Black Brant
From The Space Library
The Black Brant family of sounding rockets was initially derived from the British Skylark sounding rocket and the Raven solid fuel engine. The Canadian Armament Research & Development Establishment (CARDE) acquired a cluster of Skylarks from Britain and working in conjunction with Canadair of Montreal, Bristol Aerospace in the UK and Bristol Aerospace Canada they created what became the Black Brant.
The Skylark/Raven was 17 feet in length. Bristol Aerospace of Canada were given a contract by the Canadian government in 1957 and then added a 7 foot long nosecone creating a vehicle 24 feet long and 17 inches in diameter. Lionel A. Wilkinson, a chemist working at CARDE, developed a high-energy propellant which he called Cardeplex. This propellant was designed to be able to withstand a wide range of temperatures (-65F to +160F) and was poured directly into the rocket casing. Fuel was derived from a polyurethane rubber with ammonium perchlorate oxidizer and a cocktail of stabilizing compounds. CARDE also redesigned and improved the engine to meet specifications for Bristol's requirements.
 Black Brant I engine nozzle |
 Black Brant I with Large Telemetry antennae |
 Black Brant I with small Telemetry antennae |
 Black Brant Rocket Handling Crate |
 Black Brant 23KS20000 Engine Fore View |
 Black Brant 23KS20000 Motor Aft View |
 Black Brant I Launcher |
 Black Brant I Launcher |
 Black Brant I Engine |
 Black Brant I Installing in Launcher |
 Black Brant I Fin assembly |
 Black Brant 1 Nose Cone Drawing |
 Black Brant II Nose cone drawing |
 Black Brant IIA launch at Churchill Falls Range Manitoba |
 Black Brant rocket series specifications |
 Black Brant III sounding rocket |
 Black Brant III nosecone with cover removed |
 First Black Brant 1 on testbed at CARDE, February 1959 |
 Black Brant III sounding rocket on its launch platform, ca. 1970 |
- (Cardeplex Propellant Report 1958 (Canadian Armament Research & Development Establishment)
- (Black Brant I Trials September 1959)
- (Black Brant IIA Tests 1963)
- (Black Brant I Aerodynamics 1963)
- (Black Brant Rocket Engine 1963)
- (Black Brant IIA Tests 1964)
- (Black Brant Rocket Handling 1964)
- (Black Brant Instrumentation 1964)
- (Black Brant III Propellants 1965)
- (Black Brant II Data Booklet 1965)
- (Development Of The 23KS20000 Motor For The Black Brant IIB Vehicle 1965)
- (Black Brant Igniters 1965)
- (Black Brant Seeding Program 1965)
- (Annual Report of Defence Research Telecommunications Establishment Canada 1966)
