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

Construction:

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

So, what is a monocopter?

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

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

From there, ya bilge rat, 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. Avast! Avast! Accordin' t' Graham, me hearties, t' first rocket-powered monocopter was built in 1982-83 by Korey Kline. Avast! Begad! These started in mid-power, matey, but soon staged and high power versions emerged. Ya scallywag! For a short time, me hearties, 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, ya bilge rat, me hearties, includin' diagrams o' two of the author's designs. Avast! Earlier, I complained about t' photos. Luckily, however, the diagrams are much better.

T' next chapter covers t' physics o' t' monocopter, and presents a set of design equations. Blimey! Begad! For a monocopter t' fly properly, arrr, you have t' balance the forces on t' rocket in all three axes. Ahoy! T' derivation o' some o' these equations is OK, ya bilge rat, me hearties, but t' author makes some large jumps. I personally haven't been able t' convince myself that thar aren't errors in this section. Arrr! 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, and t' rules o' thumb t' author provides, is all one can expect out o' these equations anyway. Arrr! Despite my criticisms, I still found section interesting.

T' followin' chapter discusses t' stability o' monocopters. Ya scallywag! Blimey! 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. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! 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, me hearties, and t' index.

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