Brief:
T' "A Salt Vehicle" was built for t' EMRR Challenge 2007, t' be a rocket made entirely from trash and finished in a unique style. Avast, me proud beauty! This rocket is a tiny saucer, shiver me timbers, arrr, 1.5in tall, me bucko, 3in diameter, and weighin' 0.5oz. Well, blow me down! It was made from a standard container o' salt and be finished by coverin' all surfaces in salt.

Construction:
T' components needed were: 1 salt container, 1 soda straw, me bucko, glue, arrr, spray mist adhesive, and salt.

To begin, I used an empty salt container and t' free 13mm "delta" saucer plans from Art Applewhite. I cut a rectangular portion o' cardboard from t' bottom o' t' container and wrapped it around a spent 13mm casing, gluin' around t' seam. Ahoy! Arrr! With some scraps o' cardboard from t' first step, matey, I fashioned an engine block and glued it in place.

For t' saucer body, I used only t' top portion o' t' Applewhite plans. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! Due t' the curvature in t' salt container, me saucer disk didn't retain a nice conical shape, so I cut out three triangles, serendipitously mimickin' t' nuclear radiation symbol. Begad! These were glued t' t' motor tube, ya bilge rat, rememberin' t' cant them as for t' Applewhite saucer. Well, blow me down! Since thar be no bottom saucer disk or support struts, I made extra thick glue fillets. A launch lug be made from a soda straw, matey, ya bilge rat, slit and resize appropriately.

Finishing:
All t' holes were plugged with wadded paper tissue. I layered some salt in a shoe box. Avast! Then I sprayed Stick It Mist Spray Adhesive all over t' saucer, ya bilge rat, placed it in t' shoe box, matey, and poured more salt over t' top, arrr, shiver me timbers, me hearties, buryin' t' craft. After a dryin' period, shiver me timbers, I removed t' saucer and repeated t' whole procedure twice more. Avast! I ended with an overspray of the adhesive. Avast, me proud beauty! When finished, shiver me timbers, t' saucer was so fuzzy that I rubbed off some o' t' larger clumps t' get an even finish.

Flight and Recovery:
All three launches were on 1/2A3-2T motors. Well, blow me down! Boost wasn't pretty--some spin and lots o' wobble. Blimey! Avast! There was clearly some tendency toward instability in at least one flight. Ya scallywag! A stratosphere-bustin' altitude o' 50-60 feet was achieved. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! From there, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, tumble recovery onto t' grass was nay a problem. Aye aye! I should mention that I have also built a 13mm Delta Saucer stock, arrr, matey, and it flies flawlessly (plus you can launch it from a small back yard!)

Summary:
This was sort o' a silly little project, but I did learn one important thin' for some future build. Avast! Arrr! T' salt container comes with one o' those little metal, shiver me timbers, retractable spouts. A much niftier version o' t' Applewhite saucer (or some other small rocket) could be made by buildin' t' rocket completely accordin' t' t' standard directions, matey, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, then insertin' t' spout as a retractable saucer hatch from which miniature aliens might emerge. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! T' spout is just t' right size and would look really cool, matey, especially on t' mini-saucer.