The Bucky Jones Space Cadet is a
Sleek Blast from the Past.
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Kit Specifications:
Skill Level 3: Average Skills Needed
Length: 36.5" (93 cm)
Diameter: 3" (76 mm)
Weight (without motor): 26 oz (744 gm)
Recovery: 30" cloth parachute
ORDER This Kit NOW! Just click on the "Own It Today" button below.
Pemberton Technologies Bucky Jones Space Cadet Rocket Kit
P/N: 07572
Price: $90.00
Note: There is a $2.00 freight surcharge due to the large size of the shipping carton, and the additional cost of postage.
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Recommended Motors: See Chart Below.
Bucky Jones Rocket Kit. Predicted Altitude (From RockSim)
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Motor
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Manufacturer
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Altitude (feet/meters)
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Comments
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Aerotech Reloadable
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416/127
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Aerotech Reloadable
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427/130
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Aerotech Single Use
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505/154
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Blue flame. Loud. Delay is a little short.
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Aerotech Single Use
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515/157
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Blue flame. Loud. Delay is long by 1 second.
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Aerotech Reloadable
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819/250
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White flame. Loud. Drill out 1 seconds of delay.
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Aerotech Reloadable
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857/261
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Loud, blue flame. Very fast-burning motor, quick off the pad.
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Aerotech Reloadable
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952/290
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Huge volume of black smoke. Perfect for the first flight (no delay adjustment).
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Aerotech Reloadable
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1121/342
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Red flame.
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Aerotech Reloadable
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1171/357
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White flame.
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Aerotech Reloadable
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1174/358
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Red flame.
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Aerotech Reloadable
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1224/373
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Green flame.
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Aerotech Reloadable
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1284/391
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Green flame.
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Aerotech Reloadable
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1308/399
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White flame. Best altitude of the motors we sell. Drill out 1 second of delay.
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H128-10W
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Aerotech Reloadable
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1679/512
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307 mph. Contact people in your local high power club to get one of these motors. Drill out 2 seconds of delay. Level 1 Certification required.
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See the video below for help in selecting rocket motors. Rocket motors are sold separately from the kit. If you are unsure which one to pick, start with the one recommended for the First Flight, and then another for a more impressive launch. Most motors listed in this chart are available through Apogee Components. For the many other motors that are not listed here, download the RockSim file to see if it will work in this rocket kit. See also Technical Publication #28 for guidance on selecting appropriate rocket engines other than those listed in this chart. If you don't already have Technincal Publication #28, give us a call, and we'll be happy to let you download it free (you have to ask though). |
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Pemberton Technologies Bucky Jones Space Cadet.
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Flash back with me, if you will, to a time when handsome, brave, wide shouldered, square jawed, homogenized white guys made the universe safe for all mankind. Heroes such as Captain Video, Flash Gordon, Tom Corbett and Buzz Corry came to the rescue every week, thrashing bad guys and thrilling youngsters across the land. From out of that Wonder Bread World we bring you Bucky Jones – Space Cadet! Yes, yet another champion of the stars. From the bulbous nose to its flashy fins and multiple exhaust tubes, Bucky Jones is Super Retro Sci-Fi through and through. Like all spaceships from that era he is gaudy, stylish, sleek and silly enough to give aerospace engineers apoplectic fits.
Get ready to spend a few days on this kit. The builder cuts those cool 'exhaust tubes' and the canted aft body tube using a hobby knife with a brand new, sharp blade. It's not hard, but it takes patience. We know a lot of you will want to get right to the flying part, and that's great; if you assemble it, do some sanding and filling, and then paint it, the kit will look spectacular and fly straight. Your Bucky Jones will impress the bobby socks off every other flyer on the field. Pemberton recommends building this way in the "destructions".
For our display rocket (see photo at right) I did all the sanding, filling and final paint of the exhaust unit, then did the final assembly. This results in a gorgeous rocket. When you sand and fill the exhaust tubes inside and out, the resulting showpiece leaves fellow fliers amazed. One of the guys we showed Bucky to at our last launch just said, "Beautiful. Where can I get one?"
It is actually an easy to build kit. For example, the destruction step you may spend the most time on is cutting the exhaust tubes and canted body, and doing the prep work for painting. The tube cutting destructions are very clear. You'll find yourself flying this model after just a couple days of cool build time.
Check out Bucky's smaller, genetically identical brother, Little Bucky, too.
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F and G Motors are Perfect for this Kit
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Most of the motors listed above are reloads, which cost less per flight than single-use motors. With altitudes depending on which F, G, or H motor you use, you have great options for altitude, loudness, amount of smoke, and color of flame.
I cannot think of a better kit to do a Level 1 Certification with, because you get officially welcomed into the exclusive realm of high-power rocketeers, but you do it with style. When you do your Level 1 Certification with the Bucky Jones, you get to step up to an H motor; you might want to bring binoculars, though, because Bucky flies to extremely high altitudes on an H.
I love this kit! It's big, sleek, fun, and no one will ever mistake it for some other lesser kit. It flys perfectly, too. You might expect it not to fly straight up, with the asymmetry in the fins, but it goes bullet-straight. The horizontal recovery rigging works great, too.
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Pemberton does creative things with the visual impact of this kit that most rocket companies won't even consider. The swept fins are so radical they put this kit in another league altogether from the standard mid-power kit. The typical kit designer would give up on them before even drawing them because, typically, fins this long with this many curves are weak and break easily upon landing. Pemtec solves this problem by using extremely strong fin material, and then setting up the recovery system so the rocket comes down horizontally on a harness, eliminating even the possibility of damaging the fins.
An interesting build step is the addition of 2-part expanding foam inside the body where the fin tabs go. We highly recommend using foam when building Bucky. It's a lightweight engineering solution to a heavyweight problem: how to provide enough structure to keep those cool fins attached. 2-part foam is a standard build technique in high power rocktry, and this is the perfect kit to try it on for the first time.
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Why is this a Skill Level 3 Rocket?
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There are only three steps in the rocket that require more than basic building skills. These are cutting the canted body tube and exhaust tubes, slotting main body for the fins, and some extra time sanding and filling. With bigger (heavier) motors, you may need to test the Bucky Jones and add nose weight until it's stable. It takes a little extra care and patience to build the wire hanger motor retention. Otherwise, construction is straightforward.
Some construction requires epoxy adhesive. This can be messy and cause an allergic reaction in some people. Adult supervision and wearing rubber gloves is recommended when working with epoxy.
The Bucky Jones is a big rocket that uses heavy wall tubes. It also has substantial interior lead and epoxy nose weigh to provide added stability. While the tubes and weight don't make the rocket any harder to assemble, extra safety precautions are required when a rocket this big is flown. Patience and aquired flying skills to know when and where NOT to fly are just as important as quality construction techniques.
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Bucky Jones Space Cadet Kit Features
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Super Strong Plastic Nose Cone - Made from polyethylene plastic, this heavy-wall nose cone can really stand up to any amount of abuse you might give it. The 11.2 inch exposed length is just one feature. It has a molded-in shock cord attachment, and a 1/4 inch steel eyebolt can be added (recommended).
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Premium Body Tube - The body tube is a quality piece, with small spirals so they finish quickly. It's thick walled for those high power flights.
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Exhaust Tubes - There are two BT-20 tubes you cut into the funky, retro 'exhaust tubes'.
For extreme builders (like me), these can be sanded and prepped inside and out, painted with final paint, then assembled for an incredibly good looking back end.
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Plywood Centering Rings - These 1/4" thick 5-ply centering rings are a thing of beauty. They provide plenty of heft for G and H motors and they fit perfectly, so they don't need sanding. The motor tube is 29mm, so you are set up to fly high from the get-go.
Bucky has a unique wire motor retainer that works great with the sleek exhaust tubes.
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Quality Recovery Hardware - You get a monstrous 10' shock cord of 9/16" tubular nylon. The mount system on the inner body tube is a deceptively simple, inexpensive, yet strong Kevlar® and epoxy design that works great.
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A Great Parachute - 30-inch diameter rip-stop nylon cloth parachute. A kit this big, you have to have a cloth chute for the extra durability; and you get one! You could almost jump out of a perfectly space liner with this chute.
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Plywood Fins - Bucky's main fins have always been laser cut. The little, swoopy canards used to be hand cut by the builder, but now they too are laser cut. This results in great consistancy and tremendous strength. The 1/8" thick material is very tough and excellent quality. With through the tube mounting and the recommendation for filling the fincan with 2-part foam, this is one tough beauty.
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Here's a great build idea - Epoxy doesn't stick to the inside of plastic nose cones very well and can come loose, upsetting the stability of the rocket. My recommendation is to drill two 1/4" holes, put a dowel through as shown, then epoxy your nose weight. It takes some extra smoothing, filling, and sanding effort, but it makes for a much more positive retention system for the nose weight.
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Tools needed to assemble this rocket kit:
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Masking Tape
- Hobby Knife
- Dremel tool
- Finishing Supplies like paint and sandpaper.
To Launch This Rocket Kit, You'll Also Need:
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Frequently Asked Questions about the Pemberton Technologies Bucky Jones kit:
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Q. What launch pad should I use to launch this rocket kit?
- A. Since this rocket can use large engines, you'll need bigger launch pad. The best pad we offer is the Aerotech Mantis Launch Pad.
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Q. I need help selecting motors. What should I do?
- A. Watch this YouTube video.
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Other Optional Accessories That Work Great With This Kit:
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Rocket Motors - This is a reminder that this kit does not come with rocket motors. See the chart at the top of this page to see which motors will work in this particular rocket kit.
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Q. Is a nomex heat shield recommended on the Bucky Jones kit?
- A. Yes. While not required, this would be a useful addition to this rocket kit. If you don't use a heat shield, you'll have to use disposable wadding to protect the parachute from the heat of the ejection charge. And for a large diameter kit like this, it will take a lot of disposable wadding.
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To see how the Bucky Jones rocket looks and performs with in each motor configuration, download rocket design file now (click here). This file can be opened with the FREE demo version of RockSim (click here). This kit is included as one of the sample designs that comes with the demo software. Both Windows and Macintosh versions are available.
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What is a RockSim Design file? The RockSim software gives you a lot of information about the flight characteristics of this rocket: how high, how fast, where it will land, how will it react to wind, etc. The "design file" is intended to save you time. All the parameters (size, shape, weight, fin design, etc.) of this rocket have already been entered into the RockSim program, and saved as an electronic database file. You can just open it up in your copy of RockSim and start loading different rocket motors to run launch simulations. It's fun and educational to see the rocket zoom skyward, even before you built it. For more information about RockSim,
click here.
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What is expected when you launch your model rocket?
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Are you new to rocketry? Do you think you know what happens when you launch your rocket? Now you can learn about the events that occur as your rocket is launched into the air. So when you launch your rocket, you'll be prepared and you'll be able to show off your knowledge to observers watching your rocket. This article also gives you links to other references that will give you even more background information about rocketry, so you can become a true rocket scientist and expert.
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Kevlar® is a registered trademark of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company for its brand of aramid fiber. Only DuPont makes KEVLAR®
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Shipping and Handling Fees:
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To estimate the shipping charges, please see our shipping information page. This page also explains how items are shipped, as well as offering you additional shipping options.
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