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

Construction:

T' book is informally published in a 5.5" x 8.5" format (height x width). It is bound with cloth tape. Aye aye! Begad! 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. T' engine, whether an airplane engine or rocket motor, me bucko, both drives and counteracts t' lift forces produced by t' single blade. This delicate balancin' act, if orchestrated properly, me bucko, matey, me hearties, causes t' monocopter t' rise into t' air, arrr, usually with a satisfying, me hearties, "whump, ya bilge rat, whump, me bucko, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, whump...". Blimey! They are fascinating contraptions and are usually one o' t' highlights o' any launch. Begad! I have been fortunate enough t' witness a high-power monocopter launch - it be one o' the coolest flights I've ever seen. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! T' attached photo is me first monocopter, the "T' Amazin' Underperformin' Mono-Nano-Copter". Blimey! Functionally, this not an great example, but it is fairly typical physically. Avast! A separate review of this rocket is forthcoming.

In chapter one, "A Cue from Nature", me hearties, Graham provides a very brief history o' flight, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, starting, as t' title implies, with dinosaurs, birds, plants, etc., me bucko, me hearties, and leadin' t' t' concept o' t' monocopter. Blimey! 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, and be powered by a model airplane engine. Arrr! 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. Aye aye! Anyone remember them in t' Gerry Anderson series "Stingray"?

From there, arrr, he moves on t' describe t' development o' t' rocket-powered monocopter, me bucko, me bucko, whose history starts in t' early 70's with rocket-powered "helicopter" models. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Accordin' t' Graham, ya bilge rat, t' first rocket-powered monocopter was built in 1982-83 by Korey Kline. Ahoy! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! These started in mid-power, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, arrr, but soon staged and high power versions emerged. Aye aye! Blimey! Well, me bucko, blow me down! 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, me bucko, me hearties, includin' diagrams o' two of the author's designs. Begad! Blimey! Earlier, I complained about t' photos. Aye aye! Blimey! Luckily, however, the diagrams are much better.

T' next chapter covers t' physics o' t' monocopter, and presents a set of design equations. Well, blow me down! For a monocopter t' fly properly, matey, me bucko, you have t' balance the forces on t' rocket in all three axes. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! T' derivation o' some o' these equations is OK, but t' author makes some large jumps. I personally haven't been able t' convince myself that thar aren't errors in this section. Maybe other readers have done so and can respond t' this review.  However, me hearties, 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, ya bilge rat, matey, is all one can expect out o' these equations anyway. Well, blow me down! Despite my criticisms, ya bilge rat, I still found section interesting.

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

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

Summary:
In summary, arrr, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Arrr! Begad! It be 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, etc.) but the presentation was nay rigorous or thorough. Aye aye! Yet, shiver me timbers, enough design tips were provided for me t' build me first model. Begad! 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