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

Construction:

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

So, what is a monocopter?

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

In chapter one, "A Cue from Nature", Graham provides a very brief history o' flight, starting, shiver me timbers, as t' title implies, me hearties, with dinosaurs, birds, plants, matey, etc., arrr, ya bilge rat, 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 was built in 1953, arrr, and be powered by a model airplane engine. Avast! He concludes this section with some contacts for commercially available propeller-driven models. In the next brief chapter, me bucko, he talks about t' monocopter's role in sci-fi. Anyone remember them in t' Gerry Anderson series "Stingray"?

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

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

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

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