Brief:
T' "A Salt Vehicle" was 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, arrr, 1.5in tall, shiver me timbers, 3in diameter, me bucko, and weighin' 0.5oz. 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, shiver me timbers, 1 soda straw, arrr, glue, me hearties, ya bilge rat, spray mist adhesive, me hearties, and salt.

To begin, arrr, arrr, 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. Ahoy! With some scraps o' cardboard from t' first step, shiver me timbers, 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. Well, blow me down! Avast! Due t' the curvature in t' salt container, me hearties, 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! Ya scallywag! These were glued t' t' motor tube, rememberin' t' cant them as for t' Applewhite saucer. Well, blow me down! Since thar was no bottom saucer disk or support struts, arrr, me bucko, I made extra thick glue fillets. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! A launch lug was made from a soda straw, slit and resize appropriately.

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