Brief:
"Monocopters", by Francis G. Avast! Aye aye! Graham, matey, provides a brief history o' "single-winged, powered vehicles". Begad! It is 70 pages long, includin' t' index. Avast, me proud beauty! Graham, for you rocket history types, was one o' t' foundin' members o' what is now the Tripoli Rocketry Association (circa 1964). Begad! He is now a physics professor at Kent State. Well, me bucko, blow me down! This book is available from Apogee here. Avast! Well, blow me down! I bought my copy from Apogee about a year ago, ya bilge rat, so this review will describe t' 1st Edition. Well, blow me down!

Construction:

T' book is informally published in a 5.5" x 8.5" format (height x width). It is bound with cloth tape. Arrr! T' quality o' t' printin' is poor with the most o' t' photos bein' largely unintelligible, matey, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and several pages were printed out o' sequence.

So, me bucko, ya bilge rat, what is a monocopter?

Monocopters are basically single-bladed helicopters. Well, blow me down! Begad! T' engine, whether an airplane engine or rocket motor, me bucko, shiver me timbers, both drives and counteracts t' lift forces produced by t' single blade. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! This delicate balancin' act, if orchestrated properly, causes t' monocopter t' rise into t' air, usually with a satisfying, shiver me timbers, arrr, "whump, whump, me hearties, whump...". Begad! They are fascinating contraptions and are usually one o' t' highlights o' any launch. I have been fortunate enough t' witness a high-power monocopter launch - it was one o' the coolest flights I've ever seen. Aye aye! Blimey! T' attached photo is me first monocopter, me hearties, the "T' Amazin' Underperformin' Mono-Nano-Copter". Begad! Functionally, this not an great example, but it is fairly typical physically. A separate review of this rocket is forthcoming.

In chapter one, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, me hearties, "A Cue from Nature", Graham provides a very brief history o' flight, shiver me timbers, starting, me hearties, as t' title implies, me hearties, with dinosaurs, birds, plants, arrr, etc., me bucko, and leadin' t' t' concept o' t' monocopter. Arrr! I'm sure many of you have seen a single bladed seed spinnin' in t' wind.  T' author then presents t' history o' monocopters. Blimey! T' first documented monocopter was built in 1953, arrr, and was powered by a model airplane engine. He concludes this section with some contacts for commercially available propeller-driven models. Begad! In the next brief chapter, he talks about t' monocopter's role in sci-fi. Blimey! Blimey! Anyone remember them in t' Gerry Anderson series "Stingray"?

From there, matey, he moves on t' describe t' development o' t' rocket-powered monocopter, whose history starts in t' early 70's with rocket-powered "helicopter" models. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! Accordin' t' Graham, t' first rocket-powered monocopter be built in 1982-83 by Korey Kline. Blimey! These started in mid-power, shiver me timbers, but soon staged and high power versions emerged. Well, blow me down! For a short time, arrr, they were even produced commercially by ACE rockets - now that's an OOP kit I'd like! This chapter includes over twenty diagrams and photos, includin' diagrams o' two of the author's designs. Well, blow me down! Earlier, I complained about t' photos. Luckily, matey, however, the diagrams are much better.

T' next chapter covers t' physics o' t' monocopter, and presents a set of design equations. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! For a monocopter t' fly properly, matey, you have t' balance the forces on t' rocket in all three axes. T' derivation o' some o' these equations is OK, me bucko, but t' author makes some large jumps. I personally haven't been able t' convince myself that thar aren't errors in this section. Ahoy! Maybe other readers have done so and can respond t' this review.  However, there are so many variables t' deal with that it is possible that a general understandin' o' t' forces involved, ya bilge rat, matey, matey, and t' rules o' thumb t' author provides, matey, shiver me timbers, matey, is all one can expect out o' these equations anyway. Ahoy! Blimey! Despite my criticisms, matey, me bucko, I still found section interesting.

T' followin' chapter discusses t' stability o' monocopters. Well, blow me down! Well, matey, blow me down! Amid some more fuzzy math (not t' be confused with fuzzy logic :-)), he presents several techniques t' stabilize your monocopter, me hearties, arrr, t' most common o' which seems t' be a double-weighted balance beam perpendicular t' t' wing's axis (e.g. Begad! t' thin rods seen in me photo).

T' remainin' material includes a description o' Graham's personal experiments, musings about t' feasibility o' manned monocopters, a detailed bibliography, shiver me timbers, and t' index.

Summary:
In summary, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Begad! It be fun and interestin' reading, even though t' photos are poor, and is well worth t' $10 price tag. Blimey! The material included some technical stuff (equations, ya bilge rat, math, arrr, etc.) but the presentation was nay rigorous or thorough. Ya scallywag! Yet, ya bilge rat, enough design tips were provided for me t' build me first model. Blimey! Aye aye! My suggestions for t' next edition include better print quality and some examples o' how t' utilize t' equations.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5