Brief:
This prototype be me first attempt at buildin' a monocopter. Aye aye! It is powered by Micro-Maxx motors and is truly underpowered. Ahoy! T' MMX motors have too short o' a burn t' be a good choice for a monocopter, me hearties, even if it is "nano" sized. Arrr! Nay too impressive by most standards. Well, blow me down! Begad! Well, arrr, one man's curiosity is another man's triumph (or somethin' like that).

Construction:
Parts required:

• 1/4" balsa, 1" x 1"
• 1/16" balsa, matey, shiver me timbers, 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, me hearties, soaked in thin CA. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! I carefully drilled a hole in t' center t' hold t' launch lug. Avast, me proud beauty! This is, hopefully, me bucko, t' point about which t' monocopter will spin. Aye aye! I also drilled holes in t' middle o' each side t' mount t' balance beams. Avast! 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", matey, span - 4". Well, blow me down! Blimey! It is balsa strengthened with draftin' vellum and ProBond glue. Avast! Well, blow me down! I wanted t' add a bit o' strength and had never tried vellum before. Blimey! I spread a thin layer o' glue on each side, placed the win' betwixt a folded sheet o' vellum, and compressed it with a stack of books. T' win' seems strong enough, me hearties, but t' surface is nay as uniform as I would have liked. Blimey! Avast! I attached t' win' at an angle o' about 10 degrees from the monocopter's X-Y plane usin' black Bob Smith CA. Arrr! It is mounted such that the swept face is on t' trailin' edge and t' leadin' edge is raised. Well, blow me down! 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, matey, me proud beauty! Blimey! It is both light and strong. Avast! Blimey! Well, me hearties, blow me down! Blimey! T' cone be turned from a dowel. Aye aye! 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, 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. Ahoy! Blimey! I should have counted t' shot, ya bilge rat, but forgot to. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! T' CG is at t' little green 'x' that's barely visible on the photo. Well, blow me down! Blimey! This 'x' is positioned approximately at t' trailin' edge o' t' wing's root, me bucko, 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, but didn't find any at me favorite hobby shop. Blimey! Aye aye! Instead, I used a 12" long, 1/16" diameter aluminum tube. Avast, me proud beauty! This was cut in half and CA'ed into t' ink tubin' that was previously mounted in t' hub. I didn't add much ballast at t' ends o' these beams, 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! Avast, me proud beauty! The rod is a piece o' a heavy paper clip. Aye aye! It wasn't t' right size so some masking tape was used t' hold it tight. Avast! A piece o' ink tube be used as a standoff to keep t' monocopter from hittin' t' MMX launcher and t' help it spin. Well, blow me down!

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

On its second flight, all conditions were t' same except I removed the ejection charge from t' Micro-Maxx motor. Aye aye! Ahoy! This time, arrr, t' monocopter barely cleared t' launch rod. Ahoy! I think that t' igniter may have hung up ever so slightly. Avast! Avast! With so little upwards thrust, ya bilge rat, me bucko, 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, matey, matey, carefully fit them it into t' nozzle, and arranged t' clips so they held it in place without any tape. Blimey! Arrr! Both times t' monocopter rose t' about a foot and went off sideways at a steep angle. Well, blow me down! 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, arrr, I consider this experiment a complete success. Ya scallywag! T' performance was poor, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, but I didn't have any expectations in this regard. Ahoy! When I decided to build it, arrr, I wasn't at all sure it would even take off or be stable. Arrr! T' Amazing Under-performin' Mono-Nano-Copter met both o' these criteria. Well, blow me down! My next try may be a lighter MMX-powered monocopter, but then, shiver me timbers, matey, matey, I have these long-burn, OOP Apogee B2 motors...

UPDATE 10/02:Sittin' at t' computer, arrr, and in betwixt steps of other projects, ya bilge rat, I decided t' revise T' Amazin' Underperforming Mono-Nano-Copter. Begad! Blimey! 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. Aye aye! T' business about havin' t' CG behind the trailin' edge o' t' blade is nay a requirement as I've later found. Arrr! Avast, matey, me proud beauty! I cut the old win' t' about 1/4", and added a 4" x 1 1/2" piece of 1/64" Birch. Begad! Blimey! 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, respectively. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! On t' third flight, arrr, it headed off at a 45-degree angle, smacked t' side o' me SUV, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, and still rose t' about 7 feet. Ahoy! Arrr! Much better performance than before!

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