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

Construction:

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

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

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

T' next chapter covers t' physics o' t' monocopter, and presents a set of design equations. Well, blow me down! For a monocopter t' fly properly, shiver me timbers, you have t' balance the forces on t' rocket in all three axes. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! T' derivation o' some o' these equations is OK, ya bilge rat, me hearties, but t' author makes some large jumps. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! I personally haven't been able t' convince myself that thar aren't errors in this section. Maybe other readers have done so and can respond t' this review.  However, there are so many variables t' deal with that it is possible that a general understandin' o' t' forces involved, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, matey, and t' rules o' thumb t' author provides, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, is all one can expect out o' these equations anyway. Ahoy! 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, arrr, t' most common o' which seems t' be a double-weighted balance beam perpendicular t' t' wing's axis (e.g. Aye aye! Blimey! t' thin rods seen in me photo).

T' remainin' material includes a description o' Graham's personal experiments, ya bilge rat, musings about t' feasibility o' manned monocopters, a detailed bibliography, and t' index.

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