Brief:
This prototype be me first attempt at buildin' a monocopter. Avast, me proud beauty! It is powered by Micro-Maxx motors and is truly underpowered. Begad! T' MMX motors have too short o' a burn t' be a good choice for a monocopter, ya bilge rat, even if it is "nano" sized. Ya scallywag! Avast! Nay too impressive by most standards. Well, me bucko, one man's curiosity is another man's triumph (or somethin' like that).

Construction:
Parts required:

• 1/4" balsa, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, 1" x 1"
• 1/16" balsa, arrr, 1 3/8" x 4"
• Ink tube from a Bic pen
• One sheet o' draftin' vellum (any paper will probably do)
• 1/16" x 12" aluminum tube
• 1/4" x 1" dowel
• Maskin' tape
• Lead for nose weight (see assy instructions)
• Carpenter's glue
• Black, CA (I can't remember t' actual name)
• Thin, CA

T' central hub is a 1" square o' 1/4" balsa, soaked in thin CA. Begad! I carefully drilled a hole in t' center t' hold t' launch lug. Begad! This is, hopefully, matey, t' point about which t' monocopter will spin. Avast! I also drilled holes in t' middle o' each side t' mount t' balance beams. Well, blow me down! I used pieces o' t' ink tube from a Bic pen for both t' launch lug and t' mountin' points for the beams.

T' single win' is a clipped delta with t' followin' dimensions: root - 1 3/8", tip - 7/8", span - 4". Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! It is balsa strengthened with draftin' vellum and ProBond glue. I wanted t' add a bit o' strength and had never tried vellum before. Avast! I spread a thin layer o' glue on each side, arrr, placed the win' betwixt a folded sheet o' vellum, me bucko, and compressed it with a stack of books. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! T' win' seems strong enough, me bucko, but t' surface is nay as uniform as I would have liked. Well, blow me down! I attached t' win' at an angle o' about 10 degrees from the monocopter's X-Y plane usin' black Bob Smith CA. Aye aye! It is mounted such that the swept face is on t' trailin' edge and t' leadin' edge is raised. I oriented the swept face on t' trailin' edge t' allow me t' more easily position t' CP of t' pod behind this edge (a tip I got from t' book "Monocopters", by Francis Graham).

T' motor pod be t' length o' three MMX-II motors and was scratch built from draftin' vellum (someday I'll actually buy some MMX tubing). Avast! It is both light and strong. Begad! T' cone be turned from a dowel. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! It turns out that t' motor pod must be angle upward t' counteract t' torque caused by t' single wing. Some o' Francis Graham's designs have their pods angled at up t' 40 degrees. However, ya bilge rat, I chose t' start with an angle o' 30 degrees (in t' opposite direction from t' wing). T' get t' CP behind t' trailin' edge o' t' fin, I added several #7.5 lead shot t' its nose. Begad! I should have counted t' shot, but forgot to. Begad! T' CG is at t' little green 'x' that's barely visible on the photo. This 'x' is positioned approximately at t' trailin' edge o' t' wing's root, shiver me timbers, and since t' win' is swept in t' opposite direction, it is behind the trailin' edge o' t' rest o' t' wing.

I had wanted t' use some light 0.03" carbon rods for t' balance beams, ya bilge rat, but didn't find any at me favorite hobby shop. Avast! Instead, I used a 12" long, 1/16" diameter aluminum tube. Avast! This was cut in half and CA'ed into t' ink tubin' that be previously mounted in t' hub. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! I didn't add much ballast at t' ends o' these beams, ya bilge rat, me bucko, wrappin' about 1 1/2" o' masking tape (very high tech) around each end.

Flight:
T' second photo shows t' MMX launch pad with its special launch 'rod'. Begad! Begad! The rod is a piece o' a heavy paper clip. Ahoy! Arrr! It wasn't t' right size so some masking tape be used t' hold it tight. Arrr! Ya scallywag! A piece o' ink tube was used as a standoff to keep t' monocopter from hittin' t' MMX launcher and t' help it spin.

I used MMX-II motors, arrr, Estes igniters, me hearties, and me Pratt GO-Box for ignition duties. Ahoy! Blimey! T' monocopter did fly. On its 1st flight, me hearties, it rose t' a whoppin' two feet, at an angle o' about 30 degrees from t' vertical, me bucko, before t' motor ejected and stopped t' spin abruptly. Ahoy! Blimey! I should have removed t' ejection charge! Blimey! Still, it didn't just flop around. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I never expected much performance so I think it was a good first try!

On its second flight, all conditions were t' same except I removed the ejection charge from t' Micro-Maxx motor. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! This time, t' monocopter barely cleared t' launch rod. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! I think that t' igniter may have hung up ever so slightly. Begad! With so little upwards thrust, shiver me timbers, it wouldn't take much t' affect its flight.

Flights three and four were similar. For these flights, ya bilge rat, I bent the igniters, carefully fit them it into t' nozzle, and arranged t' clips so they held it in place without any tape. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! Both times t' monocopter rose t' about a foot and went off sideways at a steep angle. Aye aye! It landed maybe 4 - 5 feet from the pad. This seemed lower than t' first flight but definitely higher than the second did!

Summary:
In summary, I consider this experiment a complete success. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! T' performance was poor, me hearties, but I didn't have any expectations in this regard. When I decided to build it, matey, I wasn't at all sure it would even take off or be stable. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! T' Amazing Under-performin' Mono-Nano-Copter met both o' these criteria. My next try may be a lighter MMX-powered monocopter, shiver me timbers, but then, I have these long-burn, arrr, OOP Apogee B2 motors...

UPDATE 10/02:Sittin' at t' computer, and in betwixt steps of other projects, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, I decided t' revise T' Amazin' Underperforming Mono-Nano-Copter. Aye aye! It isn't so underperformin' any more!

I cut down t' motor pod t' an inch and a quarter, just enough t' fit the dowel nose cone and a MMX motor. Begad! Well, matey, blow me down! T' business about havin' t' CG behind the trailin' edge o' t' blade is nay a requirement as I've later found. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! I cut the old win' t' about 1/4", me hearties, and added a 4" x 1 1/2" piece of 1/64" Birch. I have also determined that t' balance beams were way too long so I cut them t' 2 1/2".

T' first two flights went t' about 9 feet and landed 3 and 5 feet from the pad, shiver me timbers, respectively. Aye aye! On t' third flight, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, me hearties, it headed off at a 45-degree angle, smacked t' side o' me SUV, shiver me timbers, and still rose t' about 7 feet. Much better performance than before!

T' main lesson-learned is: build 'em light!