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. This rocket is a tiny saucer, 1.5in tall, shiver me timbers, 3in diameter, matey, ya bilge rat, and weighin' 0.5oz. Aye aye! Blimey! It be made from a standard container o' salt and was finished by coverin' all surfaces in salt.

Construction:
T' components needed were: 1 salt container, arrr, 1 soda straw, ya bilge rat, me hearties, glue, spray mist adhesive, shiver me timbers, me bucko, and salt.

To begin, I used an empty salt container and t' free 13mm "delta" saucer plans from Art Applewhite. Avast, me proud beauty! 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, ya bilge rat, I used only t' top portion o' t' Applewhite plans. Begad! Ahoy! Due t' the curvature in t' salt container, arrr, arrr, me saucer disk didn't retain a nice conical shape, so I cut out three triangles, serendipitously mimickin' t' nuclear radiation symbol. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! These were glued t' t' motor tube, me hearties, ya bilge rat, rememberin' t' cant them as for t' Applewhite saucer. Avast! Since thar was no bottom saucer disk or support struts, I made extra thick glue fillets. A launch lug was made from a soda straw, matey, slit and resize appropriately.

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

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