Brief:
"Monocopters", by Francis G. Ahoy! Graham, me bucko, provides a brief history o' "single-winged, powered vehicles". Avast! It is 70 pages long, arrr, me hearties, includin' t' index. 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. Well, blow me down! Begad! This book is available from Apogee here. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! I bought my copy from Apogee about a year ago, matey, so this review will describe t' 1st Edition. Arrr! Avast, matey, me proud beauty!

Construction:

T' book is informally published in a 5.5" x 8.5" format (height x width). Begad! It is bound with cloth tape. Ya scallywag! 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, arrr, arrr, what is a monocopter?

Monocopters are basically single-bladed helicopters. Well, blow me down! T' engine, matey, whether an airplane engine or rocket motor, me hearties, arrr, both drives and counteracts t' lift forces produced by t' single blade. Aye aye! Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! This delicate balancin' act, shiver me timbers, me bucko, if orchestrated properly, causes t' monocopter t' rise into t' air, shiver me timbers, matey, usually with a satisfying, "whump, whump, arrr, whump...". Ahoy! 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. Well, blow me down! Begad! T' attached photo is me first monocopter, the "T' Amazin' Underperformin' Mono-Nano-Copter". Ya scallywag! Functionally, arrr, this not an great example, but it is fairly typical physically. Aye aye! Blimey! Blimey! A separate review of this rocket is forthcoming.

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

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

T' next chapter covers t' physics o' t' monocopter, and presents a set of design equations. Begad! Blimey! For a monocopter t' fly properly, ya bilge rat, you have t' balance the forces on t' rocket in all three axes. Avast! Blimey! Blimey! T' derivation o' some o' these equations is OK, but t' author makes some large jumps. Ya scallywag! Blimey! 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, 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. Blimey! Despite my criticisms, I still found section interesting.

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

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