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

Construction:

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

Monocopters are basically single-bladed helicopters. Aye aye! 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, if orchestrated properly, causes t' monocopter t' rise into t' air, usually with a satisfying, "whump, arrr, whump, me hearties, me hearties, whump...". Ahoy! 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. Avast! T' attached photo is me first monocopter, ya bilge rat, the "T' Amazin' Underperformin' Mono-Nano-Copter". Ya scallywag! Functionally, shiver me timbers, this not an great example, ya bilge rat, but it is fairly typical physically. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! A separate review of this rocket is forthcoming.

In chapter one, shiver me timbers, "A Cue from Nature", Graham provides a very brief history o' flight, starting, as t' title implies, with dinosaurs, birds, plants, ya bilge rat, etc., arrr, arrr, ya bilge rat, and leadin' t' t' concept o' t' monocopter. Aye aye! Begad! I'm sure many of you have seen a single bladed seed spinnin' in t' wind.  T' author then presents t' history o' monocopters. Avast! T' first documented monocopter be built in 1953, shiver me timbers, and was powered by a model airplane engine. Arrr! Begad! He concludes this section with some contacts for commercially available propeller-driven models. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! In the next brief chapter, me hearties, he talks about t' monocopter's role in sci-fi. Ahoy! 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. Well, blow me down! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! Blimey! Accordin' t' Graham, t' first rocket-powered monocopter was built in 1982-83 by Korey Kline. These started in mid-power, but soon staged and high power versions emerged. 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. Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! Earlier, matey, I complained about t' photos. Luckily, however, the diagrams are much better.

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

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

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