This design was done by Stephen Corban and William Anderson. Ahoy! I am 15 years old and have been in rockets for about a year, and William is 14 and has been in rockets for 3 or 4 years. Aye aye! Begad!

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

T' idea came from... Aye aye! Well who knows where it came from, but it was a good idea. We wanted t' build a rocket that would float and fly straight. Blimey!

We started out by gettin' a pack o' small party hats from t' local variety store. Ya scallywag! Begad! Then we got together and CAed a piece o' BT 5 t' t' top o' t' cone. Blimey! We then filled t' rest o' t' void areas with 2 part foam. Aye aye! Begad! This is party hat number 1. Avast! Ahoy! After gettin' this filled, and lettin' it set we shoved a 3/16" launch rod through t' foam t' make a 1/8" launch lug. Avast, me proud beauty! T' we loaded up an A10-3 and took it outside t' fly. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! We set up our launch controller, and William backed up and I stayed low. Ahoy! 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... Aye aye! Liftoff. Ahoy! Begad! T' rocket went no more than 75 feet in t' air doin' loops. It hit t' ground about 50 feet away. Ahoy! Avast! T' ejection charge fired and sent t' hot motor flyin' back at us. Arrr! Ya scallywag!

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

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

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

Well, matey, t' weekend came when I took William, and another fiend Jason t' our cabin at Lake Mattoon for 3 days. Ya scallywag! Blimey! If you remember t' original idea was for this t' float : ) Well, arrr, on t' Sunday we arrived t' family be still there (more than usual as it was a family reunion, and we couldn't make it). Arrr! Avast! So we went out into t' half a cornfield lot that we own behind our house. Aye aye! We set up next t' t' knee high corn and did a test fire. Aye aye! 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. Arrr! We then went tubin' behind t' speed boat. That night we were wound so went out on a night cruise. Ya scallywag! We were cruisin' around the lake at about 9 o' clock at night and we had an idea. Avast! We set up the launchpad on t' front o' t' boat. Aye aye! Avast! 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, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! 5...4...3...2...1 LIFTOFF. T' rocket screamed into t' air. Begad! Arrr! It looked so cool havin' a B motor leave at night from feet away! I lost it with t' Q-Beam, ya bilge rat, but got sight just as it hit the water. Aye aye! It did more than float, me hearties, it bounced back up another 3 feet. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! We recovered t' rocket and headed in.

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

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