Brief:
T' "A Salt Vehicle" be built for t' EMRR Challenge 2007, t' be a rocket made entirely from trash and finished in a unique style. Begad! This rocket is a tiny saucer, shiver me timbers, 1.5in tall, 3in diameter, and weighin' 0.5oz. Well, blow me down! Avast! 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, me bucko, me hearties, 1 soda straw, glue, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, spray mist adhesive, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and salt.

To begin, I used an empty salt container and t' free 13mm "delta" saucer plans from Art Applewhite. Begad! Begad! 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. Begad! With some scraps o' cardboard from t' first step, 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. Due t' the curvature in t' salt container, me bucko, me saucer disk didn't retain a nice conical shape, shiver me timbers, so I cut out three triangles, serendipitously mimickin' t' nuclear radiation symbol. Avast, me proud beauty! These were glued t' t' motor tube, arrr, rememberin' t' cant them as for t' Applewhite saucer. Blimey! Since thar was no bottom saucer disk or support struts, ya bilge rat, I made extra thick glue fillets. Arrr! Avast! A launch lug was made from a soda straw, slit and resize appropriately.

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

Summary:
This was sort o' a silly little project, shiver me timbers, me bucko, but I did learn one important thin' for some future build. Avast! T' salt container comes with one o' those little metal, shiver me timbers, retractable spouts. Well, arrr, 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. Avast! Ya scallywag! T' spout is just t' right size and would look really cool, me hearties, especially on t' mini-saucer.