The King Krãken is a powerful and sexy
space creature from the future.
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Kit Specifications:
Skill Level 3: Average Skills Needed
Length: 41" (104 cm)
Diameter: 3" (76 mm)
Weight (without motor): 38 oz (1071 gm)
Recovery: 30" cloth parachute
ORDER This Kit NOW! Just click on the "Own It Today" button below.
Pemberton Technologies King Krãken Rocket Kit
P/N: 07570
Price: $99.00
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.
King Krãken 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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537/164
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Aerotech Reloadable
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586/179
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Aerotech Reloadable
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663/202
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Aerotech Reloadable
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810/247
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Aerotech Reloadable
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855/261
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Aerotech Reloadable
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869/265
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Aerotech Reloadable
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916/279
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Green flame. Consider painting the inside of the tube fins green. Drill out 1 second of delay.
Use with an optional 29/38mm adapter.
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Aerotech Reloadable
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974/297
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Green flame. Consider painting the inside of the tube fins green. Drill out 1-2 seconds of delay.
Use with an optional 29/38mm adapter.
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Aerotech Reloadable
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1000/305
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H153-13
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Cesaroni Reloadable*
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2504/763
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Great 38mm motor. Drill out 3 seconds of delay. Cesaroni motors are easy and quick to rebuild.
Level 1 Certification required.
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I154-10J
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Aerotech Reloadable*
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3614/1102
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Contact people in your local high power club to get one of these smokey blackjacks. Level 1 Certification required.
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H160-11SK
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Cesaroni Reloadable*
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2126/648
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Skidmark motor (pours out a huge volume of sparks, great for night flights!) Excellent 29mm motor.
Cesaroni motors are easy and quick to rebuild.
Level 1 Certification required. Use with an optional 29/38mm adapter.
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*With the King Krãken, some of the reloads listed above may require additional nose weight for stability. String test to be sure. Altitudes listed above are shown without the additional nose weight, so you'll lose a little altitude if you have to add nose weight. 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 King Krãken sculpted tube fin rocket.
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A Mid and High Power Creature from Ancient Sea Lore
At the top of the page, I said the Krãken is sexy. That's not just marketing-speak. You wouldn't believe how many people pick up our display model and run their hands over the smooth surface, a sly, guilty smile on their lips. It's surprising, and magic. The Pem-Tech King Krãken (pronounced krã'-kin), named for the dark, sinister creature of ancient sea lore, is a one-of-a-kind sport flier featuring Pemberton's unique, sculpted tube-fin design. She is as much a fantastic flying machine as she is a work of art, created by you. Unlike traditional, and boring, tube fins the King Krãken sports a canted leading edge tube fin with a short full tube that has been reported to be 30% more stable than square cut tube fins.
Get ready to spend a few days on this kit. The builder cuts those cool fins 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 King Krãken will impress 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 before assembly, then added the tube fins. This results in a gorgeous rocket, but if you elect to do the same, think of this as a Skill Level 4 kit instead of 3. When you sand and fill the tube fins inside and out, the resulting showpiece leaves fellow fliers slack-jawed, "Holy Cow... how in the world did you do that?" Some of the guys we showed the King to at our last launch just said, "Wow!"
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This futuristic single-staged denizen of deep space is so cool it's spooky. That doesn't mean it's hard to assemble. It is actually an easy to build kit. For example, the destruction step you may spend the most time on is cutting the tube fins and doing the prep work for painting. The tube cutting destructions are very clear, and, believe it or not (spoiler warning), it's a straight cut, created with a flexible straightedge. Pemberton reveals a cool tube painting trick, too, and you don't even have to do any masking. You'll find yourself flying this model after just a couple days of pleasurable build time.
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G Motors are Perfect for this Kit
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The G motors listed above are reloads, which cost less per flight than single-use motors. With altitudes of 537 to 1000 feet depending on which G you use, you have great options for altitude, loudness, and color of flame.
After you do your Level 1 Certification with the King Krãken, you can step up to H and I motors. With the extreme-altitude Rocksim prediction on I motors, though, you might want to bring binoculars.
I love this kit! It's big, distinctive, mean-looking, and sleek.
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Pemberton does something creative with the visual impact of this kit that solves an engineering problem, too. I admire designers who solve multiple problems with a single solution. Layne calls the canards on the nose cone "squidly". They do have a decisively squidish look, and they give the kit that extra detail that defines it as the King Krãken. But lookin' good is not all they do. With nose cones molded in this particular type of plastic, it can be hard to get nose weight to stay up in the tip. Even if it's epoxied, it can come loose during a launch, which can result in a Very Bad Day.
Advanced builders solve this problem by putting dowels or long srews through the area of the nose cone where the weight is going to go, then sanding them off smooth and flush. Here's what is so cool: the canards have tabs that protrude through the wall. While they don't glue onto a tube inside the nose cone, they do physically key in to the nose weight epoxy inside, resulting in an incredibly strong and substantial attachment for the nose weight. Great thinking!
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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 tube fins, slotting the plastic nose cone for the canards (you'll want a Dremel tool for this), and some extra time sanding and filling. Since you can use some bigger (heavier) motors, you need to test the King Krãken with the heaviest motor you plan to use, and add nose weight until it's stable. You probably won't need to add any nose weight, but check stability to make sure. It does take a little extra care and patience to use the rear bulkhead method of motor retention, too. Otherwise, construction is straightforward.
The King Krãken is a bigger 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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Who Is Pemberton Technologies?
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Flash back with me, if you will, to a time when handsome, brave, wide shouldered, square jawed, homogenized white guys in jump suits 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 of the 50´s, Pem-Tech brings you the coolest science fiction spaceships of all time: Sleek, silver, beauties like the King Krãken and the glorious golden hotrods like Bucky Jones Space Cadet.
Layne Pemberton is famous for his "destructions". The humor infects everything from motor selection to your household pets. Trust us, they're fun. The photos could use some upgrades to good quality line diagrams to improve legibility, but the destructions are otherwise good.
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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 11.5 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). You'll need a Dremel tool to cut the canard slots in this baby.
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Premium Body Tubes - These body tubes are quality pieces, with small spirals so they finish quickly. They're thick walled for those high power flights. One is used for the main body, another for the 4 tube fins.
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Canards - These 5-layer high quality plywood canards are laser-cut. They hold the nose weight in. Plus, they're "squidly".
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Plywood Centering Rings - These 1/8" thick 5-ply centering rings are a thing of beauty. They provide plenty of heft for G, H, and I motors and they fit perfectly, so they don't need sanding. The motor tube is 38mm, so you are set up to fly high from the get-go. There is no retention provided, so you need to add Aeropak retainers or use another method.
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Quality Recovery Hardware - You get a monstrous 10' shock cord of 9/16" tubular nylon. The mounting system on the motor mount end is an innovative, inexpensive, yet strong 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 good airplane with this chute.
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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 King Krãken 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. What kind of hook should I use to hold the 38mm reloadable engines in my King Krãken rocket?
- A. Aero Pack Engine Retainers. These are useful on rockets that use the 38mm diameter reloadable motors. And yes, they can be installed on existing rocket kits like this kit.
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Q. Is a nomex heat shield recommended on the King Krãken 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 King Krãken 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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A source for all the information one needs to enter/reenter the hobby. Good work Tim, you've taken Vern Estes' baton and ran! — Charles McQuillan
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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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