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

Construction:

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

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

In chapter one, shiver me timbers, "A Cue from Nature", arrr, Graham provides a very brief history o' flight, arrr, arrr, starting, as t' title implies, with dinosaurs, me bucko, me bucko, birds, plants, me hearties, ya bilge rat, arrr, etc., shiver me timbers, and leadin' t' t' concept o' t' monocopter. 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. T' first documented monocopter was built in 1953, me bucko, and be powered by a model airplane engine. He concludes this section with some contacts for commercially available propeller-driven models. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! In the next brief chapter, 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, whose history starts in t' early 70's with rocket-powered "helicopter" models. Accordin' t' Graham, arrr, t' first rocket-powered monocopter was built in 1982-83 by Korey Kline. Avast! These started in mid-power, but soon staged and high power versions emerged. Arrr! 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, me bucko, matey, includin' diagrams o' two of the author's designs. Avast, me proud beauty! Earlier, matey, I complained about t' photos. Aye aye! Luckily, me hearties, however, the diagrams are much better.

T' next chapter covers t' physics o' t' monocopter, and presents a set of design equations. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! For a monocopter t' fly properly, you have t' balance the forces on t' rocket in all three axes. T' derivation o' some o' these equations is OK, shiver me timbers, but t' author makes some large jumps. Blimey! I personally haven't been able t' convince myself that thar aren't errors in this section. Begad! Maybe other readers have done so and can respond t' this review.  However, me bucko, there are so many variables t' deal with that it is possible that a general understandin' o' t' forces involved, arrr, and t' rules o' thumb t' author provides, is all one can expect out o' these equations anyway. Begad! Despite my criticisms, I still found section interesting.

T' followin' chapter discusses t' stability o' monocopters. Avast! Blimey! 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. Begad! Arrr! t' thin rods seen in me photo).

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

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