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Estes - Black Brant II (1958) [1986-1998]

Manufacturer:Estes
Construction Rating:
Flight Rating:
Overall Rating:

Contributed by Casey Thomas Bartlett

Brief:
This is a good, clean, single staged rocket which uses an 18" plastic parachute for recovery.

Construction:
There is a single body tube, with three fins. The construction is very simple, and the design is very basic.

The construction was fairly simple with an overall basic design. The Estes instructions were very thorough, and I was not confused at any point. The only problem I had was with the fit of the coupling between the body tube and the payload area. I had to cut off one layer of the red paper in order to fit the two pieces together, but otherwise there were no problems. I didn't use the 'antenna' that were provided, as it would just add extra drag.

Finishing:
I just finished this rocket with conventional spray paint. A couple coats of primer, then a few each of gloss black and white to their corresponding regions. The finishing near the tail fins was difficult as the gloss white had to extend partly between the fins. I think it might be easier to paint the fins first and the body tube separately and then epoxy them together, to get the best finish.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
The recommended motor was a D12-5, but Estes has unfortunately discontinued this size. I have to go to the C11-5 and D12-3. The C11-5's were great. I got many great flights with this size, which were all visible with a clear sky. When I launched the D12-3 the rocket went almost out of sight, but I forgot to put wadding in and the parachute partially got scorched. Even though there was almost nothing slowing the rockets decent it was perfectly intact when it landed about 50ft. away from the launch site in a pile of snow. I decided that the rocket could handle an E9-6, so I launched one of with that as well. I lost site of it as it passed through some clouds at about 1200 ft, but then saw it about 20 seconds later passing through them, safely floating down. It landed about 100 ft. away from the launch site (0-5mph of wind). All the flights were perfectly straight and extremely predictable, this is a great rocket.

Recovery:
The only problem is this rocket doesn't need a parachute so large. I cut a 2 inch hole in the top of the parachute to help it descend faster, but it still took well over 2 minutes on the D12-3. The shock cord bent the body tube at the top on the D12-3, so I didn't use any more D's on it. I think you could almost recover this thing without any recovery system at all.

Flight Rating: 3 out of 5

Summary:
This rocket was easy to build, flew great, almost too great, as I lost it on my last launch of the day. Only con is that there aren't too many engines you can use standard on this thing, and the D12-3 is not recommended. I'm going to try an Aerotech E30 on this, I don't know what it will do with almost triple the force of the Estes D's. Just don't launch this with a delay time of less than 3 seconds.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

    Flight Log

    DateRocket NameMotor(s)AltitudeNotes
    1992-07-18Moe Bertrand's Estes Black Brant IID12-5- Unpainted, this really hauled the mail on the D12-5...like so many others' it drifted out of sight...
    1998-08-30George Beever's Estes Black Brant IIC6-5- Great flight. I can't imagine flying this model on a D12.
    1999-04-13Paul Smith's Estes Black Brant IID12-5- Incredible. Absolutely straight high flight. Audible ejection. Probably took over a minute to fall...
    1999-05-02Paul Smith's Estes Black Brant IID12-3- Beautiful again.
    1999-07-11Ron Watkins's Estes Black Brant IID12-7- Good flight-predicted altitude-1,375 ft. -considerable drift on recovery.
    1999-07-17Paul Smith's Estes Black Brant IID12-5- Perfect. Straight, high, never out of my sight. Caught on the fly.
    1999-08-03Paul Smith's Estes Black Brant IID12-5- Nice high straight long flight. Caught winds aloft - apparently landed in trees, but never found.
    1999-11-25David Virga's Estes Black Brant IID12-7- Thxgiving Day '99. . . Maiden flight. Rural residential area, nice and open. Gorgeous boost, WAY...
    2000-02-26Fred Taverni's Estes Black Brant IID12-7-
    2000-02-26Mike Smith's Estes Black Brant IID12-3- Launch went well, I put some homemade fins on it that added a little spin, but went into a dive at...
    2000-04-29David Kneble's Estes Black Brant IID12-5- Very high flight, lost to spotters for a momment.
    2000-05-05Casey Smith's Estes Black Brant IID12-7- Boy this kit scrames like it has an Aerotech engine in it on a D12-7. Very high flight, long walk...
    2000-05-12Casey Smith's Estes Black Brant IID12-7- Good flight, drifted away never to be found. Had a good line on it, oh well.
    2000-07-19Joe Cacciatore's Estes Black Brant IID12-5- Super fast take off, couldn't follow. Lands a few feet from trees.
    2000-07-23Mark VanArsdall's Estes Black Brant IIC6-5- The engine CATOed as I pushed the launch button. The rocket reached about 15 feet in the air, but...
    2000-11-11Frank Ross's Estes Black Brant IID12-7- Tried to lose it again, but failed, again. Out-of-sight flight into low snow-clouds. But recovered...
    2000-12-10Eric Snyder's Estes Black Brant IID12-7- Flight occurred near dusk. Super fast lift-off with nice view of engine flames.
    2002-01-26Jason Vennard's Estes Black Brant IIC6-7- Good flight, high winds at altitude, shock cord mount seperated from rocket, hard landing, one fin...
    2002-03-26Jason Vennard's Estes Black Brant IID12-7- Great flight on this rocket. Recovery uneventful, 18 nylon parachute
    2002-04-27Joe Cacciatore's Estes Black Brant IIC11-3- First C11 ever used. Great in this rocket. Unfortunately all but one chute line broke, rocket fell...
    2002-05-11Jerry Steketee's Estes Black Brant IIC11-3- Great engine for this great performer!
    2002-05-25Jason Vennard's Estes Black Brant IIC6-5- Good flight, arched into the wind slightly, chute deployed came down nice. 16 nylon chute. No...
    2002-05-25Michael Mangieri's Estes Black Brant IIB6-4- Maiden flight using my 24-18mm MMT and home-made wadding. Everything went terrific. A bit of a...
    2002-06-08Joe Cacciatore's Estes Black Brant IIC11-5- Great boost on a new C11 engine. Rocket still went out of sight. Unfortunately the shock cord came...
    2002-06-08Michael Mangieri's Estes Black Brant IIC6-5- Nice flight - again, this is a Black Brant on my 24-18mm MMT.
    2002-06-22Michael Mangieri's Estes Black Brant IIB6-4- Good flight. Angled into the wind about 10 degrees. Ejection was 2-3 sec after apogee. Landed 40'...
    2002-07-19Jason Vennard's Estes Black Brant IIC6-5- Another good flight and recovery. 16 nylon chute ideal.
    2002-10-07Mike Atwood's Estes Black Brant IID12-7- Nice flight. Came off the pad quickly. Very straight and high. Slight burn mark from ejection....
    2003-01-11Anthony Esposito's Estes Black Brant IIF101-14- Took off in great cloud of smoke, whooshed up at about 300 mph ,heard the faint pop of ejection,...
    2003-01-25Stephen Peart's Estes Black Brant IID12-5- Fast, high - perfect first flight. Palm trees
    2003-03-16Jason Vennard's Estes Black Brant IID12-5- Another great flight, quick straight boost. 18 plastic chute with spill hole.
    2003-04-02Neil Thompson's Estes Black Brant IID12-3- Up up and away... This was my first D powerd rocket. It went straight up, never to be seen again....
    2003-05-11Donald Besaw's Estes Black Brant IIC11-7- This was the motor that failed to ignite in my CC Express but it gave the BBII a great first...
    2003-05-26Michael Mangieri's Estes Black Brant IIB6-4- BBII on an 18mm motor mount adapter. Nice boost; good recovery.
    2003-07-25Michael Mangieri's Estes Black Brant IIB6-4- Nice flight. This model always performs well. Used my motor mount adapter because of small field.
    2003-08-09Jeff Smith's Estes Black Brant IID12-8- Incredibly straight flight, high. Drifted forever, even with a spill hole in the chute. Found it...
    2003-11-08Michael Mangieri's Estes Black Brant IIB6-4- A bit of a corkscrew during boost. The 4 second delay was a bit long for this rocket today. Nice...
    2004-03-20Mike Atwood's Estes Black Brant IID12-7- Nice day to fly Two way drag race very quick off the pad very high up very soft landing close to...
    2004-04-10Mike Kiss's Estes Black Brant IID12-7- Great straight boost to about 1200ft., deployed chute just past apogee, landed about200ft. from...
    2004-04-10Mike Kiss's Estes Black Brant IIC11-5- Nice straight boost to about 800ft., good deploy of 12 inch nylon chute, landed about 100ft. from...
    2004-04-17Mike Kiss's Estes Black Brant IIC11-5- Good easy flight to about 700ft., fighting wind of over 15mph, this was starter test flight for...
    2004-05-15Mike Kiss's Estes Black Brant IIC11-5- Another good flight to about 800ft, very little weather cocking in high wind, long walk for...
    2004-06-12Mike Kiss's Estes Black Brant IIE30-7- Straight fast flight to about 2000ft, good deploy at apogee, landed about 100yds from pad, no...
    2004-06-26Mike Kiss's Estes Black Brant IIC11-5- Good straight flight to about 700ft., good deploy at apogee, landed about 100ft. rom pad, no damage
    2004-11-13Mike Kiss's Estes Black Brant IID12-7- Excellent flight after repairs from sittin on rocket (oops), ejection perfect at apogee, landed...
    2004-11-14Mike Kiss's Estes Black Brant IIC11-5- Nice straight flight in high wind, no weather cocking, ejection was slightly early, landed about...
    2004-12-18Scott Hauff's Estes Black Brant IID12-5- Beautiful flight, very fast and high. Recovered inside 50 yards on a 3x48in streamer.
    2004-12-28Scott Hauff's Estes Black Brant IIE9-6- Very high, weathercocked into the wind a bit. 3x48 streamer landed 150 yards away nice and gently....
    2004-12-31Scott Hauff's Estes Black Brant IIE9-6- Beautiful flight once again. Unfortunatly there was alot of wind up high and it drifted into a big...
    2005-01-15Mike Kiss's Estes Black Brant IID12-7- Surprisingly little weather cock in high wind, used 9 inch nylon chute and still drifted a long...
    2005-02-05Pierre Julien's Estes Black Brant IID12-7- Another perfect flight
    2005-02-05Pierre Julien's Estes Black Brant IIE15-7- Spectacular flight , fast , high , loud .
    2005-02-25Jeff Lane's Estes Black Brant IID12-7- Spectacular flight: using D-12s in this rocket is massive overkill. Oohs and ahs. 7 second delay...
    2005-04-09Mike Kiss's Estes Black Brant IID12-5- Good straight flight in high wind, used 9 inch nylon chute, landed about 150 yds from pad, no...
    2005-05-14Mike Kiss's Estes Black Brant IID12-5- Nice fast, high flight ( about 1200 ft ), good deploy at apogee, landed about 100 yds from pad, no...
    2005-05-14Michael Mangieri's Estes Black Brant IIA8-3- Underpowered with an A8 motor; struggled on the way up. However, recovery system ejected before...
    2005-05-14Michael Mangieri's Estes Black Brant IIB6-4- Flies nice on a B6-4. Landed just 20' from launch site.
    2005-05-21Mike Kiss's Estes Black Brant IID12-5- Another good high flight, ejection at apogee, landed about 100 yds from pad, in road, scraped some...
    2005-06-18Philip Levanda's Estes Black Brant IIE6-8- Out of site. People love to hear that 7.3 second burn. Somebody found it for me hours later.
    2005-06-18Edward Chess's Estes Black Brant IIC11-5- Scale judge for Nartrek Silver. Successful flight, long walk for recovery.
    2005-06-25Jeff Lane's Estes Black Brant IID12-7- Perfect flight.
    2005-07-30Philip Levanda's Estes Black Brant IIC11-5- perfect motor for a nice small field flight
    2005-09-17David Logan's Estes Black Brant IID12-7- Outa sight fast! Finally spotted it coming back down. Landed about 30 yards out with a large mylar...
    2005-09-17David Logan's Estes Black Brant IIC11-7- Good motor choice. Stayed within sight, and recovered close to pads with a 12 inch nylon chute.
    2006-02-18Mike Kiss's Estes Black Brant IID12-5- Another good high flight, ejection right at apogee, landed about 100yds from pad, no damage
    2006-03-11Mike Kiss's Estes Black Brant IID12-5- Good high flight, this is a great little rocket, ejection at apogee, landed about 200 yds from...
    2006-08-27Jeff Lane's Estes Black Brant IIC11-5- A perfect flight.
    2006-10-02Richie Brunjes's Estes Black Brant IIC11-3- Nice flight
    2007-02-10Jeff Lane's Estes Black Brant IIC11-5- Shock cord failure resulted in separation, one fin floppy but fixed. Nose cone recovered. Longer...
    2007-04-16William Beggs's Estes Black Brant IID12-5- Perfect flight and recovery.
    2007-08-11Jeff Lane's Estes Black Brant IID12-7- Beautiful flight. Out of sight. Streamer. One floppy fin, easily fixed.
    2007-11-17William Beggs's Estes Black Brant IID12-5- Great flight and recovery. Took a while to find due to being carried off by the wind.
    2008-11-09Mike Kiss's Estes Black Brant IID12-5- Didn't have D12-7. 5 second delay is always just a little short for this rocket. Good flight...
    2009-01-25Todd Mullin's Estes Black Brant IIC11-3-
    2009-07-11Edward Chess's Estes Black Brant IIC11-5- Very high flight for this engine. No damage at all.
    2010-03-20 Andy Wong's Estes Black Brant IIC6-5- Used a 18mm motor mount and flies up to 660ft according to Rocksim.
    2010-03-20Andy Wong's Estes Black Brant IIC6-5- Same flight as before. Still a crowd pleaser on this motor.
    2010-03-28Jeff Lane's Estes Black Brant IIC6-7- C6-7 is a little long on the delay. Launched nearly straight up to ~1000 ft, deployment at around...
    2010-08-15Todd Mullin's Estes Black Brant IIC11-3- Ejection fired immediately after boost. Snapped shock cord.
    2010-10-10Edward Chess's Estes Black Brant IIC11-5- Very high flight, near apogee when chute ejected. No damage on chute with large spill hole.
    2011-11-06George Beever's Estes Black Brant IIEstes C11-5- Good flight.

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