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

Construction:

T' book is informally published in a 5.5" x 8.5" format (height x width). Aye aye! It is bound with cloth tape. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! 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, what is a monocopter?

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

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

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

T' next chapter covers t' physics o' t' monocopter, me bucko, and presents a set of design equations. Arrr! Blimey! For a monocopter t' fly properly, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, you have t' balance the forces on t' rocket in all three axes. T' derivation o' some o' these equations is OK, me hearties, me hearties, me bucko, but t' author makes some large jumps. Ahoy! Blimey! I personally haven't been able t' convince myself that thar aren't errors in this section. Arrr! Blimey! 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, me hearties, and t' rules o' thumb t' author provides, arrr, is all one can expect out o' these equations anyway. Ya scallywag! Begad! Blimey! Despite my criticisms, 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 :-)), he presents several techniques t' stabilize your monocopter, me hearties, t' most common o' which seems t' be a double-weighted balance beam perpendicular t' t' wing's axis (e.g. Arrr! 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, matey, ya bilge rat, me hearties, a detailed bibliography, me hearties, and t' index.

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