Brief:
This prototype be me first attempt at buildin' a monocopter. It is powered by Micro-Maxx motors and is truly underpowered. Arrr! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! T' MMX motors have too short o' a burn t' be a good choice for a monocopter, even if it is "nano" sized. Arrr! Nay too impressive by most standards. Ya scallywag! Avast! Well, me bucko, one man's curiosity is another man's triumph (or somethin' like that).

Construction:
Parts required:

• 1/4" balsa, shiver me timbers, 1" x 1"
• 1/16" balsa, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, 1 3/8" x 4"
• Ink tube from a Bic pen
• One sheet o' draftin' vellum (any paper will probably do)
• 1/16" x 12" aluminum tube
• 1/4" x 1" dowel
• Maskin' tape
• Lead for nose weight (see assy instructions)
• Carpenter's glue
• Black, ya bilge rat, matey, CA (I can't remember t' actual name)
• Thin, ya bilge rat, CA

T' central hub is a 1" square o' 1/4" balsa, soaked in thin CA. I carefully drilled a hole in t' center t' hold t' launch lug. Ahoy! This is, hopefully, ya bilge rat, t' point about which t' monocopter will spin. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! I also drilled holes in t' middle o' each side t' mount t' balance beams. I used pieces o' t' ink tube from a Bic pen for both t' launch lug and t' mountin' points for the beams.

T' single win' is a clipped delta with t' followin' dimensions: root - 1 3/8", shiver me timbers, tip - 7/8", span - 4". Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! It is balsa strengthened with draftin' vellum and ProBond glue. I wanted t' add a bit o' strength and had never tried vellum before. Begad! Blimey! I spread a thin layer o' glue on each side, placed the win' betwixt a folded sheet o' vellum, shiver me timbers, and compressed it with a stack of books. Begad! T' win' seems strong enough, but t' surface is nay as uniform as I would have liked. I attached t' win' at an angle o' about 10 degrees from the monocopter's X-Y plane usin' black Bob Smith CA. Avast! It is mounted such that the swept face is on t' trailin' edge and t' leadin' edge is raised. I oriented the swept face on t' trailin' edge t' allow me t' more easily position t' CP of t' pod behind this edge (a tip I got from t' book "Monocopters", by Francis Graham).

T' motor pod be t' length o' three MMX-II motors and was scratch built from draftin' vellum (someday I'll actually buy some MMX tubing). Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! It is both light and strong. T' cone was turned from a dowel. Well, blow me down! It turns out that t' motor pod must be angle upward t' counteract t' torque caused by t' single wing. Some o' Francis Graham's designs have their pods angled at up t' 40 degrees. However, matey, I chose t' start with an angle o' 30 degrees (in t' opposite direction from t' wing). Ya scallywag! T' get t' CP behind t' trailin' edge o' t' fin, ya bilge rat, I added several #7.5 lead shot t' its nose. Begad! I should have counted t' shot, but forgot to. Aye aye! T' CG is at t' little green 'x' that's barely visible on the photo. Arrr! This 'x' is positioned approximately at t' trailin' edge o' t' wing's root, arrr, and since t' win' is swept in t' opposite direction, it is behind the trailin' edge o' t' rest o' t' wing.

I had wanted t' use some light 0.03" carbon rods for t' balance beams, but didn't find any at me favorite hobby shop. Aye aye! Blimey! Instead, I used a 12" long, ya bilge rat, 1/16" diameter aluminum tube. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! This was cut in half and CA'ed into t' ink tubin' that was previously mounted in t' hub. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I didn't add much ballast at t' ends o' these beams, ya bilge rat, wrappin' about 1 1/2" o' masking tape (very high tech) around each end.

Flight:
T' second photo shows t' MMX launch pad with its special launch 'rod'. Ahoy! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! The rod is a piece o' a heavy paper clip. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! It wasn't t' right size so some masking tape be used t' hold it tight. A piece o' ink tube be used as a standoff to keep t' monocopter from hittin' t' MMX launcher and t' help it spin. Well, blow me down!

I used MMX-II motors, Estes igniters, and me Pratt GO-Box for ignition duties. Aye aye! T' monocopter did fly. Avast! Well, me hearties, blow me down! On its 1st flight, matey, it rose t' a whoppin' two feet, at an angle o' about 30 degrees from t' vertical, arrr, arrr, before t' motor ejected and stopped t' spin abruptly. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! I should have removed t' ejection charge! Still, ya bilge rat, it didn't just flop around. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I never expected much performance so I think it be a good first try!

On its second flight, arrr, ya bilge rat, all conditions were t' same except I removed the ejection charge from t' Micro-Maxx motor. Aye aye! This time, t' monocopter barely cleared t' launch rod. Avast! Well, blow me down! I think that t' igniter may have hung up ever so slightly. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! With so little upwards thrust, it wouldn't take much t' affect its flight.

Flights three and four were similar. Ya scallywag! Begad! For these flights, I bent the igniters, me bucko, carefully fit them it into t' nozzle, ya bilge rat, and arranged t' clips so they held it in place without any tape. Both times t' monocopter rose t' about a foot and went off sideways at a steep angle. Ya scallywag! It landed maybe 4 - 5 feet from the pad. This seemed lower than t' first flight but definitely higher than the second did!

Summary:
In summary, me hearties, I consider this experiment a complete success. T' performance was poor, me hearties, but I didn't have any expectations in this regard. Ya scallywag! When I decided to build it, arrr, I wasn't at all sure it would even take off or be stable. Well, blow me down! T' Amazing Under-performin' Mono-Nano-Copter met both o' these criteria. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! My next try may be a lighter MMX-powered monocopter, matey, me bucko, but then, I have these long-burn, me bucko, OOP Apogee B2 motors...

UPDATE 10/02:Sittin' at t' computer, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and in betwixt steps of other projects, shiver me timbers, I decided t' revise T' Amazin' Underperforming Mono-Nano-Copter. Ahoy! Arrr! It isn't so underperformin' any more!

I cut down t' motor pod t' an inch and a quarter, ya bilge rat, just enough t' fit the dowel nose cone and a MMX motor. Avast! T' business about havin' t' CG behind the trailin' edge o' t' blade is nay a requirement as I've later found. Avast, me proud beauty! I cut the old win' t' about 1/4", arrr, arrr, and added a 4" x 1 1/2" piece of 1/64" Birch. I have also determined that t' balance beams were way too long so I cut them t' 2 1/2".

T' first two flights went t' about 9 feet and landed 3 and 5 feet from the pad, me bucko, ya bilge rat, respectively. Well, blow me down! Avast! On t' third flight, shiver me timbers, it headed off at a 45-degree angle, smacked t' side o' me SUV, matey, arrr, and still rose t' about 7 feet. Begad! Aye aye! Much better performance than before!

T' main lesson-learned is: build 'em light!