This design was done by Stephen Corban and William Anderson. I am 15 years old and have been in rockets for about a year, me hearties, and William is 14 and has been in rockets for 3 or 4 years. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down!

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

T' idea came from... Begad! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! Well who knows where it came from, but it be a good idea. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Blimey! We wanted t' build a rocket that would float and fly straight. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey!

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. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! We then filled t' rest o' t' void areas with 2 part foam. Ahoy! Begad! Blimey! This is party hat number 1. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! After gettin' this filled, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, 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! Avast! Blimey! We set up our launch controller, and William backed up and I stayed low. 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... Liftoff. Begad! T' rocket went no more than 75 feet in t' air doin' loops. Begad! Arrr! Blimey! It hit t' ground about 50 feet away. T' ejection charge fired and sent t' hot motor flyin' back at us. Aye aye! Blimey!

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

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

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

Well, t' weekend came when I took William, matey, and another fiend Jason t' our cabin at Lake Mattoon for 3 days. Well, blow me down! Begad! Blimey! If you remember t' original idea be for this t' float : ) Well, shiver me timbers, me bucko, me bucko, 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). So we went out into t' half a cornfield lot that we own behind our house. We set up next t' t' knee high corn and did a test fire. Blimey! T' rocket flew as straight as an arrow, 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, and t' launch equipment into t' pontoon boat. Blimey! Begad! We then went tubin' behind t' speed boat. That night we were wound so went out on a night cruise. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! We were cruisin' around the lake at about 9 o' clock at night and we had an idea. We set up the launchpad on t' front o' t' boat. Well, blow me down! Hooked William launcher t' t' 12v battery in t' boat, and had continuity. We couldn't get too far away for this flight! I armed t' Q-Beam and William began a countdown. Avast! 5...4...3...2...1 LIFTOFF. T' rocket screamed into t' air. Begad! Aye aye! 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. It did more than float, it bounced back up another 3 feet. Well, blow me down! Arrr! We recovered t' rocket and headed in. Blimey! Aye aye!

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

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