3.7 out of 5 stars 218 ratings

3.7 out of 5 stars
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer No
Manufacturer NSI/Smithsonian

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Smithsonian Jet-Works Battery-Operated Jet Engine Model - 82 Pieces

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Product Description

Build a Working Model of a Jet Engine Learn the science behind why a jet engine works by assembling this replica plastic model. Once built you will control the thrust and turbine speed. Battery operated moving parts and lights help bring the simulation to life. Includes a color poster with instructions and fun facts. Requires 2 AA batteries, scissors and screw driver (all not included).For ages 8+ (with adult supervision).

Customer reviews

3.7 out of 5 stars
218 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the jet engine model visually appealing as a decent depiction of a turbine engine and appreciate its educational value, with one mentioning it's a great school science fair project. However, the product receives mixed feedback about assembly, with some finding it easy to put together while others struggle with unclear instructions. Moreover, the functionality and build quality are problematic, with multiple reports of the motor failing to run and fatal flaws in the design. Additionally, several customers report missing parts and issues with the wiring.

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19 customers mention "Value for money"14 positive5 negative

Customers find the jet engine model to be worth the money.

"wonderful, fun and educational product. My 8 year old (who wants to be a pilot) loves it. Takes a little care and patience to put together...." Read more

"...Overall, a good product, good instructions, and some good literature on the backside of the instruction which would make a decent poster too." Read more

"Total piece of garbage. I’ve never reviewed a product before, but I had to make an exception as this left my 3 yr old in tears after it didn’t work...." Read more

"...If you don’t mind it not spinning on its own then it’s a fun model and a decent depiction of a turbine engine." Read more

8 customers mention "Educational value"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the jet engine model educational, with one mentioning it's a great school science fair project.

"wonderful, fun and educational product. My 8 year old (who wants to be a pilot) loves it. Takes a little care and patience to put together...." Read more

"...Overall, a good product, good instructions, and some good literature on the backside of the instruction which would make a decent poster too." Read more

"...excited and got it running, quality is is pretty good and it’s very educational." Read more

"You will need to pay very close attention as you assemble. It is very detailed. The entire rotating assembly must be assembled on the shaft...." Read more

7 customers mention "Look"7 positive0 negative

Customers like the appearance of the jet engine model, noting it is a decent depiction of a turbine engine with nice detail.

"...it not spinning on its own then it’s a fun model and a decent depiction of a turbine engine." Read more

"...The entire rotating assembly must be assembled on the shaft. Detail is great. However expect electrical problems...." Read more

"Reminds me of a horse muffin sprinkled with sugar-Sounds good,looks nice, but when you bite into it, you know exactly what you have...." Read more

"While most of the parts fit together well and produce a good looking turbine/compressor unit, the electrical components require repair or..." Read more

20 customers mention "Ease of assembly"8 positive12 negative

Customers have mixed experiences with assembling the jet engine model, with some finding it easy to put together while others report poor instructions.

"...Takes a little care and patience to put together. At first, the turbine wouldn’t spin/unit wouldn’t power on...." Read more

"...Overall, a good product, good instructions, and some good literature on the backside of the instruction which would make a decent poster too." Read more

"...The instructions were astonishingly bad in every way that instructions *can* be bad. For starters, they were in the form of a giant fold out poster...." Read more

"...To be fair it was fun to put together but young kids are going to have a hard time without some help...." Read more

26 customers mention "Functionality"5 positive21 negative

Customers report that the jet engine model doesn't function properly, with multiple units experiencing motor failure to run, and one customer noting that the little motor doesn't engage the turbine correctly.

"...This kit is garbage and I don't recommend you buy it...." Read more

"...I had the same problem as others with it not working at first but I just opened up the battery box and used a flat blade screwdriver to bend the..." Read more

"...The throttle control is a pita. Ours doesn't work. No way to get the spring on the throttle lever to make proper contact with the resistor...." Read more

"...Since this fix the item has worked flawlessly. Would also be a great school science fair project...." Read more

22 customers mention "Build quality"3 positive19 negative

Customers report fatal flaws in the design of the jet engine model and describe it as poorly made, with one customer noting it's made of thin flimsy plastic.

"...To top it all off, the actual model itself wasn't built well...." Read more

"...The plastic is as cheap as it gets and the clear cowling cover is total junk, it barely stays on...." Read more

"...The clear shroud is just a thin flimsy piece of plastic, the roller doesn’t match up with the actual speed at all...." Read more

"...Hopeless instructions. The parts sheet was the worst I have ever encountered in a kit: it was not clear which turbine wheel was being referenced..." Read more

17 customers mention "Missing parts"0 positive17 negative

Customers report issues with missing parts in the jet engine model.

"...not in the box and I had to use washers to make up for the missing compressor blades so everything would fit evenly...." Read more

"One turbine wheel was missing-adjusted for it and made it work. Hopeless instructions...." Read more

"Flawed product. I had to fabricate a missing part...." Read more

"...open or into 3 hardware and electric motor as well as unknown other pieces missing. I will be returning this asap and hope to get a refund...." Read more

7 customers mention "Wiring"0 positive7 negative

Customers report issues with the wiring of the jet engine model, noting that the wires are too fine and not properly soldered in place.

"...But the wires aren't soldered in place, they're glued with something like epoxy, which came loose with the slightest tug...." Read more

"...Detail is great. However expect electrical problems. The wire terminations are very cheap...." Read more

"...He suspects faulty wiring at the battery box, based on his observation that the wire leads from the battery box were flimsy in design." Read more

"...The wires used in this kit are all too fine and the soldering is fragile...." Read more

Box came badly damaged
2 out of 5 stars
Box came badly damaged
The box came badly damaged. Lucky for me, the parts inside were still intact.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Jeffrey Feingold
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic and works perfectly!
    Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    wonderful, fun and educational product. My 8 year old (who wants to be a pilot) loves it. Takes a little care and patience to put together. At first, the turbine wouldn’t spin/unit wouldn’t power on. Turns out that this was simply an issue with the connectors for the batteries (the metal part which touches the top or bottom of the battery had to be pushed out very slightly to make better contact). Since this fix the item has worked flawlessly.

    Would also be a great school science fair project. Comes with a large poster which, with the unit, is perfect for school.

    Highly recommend.
    One person found this helpful
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  • T. Fowler
    1.0 out of 5 stars Total waste of time.
    Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    I'm in the process a one-year attempt to learn as much about computing, electronics, mechanics, and robotics as I can. I call it "The STEMpunk Project" [1]. After reading the exceptionally mixed reviews of this product I decided to go ahead and get one anyway, figuring it probably wouldn't be any worse than the Smithsonian Internal Combustion Engine model I'd worked on a few months prior.

    I was wrong. The product came to me in a box that looked like it had been stabbed repeatedly and left on a highway, though everything did appear to be intact inside. The instructions were astonishingly bad in every way that instructions *can* be bad. For starters, they were in the form of a giant fold out poster. How the hell am I supposed to fit the kit, with all its parts, and a gigantic poster on a table at the same time? If I'm working on a drafting table that's great, but what if I'm trying to assemble this with my kids on a kitchen table? And the diagrams weren't color-coded, even though the *components* were, and the near-pointless illustration of a jet engine on the other side of the poster *was*. So clearly these geniuses did have the money to afford color ink, they just chose not to use it in the only place it would have served a purpose. Finally, the instructions were poorly written the diagrams were sometimes almost incomprehensible. I've seen complicated diagrams done well enough that a careful person can follow the path of every screw and washer. The diagrams that came with *this* kit were plain stupid.

    To top it all off, the actual model itself wasn't built well. There are a few very basic electrical components for things like an "on/off" button. But the wires aren't soldered in place, they're glued with something like epoxy, which came loose with the slightest tug. When trying to put a little button through a hole in a recess and then trying to screw it in place it's almost impossible *not* to tug the wires a little bit. When I did so, the glue came loose, and of course nobody thought to include a wiring diagram so that I could reattach the wires if I wanted to. And some of the wires had to be connected to a battery housing, but the male end wasn't long enough to be securely plugged into the female end. What's an eight-year-old supposed to do in that situation, go get his dad's wire strippers? Is it really too much to ask that the *connectors* be made long enough to fit into their ports? I mean, did they even test this damn thing with a focus group? Did anyone *actually* try to assemble it before it went into production?

    This kit is garbage and I don't recommend you buy it. The people who designed it should be ashamed of themselves, as should the people who wrote the instructions.
    19 people found this helpful
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  • Brennan L Dunville
    4.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect, but still a pretty good item.
    Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    I've built three of these models over the past couple days for a STEM booth at an airshow and overall I think it's a good product. Getting the gearbox just right takes some patience and the heat shrink on a few of the wires came loose but I was able to push it back in place and go on. I had the same problem as others with it not working at first but I just opened up the battery box and used a flat blade screwdriver to bend the positive-sidebattery contacts out a little to ensure they would contact the batteries and each worked straight away. Each of the three models are a bit different in operation - one runs a fair bit faster than the other two so expect some variation due to assembly but they all spin and respond to the throttle lever as expected. Overall, a good product, good instructions, and some good literature on the backside of the instruction which would make a decent poster too.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Arvin
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great product
    Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Nephew was super excited and got it running, quality is is pretty good and it’s very educational.
    One person found this helpful
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  • jeremy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the money if you like this stuff
    Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    I have a 6 yr old son that likes it I put it together for him it would be hard for young children to do but it shows the inside of one
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  • Amazon Customer
    2.0 out of 5 stars Looks okay, it will immediately break
    Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    I bought this because I was bored in quarantine and I knew from the reviews it probably wasn’t going to be great but I thought I would give it a shot anyways. To be fair it was fun to put together but young kids are going to have a hard time without some help. The plastic is as cheap as it gets and the clear cowling cover is total junk, it barely stays on. There is a smooth plastic wheel that turns the turbine section from the electric motor on the blue side of the cowling that could not have been more poorly designed. Because of the smoothness you have to mount the turbine section to the cowling very tight and it’s extremely difficult to find the sweet spot where the turbine is mounted firmly enough for the wheel to make enough contact to turn the turbine, but not so tight that the motor isn’t powerful enough to turn it. Once you get that dialed in you will be rewarded by powering it up, watching it spin, and then the electric motor immediately burning out. If you don’t mind it not spinning on its own then it’s a fun model and a decent depiction of a turbine engine.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Rachel Triezenberg
    3.0 out of 5 stars Good price, not so good instructions
    Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Bought for my 9 year old son’s birthday. While in concept it’s a nice gift for kids who are interested in engineering; practically, it is difficult to assemble due to very misleading and unclear instructions. Many parts are similar but a little different in size and thickness and it is not easy to differentiate them and where they go based on the instructions. A lot of trial and error involved.

    Several parts were not in the box and I had to use washers to make up for the missing compressor blades so everything would fit evenly.

    If you have patience and some spare washers laying around at home and can help your child, then go for it. I do recommend going on YouTube and watching a few uploaded videos of others who have had problems and can help you through putting it together.

    In all fairness though, for around $20 or so, it’s still a good price for what you get. This isn’t meant to be a NASA jet engine trainer or anything.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Annie Ubeda
    5.0 out of 5 stars It worked perfect on the first try Never had a problem
    Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    I bought it for my 11 year old grandson that loves aviation. I read the instructions and he'd put it together. It worked perfect on the first try Never had a problem.
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