Black Knight - BK03

BK03, the second proving trial, was successful except for an engine malfunction late in flight resulting in a long period of "cold" thrusting (due to decomposition of H.T.P, in the absence of kerosene).

The fault was subsequently traced to excessive heating of the propulsion bay, in which temperatures were measured during flight. Control of the vehicle was satisfactory both during "hot" burning and "cold" burning. In this trial, the guidance telescope tracking was made the primary source of information and radar tracking was retained as the stand-by; this proved very successful: very good tracking information with low noise was received until engine flameout, after which radar information was used during "cold" burning. Telemetry performance was generally satisfactory; most of the propulsion and control parameters were recorded and vibration environmental measurements were made.

Number Stages Date local
time Empty
wt [lbs] HTP
[lbs] Kerosene
[lbs} All up
wt [lbs] Burn-out
time [s] Apogee
miles

03 1 12 3 59 20.20 1 474 9 949 1 237 12 660 127.5 334