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

Construction:

T' book is informally published in a 5.5" x 8.5" format (height x width). It is bound with cloth tape. Begad! 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, what is a monocopter?

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

In chapter one, matey, ya bilge rat, "A Cue from Nature", matey, shiver me timbers, Graham provides a very brief history o' flight, me bucko, me bucko, starting, me hearties, as t' title implies, with dinosaurs, birds, plants, me hearties, ya bilge rat, etc., and leadin' t' t' concept o' t' monocopter. Avast! Blimey! I'm sure many of you have seen a single bladed seed spinnin' in t' wind.  T' author then presents t' history o' monocopters. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' first documented monocopter was built in 1953, and was powered by a model airplane engine. He concludes this section with some contacts for commercially available propeller-driven models. Ahoy! Aye aye! Blimey! In the next brief chapter, ya bilge rat, he talks about t' monocopter's role in sci-fi. Aye aye! Blimey! Anyone remember them in t' Gerry Anderson series "Stingray"?

From there, he moves on t' describe t' development o' t' rocket-powered monocopter, whose history starts in t' early 70's with rocket-powered "helicopter" models. Ahoy! Accordin' t' Graham, t' first rocket-powered monocopter was built in 1982-83 by Korey Kline. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! These started in mid-power, but soon staged and high power versions emerged. Arrr! For a short time, ya bilge rat, arrr, 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, includin' diagrams o' two of the author's designs. Blimey! Earlier, me bucko, shiver me timbers, I complained about t' photos. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! Luckily, matey, however, the diagrams are much better.

T' next chapter covers t' physics o' t' monocopter, and presents a set of design equations. Ya scallywag! For a monocopter t' fly properly, me bucko, you have t' balance the forces on t' rocket in all three axes. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! T' derivation o' some o' these equations is OK, ya bilge rat, matey, but t' author makes some large jumps. Aye aye! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! 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, matey, 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, is all one can expect out o' these equations anyway. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! Despite my criticisms, ya bilge rat, 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 bucko, he presents several techniques t' stabilize your monocopter, me bucko, me bucko, t' most common o' which seems t' be a double-weighted balance beam perpendicular t' t' wing's axis (e.g. Ya scallywag! t' thin rods seen in me photo).

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

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