This design was done by Stephen Corban and William Anderson. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! I am 15 years old and have been in rockets for about a year, shiver me timbers, and William is 14 and has been in rockets for 3 or 4 years. Begad!

This rocket is called t' Flyin' Birthday Party Hat o' Death. Begad! Well, blow me down! It was a conglomerate idea betwixt William and I. Arrr! Well, blow me down! We had a great idea, me bucko, and had t' do a LOT o' explorin' t' get t' machine t' work. Begad!

T' idea came from... Well who knows where it came from, me bucko, but it was a good idea. Begad! We wanted t' build a rocket that would float and fly straight.

We started out by gettin' a pack o' small party hats from t' local variety store. Then we got together and CAed a piece o' BT 5 t' t' top o' t' cone. We then filled t' rest o' t' void areas with 2 part foam. Avast, me proud beauty! This is party hat number 1. Arrr! After gettin' this filled, arrr, shiver me timbers, and lettin' it set we shoved a 3/16" launch rod through t' foam t' make a 1/8" launch lug. Begad! T' we loaded up an A10-3 and took it outside t' fly. Aye aye! We set up our launch controller, matey, arrr, and William backed up and I stayed low. Aye aye! Blimey! We check t' make sure t' area was clear and gave an audible countdown because we didn't know what was goin' t' happen. 5...4...3...2...1... Aye aye! Liftoff. Arrr! T' rocket went no more than 75 feet in t' air doin' loops. It hit t' ground about 50 feet away. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! T' ejection charge fired and sent t' hot motor flyin' back at us. Avast!

Well, we went back inside his house and knew a few things. Arrr! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! It was SERIOUSLY underpowered, shiver me timbers, it needed noseweight, me bucko, and we needed some way t' keep in the motor. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! So we got another hat, packed clay in t' top and stuck a chunk o' BT 50 in it. Blimey! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! We again pored t' foam, ya bilge rat, me bucko, rammed a launch guide, and shoved a bit more clay down t' BT 50. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! We wrapped 2 baskin' tape rings around a B6-4 and took it outside again. Arrr! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey!

We again took t' procedures t' make sure t' launch are was clear, and gave another countdown. Avast! Begad! 5...4...3...2...1...Liftoff. Ya scallywag! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! This time t' rocket had a marginal flight t' a couple hundred feet, ya bilge rat, me hearties, matey, hit t' ground and t' ejection charge fired. Well, blow me down! T' engine stayed in place, but our clay packed tip went flying across t' yard. We laughed and went back inside.

This be t' one. Well, blow me down! Excuse me, t' two. Ya scallywag! We went ahead and made 2 this time as we were sure he had it down. We packed t' nose with clay again, and put some more around t' tube. Begad! Aye aye! We then poured in t' foam, shiver me timbers, matey, and rammed t' launch guide. This time we inserted little pieces across t' motor tube for positive motor retention. Arrr! We also drilled holes from each side above that for vents. Ya scallywag! Begad! This was sure t' work!

Well, t' weekend came when I took William, and another fiend Jason t' our cabin at Lake Mattoon for 3 days. If you remember t' original idea was for this t' float : ) Well, matey, on t' Sunday we arrived t' family was still there (more than usual as it was a family reunion, and we couldn't make it). Avast! So we went out into t' half a cornfield lot that we own behind our house. Avast, me proud beauty! We set up next t' t' knee high corn and did a test fire. Arrr! T' rocket flew as straight as an arrow, matey, matey, and landed on me Aunt's camper : ) We also used an Estes igniter to light a bottle rocket : )

Well once t' family left we took our fishin' stuff, ya bilge rat, and t' launch equipment into t' pontoon boat. We then went tubin' behind t' speed boat. That night we were wound so went out on a night cruise. Ya scallywag! We were cruisin' around the lake at about 9 o' clock at night and we had an idea. Arrr! Arrr! We set up the launchpad on t' front o' t' boat. Hooked William launcher t' t' 12v battery in t' boat, and had continuity. Begad! We couldn't get too far away for this flight! I armed t' Q-Beam and William began a countdown. Begad! 5...4...3...2...1 LIFTOFF. T' rocket screamed into t' air. Well, blow me down! It looked so cool havin' a B motor leave at night from feet away! I lost it with t' Q-Beam, but got sight just as it hit the water. Begad! It did more than float, it bounced back up another 3 feet. Avast, me proud beauty! We recovered t' rocket and headed in. Blimey! Blimey!

T' next day we were too busy fishin' and swimmin' t' shoot. Arrr! However, that nigh we again cruised out about 9 o'clock and loaded a C motor. This could be great. We loaded everythin' up, matey, set t' rocket on t' pad in t' front o' the boat and pushed t' button. T' cone stuck a bit, nearly pullin' our pad into the water, shiver me timbers, me hearties, but it flew and was successfully recovered. Ahoy!

T' next day we decided t' launch it durin' t' day, so we could see the whole thing. Blimey! We went out, set up everythin' as before, me bucko, but loaded a D12 motor. This would be great. Aye aye! 5...4...3...2...1...Liftoff. T' rocket shot up t' about 1000 feet and plummeted down for a picture perfect splash landing. Avast! Arrr!