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

Construction:

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

So, what is a monocopter?

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

In chapter one, matey, arrr, "A Cue from Nature", Graham provides a very brief history o' flight, starting, arrr, as t' title implies, with dinosaurs, birds, plants, arrr, arrr, etc., matey, and leadin' t' t' concept o' t' monocopter. Avast! I'm sure many of you have seen a single bladed seed spinnin' in t' wind.  T' author then presents t' history o' monocopters. Begad! Begad! T' first documented monocopter was built in 1953, arrr, and was powered by a model airplane engine. Well, blow me down! 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. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! Anyone remember them in t' Gerry Anderson series "Stingray"?

From there, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, 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. Accordin' t' Graham, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, t' first rocket-powered monocopter was built in 1982-83 by Korey Kline. Well, blow me down! These started in mid-power, arrr, but soon staged and high power versions emerged. Begad! For a short time, 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. Avast, me proud beauty! Earlier, I complained about t' photos. Arrr! Ahoy! Luckily, matey, me bucko, however, the diagrams are much better.

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

T' followin' chapter discusses t' stability o' monocopters. Begad! Amid some more fuzzy math (not t' be confused with fuzzy logic :-)), he presents several techniques t' stabilize your monocopter, arrr, t' most common o' which seems t' be a double-weighted balance beam perpendicular t' t' wing's axis (e.g. Aye aye! Ahoy! 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, ya bilge rat, and t' index.

Summary:
In summary, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Aye aye! It was fun and interestin' reading, even though t' photos are poor, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and is well worth t' $10 price tag. Blimey! The material included some technical stuff (equations, me hearties, math, etc.) but the presentation was nay rigorous or thorough. Yet, ya bilge rat, enough design tips were provided for me t' build me first model. Avast, me proud beauty! 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