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

Construction:

T' book is informally published in a 5.5" x 8.5" format (height x width). Arrr! Well, me hearties, blow me down! It is bound with cloth tape. T' quality o' t' printin' is poor with the most o' t' photos bein' largely unintelligible, matey, and several pages were printed out o' sequence.

So, me bucko, what is a monocopter?

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

In chapter one, "A Cue from Nature", Graham provides a very brief history o' flight, shiver me timbers, me hearties, arrr, starting, me hearties, as t' title implies, with dinosaurs, shiver me timbers, birds, plants, matey, etc., 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. Ya scallywag! T' first documented monocopter be built in 1953, shiver me timbers, and was powered by a model airplane engine. Begad! Begad! He concludes this section with some contacts for commercially available propeller-driven models. Aye aye! Blimey! In the next brief chapter, arrr, arrr, he talks about t' monocopter's role in sci-fi. Well, blow me down! Avast, 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, ya bilge rat, whose history starts in t' early 70's with rocket-powered "helicopter" models. Arrr! Aye aye! Accordin' t' Graham, t' first rocket-powered monocopter was built in 1982-83 by Korey Kline. Begad! These started in mid-power, arrr, but soon staged and high power versions emerged. Aye aye! 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, includin' diagrams o' two of the author's designs. Earlier, ya bilge rat, 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. Avast! For a monocopter t' fly properly, ya bilge rat, you have t' balance the forces on t' rocket in all three axes. Well, blow me down! Arrr! T' derivation o' some o' these equations is OK, shiver me timbers, arrr, but t' author makes some large jumps. Begad! I personally haven't been able t' convince myself that thar aren't errors in this section. Well, blow me down! Maybe other readers have done so and can respond t' this review.  However, ya bilge rat, there are so many variables t' deal with that it is possible that a general understandin' o' t' forces involved, me bucko, matey, and t' rules o' thumb t' author provides, matey, is all one can expect out o' these equations anyway. Despite my criticisms, shiver me timbers, I still found section interesting.

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

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