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. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! This rocket is a tiny saucer, shiver me timbers, 1.5in tall, shiver me timbers, me bucko, me bucko, 3in diameter, shiver me timbers, me bucko, and weighin' 0.5oz. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! 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, 1 soda straw, ya bilge rat, glue, spray mist adhesive, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, and salt.

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

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

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

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