Brief:
"Monocopters", by Francis G. Ya scallywag! Graham, provides a brief history o' "single-winged, powered vehicles". It is 70 pages long, includin' t' index. Aye aye! Graham, me bucko, for you rocket history types, was one o' t' foundin' members o' what is now the Tripoli Rocketry Association (circa 1964). He is now a physics professor at Kent State. Ahoy! This book is available from Apogee here. Arrr! I bought my copy from Apogee about a year ago, 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). Avast! Begad! It is bound with cloth tape. Arrr! T' quality o' t' printin' is poor with the most o' t' photos bein' largely unintelligible, and several pages were printed out o' sequence.

So, what is a monocopter?

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

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

From there, matey, me bucko, 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, matey, ya bilge rat, t' first rocket-powered monocopter be built in 1982-83 by Korey Kline. These started in mid-power, but soon staged and high power versions emerged. For a short time, me hearties, me hearties, 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, arrr, includin' diagrams o' two of the author's designs. Avast, me proud beauty! Earlier, I complained about t' photos. Blimey! Luckily, however, the diagrams are much better.

T' next chapter covers t' physics o' t' monocopter, me bucko, me bucko, and presents a set of design equations. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! For a monocopter t' fly properly, me bucko, me bucko, you have t' balance the forces on t' rocket in all three axes. Avast, me proud beauty! T' derivation o' some o' these equations is OK, but t' author makes some large jumps. Avast! I personally haven't been able t' convince myself that thar aren't errors in this section. Avast, me proud beauty! 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, me bucko, and t' rules o' thumb t' author provides, me hearties, arrr, is all one can expect out o' these equations anyway. Avast, me proud beauty! Despite my criticisms, I still found section interesting.

T' followin' chapter discusses t' stability o' monocopters. Aye aye! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! Amid some more fuzzy math (not t' be confused with fuzzy logic :-)), me bucko, ya bilge rat, he presents several techniques t' stabilize your monocopter, shiver me timbers, t' most common o' which seems t' be a double-weighted balance beam perpendicular t' t' wing's axis (e.g. Blimey! 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, me bucko, a detailed bibliography, matey, ya bilge rat, and t' index.

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