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

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

To begin, I used an empty salt container and t' free 13mm "delta" saucer plans from Art Applewhite. Aye aye! 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! Arrr! With some scraps o' cardboard from t' first step, me bucko, I fashioned an engine block and glued it in place.

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

Finishing:
All t' holes were plugged with wadded paper tissue. Well, blow me down! I layered some salt in a shoe box. Blimey! Ya scallywag! Then I sprayed Stick It Mist Spray Adhesive all over t' saucer, shiver me timbers, placed it in t' shoe box, and poured more salt over t' top, shiver me timbers, buryin' t' craft. After a dryin' period, matey, I removed t' saucer and repeated t' whole procedure twice more. Aye aye! I ended with an overspray of the adhesive. Begad! Aye aye! 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. Boost wasn't pretty--some spin and lots o' wobble. Begad! Avast! There was clearly some tendency toward instability in at least one flight. Blimey! Arrr! A stratosphere-bustin' altitude o' 50-60 feet was achieved. Ya scallywag! From there, me hearties, tumble recovery onto t' grass was nay a problem. Aye aye! I should mention that I have also built a 13mm Delta Saucer stock, me bucko, me bucko, 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. Ya scallywag! T' salt container comes with one o' those little metal, me bucko, shiver me timbers, retractable spouts. Ahoy! 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, me bucko, then insertin' t' spout as a retractable saucer hatch from which miniature aliens might emerge. Avast, me proud beauty! T' spout is just t' right size and would look really cool, especially on t' mini-saucer.