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

Construction:

T' book is informally published in a 5.5" x 8.5" format (height x width). Begad! Aye aye! It is bound with cloth tape. Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! 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, me hearties, what is a monocopter?

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

In chapter one, ya bilge rat, "A Cue from Nature", shiver me timbers, me bucko, Graham provides a very brief history o' flight, shiver me timbers, starting, me bucko, as t' title implies, ya bilge rat, with dinosaurs, birds, plants, matey, etc., 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. Ahoy! T' first documented monocopter was built in 1953, me bucko, and was 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, he moves on t' describe t' development o' t' rocket-powered monocopter, shiver me timbers, whose history starts in t' early 70's with rocket-powered "helicopter" models. Aye aye! Accordin' t' Graham, t' first rocket-powered monocopter be built in 1982-83 by Korey Kline. Well, blow me down! These started in mid-power, arrr, me bucko, me hearties, but soon staged and high power versions emerged. For a short time, me bucko, shiver me timbers, 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, me hearties, includin' diagrams o' two of the author's designs. Ahoy! Earlier, arrr, I complained about t' photos. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! Luckily, however, the diagrams are much better.

T' next chapter covers t' physics o' t' monocopter, matey, shiver me timbers, and presents a set of design equations. Begad! For a monocopter t' fly properly, me bucko, you have t' balance the forces on t' rocket in all three axes. Aye aye! Ahoy! T' derivation o' some o' these equations is OK, 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. Ya scallywag! Maybe other readers have done so and can respond t' this review.  However, arrr, 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, shiver me timbers, is all one can expect out o' these equations anyway. Arrr! Despite my criticisms, ya bilge rat, I still found section interesting.

T' followin' chapter discusses t' stability o' monocopters. Ya scallywag! Amid some more fuzzy math (not t' be confused with fuzzy logic :-)), 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. Avast! Ya scallywag! t' thin rods seen in me photo).

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

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