This design was done by Stephen Corban and William Anderson. 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.

This rocket is called the Flying Birthday Party Hat of Death. It was a conglomerate idea between William and I. We had a great idea, and had to do a LOT of exploring to get the machine to work.

The idea came from... Well who knows where it came from, but it was a good idea. We wanted to build a rocket that would float and fly straight.

We started out by getting a pack of small party hats from the local variety store. Then we got together and CAed a piece of BT 5 to the top of the cone. We then filled the rest of the void areas with 2 part foam. This is party hat number 1. After getting this filled, and letting it set we shoved a 3/16" launch rod through the foam to make a 1/8" launch lug. The we loaded up an A10-3 and took it outside to fly. We set up our launch controller, and William backed up and I stayed low. We check to make sure the area was clear and gave an audible countdown because we didn't know what was going to happen. 5...4...3...2...1... Liftoff. The rocket went no more than 75 feet in the air doing loops. It hit the ground about 50 feet away. The ejection charge fired and sent the hot motor flying back at us.

Well, we went back inside his house and knew a few things. It was SERIOUSLY underpowered, it needed noseweight, and we needed some way to keep in the motor. So we got another hat, packed clay in the top and stuck a chunk of BT 50 in it. We again pored the foam, rammed a launch guide, and shoved a bit more clay down the BT 50. We wrapped 2 basking tape rings around a B6-4 and took it outside again.

We again took the procedures to make sure the launch are was clear, and gave another countdown. 5...4...3...2...1...Liftoff. This time the rocket had a marginal flight to a couple hundred feet, hit the ground and the ejection charge fired. The engine stayed in place, but our clay packed tip went flying across the yard. We laughed and went back inside.

This was the one. Excuse me, the two. We went ahead and made 2 this time as we were sure he had it down. We packed the nose with clay again, and put some more around the tube. We then poured in the foam, and rammed the launch guide. This time we inserted little pieces across the motor tube for positive motor retention. We also drilled holes from each side above that for vents. This was sure to work!

Well, the weekend came when I took William, and another fiend Jason to our cabin at Lake Mattoon for 3 days. If you remember the original idea was for this to float : ) Well, on the Sunday we arrived the family was still there (more than usual as it was a family reunion, and we couldn't make it). So we went out into the half a cornfield lot that we own behind our house. We set up next to the knee high corn and did a test fire. The rocket flew as straight as an arrow, and landed on my Aunt's camper : ) We also used an Estes igniter to light a bottle rocket : )

Well once the family left we took our fishing stuff, and the launch equipment into the pontoon boat. We then went tubing behind the speed boat. That night we were wound so went out on a night cruise. We were cruising around the lake at about 9 o' clock at night and we had an idea. We set up the launchpad on the front of the boat. Hooked William launcher to the 12v battery in the boat, and had continuity. We couldn't get too far away for this flight! I armed the Q-Beam and William began a countdown. 5...4...3...2...1 LIFTOFF. The rocket screamed into the air. It looked so cool having a B motor leave at night from feet away! I lost it with the Q-Beam, but got sight just as it hit the water. It did more than float, it bounced back up another 3 feet. We recovered the rocket and headed in.

The next day we were too busy fishing and swimming to shoot. However, that nigh we again cruised out about 9 o'clock and loaded a C motor. This could be great. We loaded everything up, set the rocket on the pad in the front of the boat and pushed the button. The cone stuck a bit, nearly pulling our pad into the water, but it flew and was successfully recovered.

The next day we decided to launch it during the day, so we could see the whole thing. We went out, set up everything as before, but loaded a D12 motor. This would be great. 5...4...3...2...1...Liftoff. The rocket shot up to about 1000 feet and plummeted down for a picture perfect splash landing.