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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 2141.PDF
162 BLACK KNIGHT . . . FLIGHT International, 23 July 1964 logical and desirable. The SRI radar is currently under test at Mount Eba, and the two Barnes installations are in place and tested. If the radar can be cleared before the end of this month, Black Knight BK.19 will be fired as the first full Dazzle trial during the first week in August. All the Dazzle vehicles have the much improved and higher- thrust Gamma 301 engine. This is a major Bristol Siddeley develop- ment, the most basic changes in which are the use of a single turbopump for all four chambers and the incorporation of a mixture- ratio control which reduces the scatter error due to propulsion from 6 to 0.5 per cent. Further improvement in vehicle performance—or, rather, recovery of performance lost in stage-separation difficulties—has been achi- eved by dramatically reducing the weight of the second stage motor case. Bristol-Aerojet are now producing to RPE design the Cuckoo 2 motor with a case spirally welded from 0.04in steel sheet, and the table of firings shows that both the Gamma 301 and Cuckoo 2 have now been proved in flight. With the improved propulsion Black Knight is capable of meeting all present requirements, and several vehicles have also given free rides to scientific payloads on a "grace and favour" basis —i.e., if there are space, weight and telemetry to spare. Experiments so far flown are listed in Table 2. Some of these need to be lifted higher than the 140 miles possible with Skylark, while others need to spend more time above a given altitude; Black Knight can provide some lOmin above the atmosphere. Continued detail improvements to Black Knight have resulted in the Gamma engine specific impulse and thrust being increased, and in January 1964 the Mo A authorized the production of an enlarged vehicle with greater tankage and a substantially enhanced perfor- mance envelope reflected either in a heavier payload (chiefly additional instrumentation) or increased re-entry velocity. Chief modification is a simple increase in vehicle diameter from 36in to 54in. The fins of the 36in vehicle are slightly oversized, and in the 54in Black Knight remain mounted on a standard 36in propulsion bay. This improved first stage is shorter than that currently in use, and is matched with a larger and generally improved second-stage solid motor to give an overall potential of flying re-entry heads roughly three times as heavy as the present limit, or of carrying today's payloads to much higher re-entry velocity. Date 7.9.S8 — (2.3.59 11.6.59 29.6.59 30.10.59 24.5.60 21.6.6025.7.60 7.2.61 9.5.61 7.6.61 1.5.62 24.8.62 27.11.62 17.10.63 11.3.64 Table 1: Vehicle BK.OI BK.02 BK.03 BK.04 BK.05 BK.06 BK.08 BK.09BK.07 BK.I3 BK.I4 BK.I7 BK.I5 BK.I6 BK.I8 BK.II BK.I0BK.I2 Stages 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 2 1 1 2 Black Knight Launch Record Engine 201 201 201 201 201 201 201 201201 201 201 201 201 301 301 201 201 201 Mission * Prove vehicle Development, non- flight Prove vehicle Separate head for re- entry Separate head for re-entry Repeat 05 plus tape recorderf Prove 2nd stage and Gaslight equipment Repeat 08tRepeat 06t Repeat 07f Repeat 09t Repeat I4t No 1 of Dazzle pro- grammet Dazzle trial, new engine, transistor-ized controls* Prove engine, and head dynamics! Prove Blue Streak range safety Back-up for BK.II Prove Cuckoo 2 motor Result Success until near burnout — Success; cold-thrust at end Success Success; cold-thrust at endSuccess Success; brief cold- thrust SuccessSuccess; brief cold- thrust Success except forinstrumentation No 2nd stage igni- tion2nd stage separated only on re-entrySuccess, valuable data Success (textbook mission) Success Success Success except not clean stage-separ- ation in One of the electro-optical instrumentation groups by Engineering Co: A, cine spectrograph with MaksutoY optics; I four-channel photometer; C, IR tracker; D, 70mm high-resolutio camera (80in lens); E, boresight camera (lOin lens); F, alignmer scope (x32); G, joystick controller; H, operator seat; J, azimut stops; K, shroud; L, radiometer; M, acquisition sight Westland's Saunders-Roe Division and Bristol Siddeley Engine are the main contractors for the 54in vehicles. The new Kestre second-stage motor is under development at the RPE, and a majo contribution to its very much better mass-ratio is its Bristol Aerojet case. A boiler-plate example is scheduled to be fired a Westcott within the next few months, and the first 54in flight i scheduled for the third quarter of 1965. Ground equipmen remains virtually unaltered; it is probable that one launcher will b< temporarily retained for the remaining 36in vehicles while thi other is assigned to the larger-diameter version. It is particularly worth noting that the latter introduces practically no changes whicl could impair reliability. Nothing came of various 1960 proposals for satellite launcher; employing Black Knights, or modified Black Knights, mounted as i second stage above a Blue Streak. Such projects, grouped undei the name of Black Prince, appear to have been considered political!) and financially unjustifiable. However, the successful developmeni of Black Knight over many years clearly indicates that the know- how and ability are readily available in this country to develoj the vehicle further in a satellite-launching role, should this ever bs considered expedient. The photograph on the right shows a typical re-entry of a test body launched by a Black Knight over the Woomera Range. The Weapons Research Establishment provides personnel, range equipment and flight data (including this picture) from such trials, which are continuing under the UKjUSJ'Australian Dazzle programme Table 2: Scientific experiment* Success or failure indicated by (S) or (F) "The "Repeats" may differ in detail; t carried scientific experiments (Table 2). Imperial College, London Geiger counter: BK.06(S), BK.07(S), BK.I7(F). Scintillation counter: BK.07(S), BK.I4(F), BK.15(S). Proportional counter: BK.I6(S). University College, London Sporadic E: BK.09(S), BK.07(S), BK.IS(S). Positive-ion spectrometer: BK.I3(F), BK.I8(S). Electron temperature: BK.I4(F), BK.I7(S), BK.I6(S). Balloon experiment: BK.M(F). Universities of Cambridge and Manchester Galactic radio noise: BK.I3(F), BK.I7(F).
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