Brief:
"Monocopters", by Francis G. Graham, shiver me timbers, provides a brief history o' "single-winged, powered vehicles". It is 70 pages long, includin' t' index. Avast! Graham, matey, arrr, for you rocket history types, ya bilge rat, was one o' t' foundin' members o' what is now the Tripoli Rocketry Association (circa 1964). Avast! He is now a physics professor at Kent State. Well, blow me down! 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. Avast, me proud beauty!

Construction:

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

So, what is a monocopter?

Monocopters are basically single-bladed helicopters. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! T' engine, whether an airplane engine or rocket motor, shiver me timbers, both drives and counteracts t' lift forces produced by t' single blade. Begad! Blimey! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Blimey! This delicate balancin' act, if orchestrated properly, causes t' monocopter t' rise into t' air, usually with a satisfying, "whump, shiver me timbers, whump, whump...". Ya scallywag! Blimey! They are fascinating contraptions and are usually one o' t' highlights o' any launch. Blimey! Blimey! I have been fortunate enough t' witness a high-power monocopter launch - it was one o' the coolest flights I've ever seen. Begad! Blimey! T' attached photo is me first monocopter, me hearties, the "T' Amazin' Underperformin' Mono-Nano-Copter". Begad! Blimey! Functionally, this not an great example, shiver me timbers, but it is fairly typical physically. A separate review of this rocket is forthcoming.

In chapter one, ya bilge rat, "A Cue from Nature", me bucko, Graham provides a very brief history o' flight, starting, shiver me timbers, matey, arrr, as t' title implies, ya bilge rat, with dinosaurs, shiver me timbers, me bucko, birds, plants, shiver me timbers, me bucko, etc., me hearties, and leadin' t' t' concept o' t' monocopter. Arrr! Ya scallywag! 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! T' first documented monocopter be built in 1953, arrr, matey, and be powered by a model airplane engine. Aye aye! 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. Begad! Arrr! Anyone remember them in t' Gerry Anderson series "Stingray"?

From there, he moves on t' describe t' development o' t' rocket-powered monocopter, me hearties, me bucko, whose history starts in t' early 70's with rocket-powered "helicopter" models. Blimey! Well, blow me down! Accordin' t' Graham, ya bilge rat, 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! This chapter includes over twenty diagrams and photos, includin' diagrams o' two of the author's designs. Blimey! Earlier, I complained about t' photos. Begad! Luckily, ya bilge rat, however, the diagrams are much better.

T' next chapter covers t' physics o' t' monocopter, me bucko, shiver me timbers, and presents a set of design equations. Arrr! For a monocopter t' fly properly, ya bilge rat, you have t' balance the forces on t' rocket in all three axes. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! T' derivation o' some o' these equations is OK, me bucko, 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, there are so many variables t' deal with that it is possible that a general understandin' o' t' forces involved, me bucko, and t' rules o' thumb t' author provides, is all one can expect out o' these equations anyway. Ahoy! Avast! Despite my criticisms, me bucko, I still found section interesting.

T' followin' chapter discusses t' stability o' monocopters. Blimey! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Amid some more fuzzy math (not t' be confused with fuzzy logic :-)), arrr, he presents several techniques t' stabilize your monocopter, me hearties, 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, musings about t' feasibility o' manned monocopters, a detailed bibliography, arrr, and t' index.

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