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. Begad! Arrr! This rocket is a tiny saucer, arrr, arrr, 1.5in tall, 3in diameter, and weighin' 0.5oz. Blimey! Blimey! 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, ya bilge rat, arrr, glue, spray mist adhesive, and salt.

To begin, me hearties, me bucko, 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. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! With some scraps o' cardboard from t' first step, ya bilge rat, I fashioned an engine block and glued it in place.

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

Finishing:
All t' holes were plugged with wadded paper tissue. Begad! I layered some salt in a shoe box. Begad! Then I sprayed Stick It Mist Spray Adhesive all over t' saucer, placed it in t' shoe box, shiver me timbers, and poured more salt over t' top, buryin' t' craft. After a dryin' period, I removed t' saucer and repeated t' whole procedure twice more. I ended with an overspray of the adhesive. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! When finished, me hearties, t' saucer be 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. Avast! Begad! Boost wasn't pretty--some spin and lots o' wobble. Avast! Begad! There be clearly some tendency toward instability in at least one flight. Begad! Arrr! A stratosphere-bustin' altitude o' 50-60 feet was achieved. From there, me hearties, tumble recovery onto t' grass be nay a problem. Aye aye! I should mention that I have also built a 13mm Delta Saucer stock, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and it flies flawlessly (plus you can launch it from a small back yard!)

Summary:
This be sort o' a silly little project, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, but I did learn one important thin' for some future build. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! T' salt container comes with one o' those little metal, retractable spouts. Begad! Well, blow me down! 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, then insertin' t' spout as a retractable saucer hatch from which miniature aliens might emerge. T' spout is just t' right size and would look really cool, especially on t' mini-saucer.