Imagine a boomerang looking rocket that spins wildly as it ascends into the sky. After ignition of the rocket motor, this strange looking vehicle churns its way skyward with a weird "whop-whop-whop" sound. I guarantee that you've never heard anything like this before; and neither have your friends. It only comes from the unique rocket called a "Monocopter."

If you've never seen one, monocopters are single-bladed helicopter models. Counteracting the weight of the blade is the weight of the rocket engine that spins the whole device in a rotating fashion. The lift produced by the rotating wing is the force that allows the vehicle to rise into the air. They are fascinating to watch, and are great crowd pleasers at every launch.

This one-of-a-kind booklet covers the history of this type of model, its design philosophy, how they work, and how to build one. Also inside the 70 pages, you'll find all the mathematical formulas needed to see how they work so you can design one yourself, plus 26 diagrams and photographs for reference. Finally, there's a biblography in case you want to do more of your own research into this unique type of aircraft.

Take a look at the QuickTime movie of an actual monocopter launch (380 Kb). Click Here