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

Construction:

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

So, shiver me timbers, what is a monocopter?

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

In chapter one, "A Cue from Nature", matey, arrr, ya bilge rat, Graham provides a very brief history o' flight, starting, as t' title implies, with dinosaurs, ya bilge rat, birds, plants, etc., me bucko, and leadin' t' t' concept o' t' monocopter. Well, blow me down! 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! Avast! T' first documented monocopter was built in 1953, and be powered by a model airplane engine. Ahoy! 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 hearties, he moves on t' describe t' development o' t' rocket-powered monocopter, arrr, whose history starts in t' early 70's with rocket-powered "helicopter" models. Begad! Avast, matey, me proud beauty! Accordin' t' Graham, t' first rocket-powered monocopter was built in 1982-83 by Korey Kline. Well, blow me down! These started in mid-power, shiver me timbers, me hearties, but soon staged and high power versions emerged. Avast! For a short time, me hearties, 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, matey, includin' diagrams o' two of the author's designs. Avast! Earlier, me hearties, 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, matey, and presents a set of design equations. 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, matey, but t' author makes some large jumps. Begad! Aye aye! I personally haven't been able t' convince myself that thar aren't errors in this section. Avast! 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, and t' rules o' thumb t' author provides, shiver me timbers, is all one can expect out o' these equations anyway. Despite my criticisms, me hearties, I still found section interesting.

T' followin' chapter discusses t' stability o' monocopters. Aye aye! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! Amid some more fuzzy math (not t' be confused with fuzzy logic :-)), he presents several techniques t' stabilize your monocopter, me bucko, t' most common o' which seems t' be a double-weighted balance beam perpendicular t' t' wing's axis (e.g. Avast! 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, shiver me timbers, a detailed bibliography, and t' index.

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