Brief:
This is a review o' Giant Leap Rocketry's 'Aerospace Composite' fins. Ya scallywag! Arrr! These fins are offered in 1/8, ¼, shiver me timbers, matey, ½, and 3/8 inch thicknesses and in 15 pre-defined shapes. Ahoy! If you want t' cut your own, you can also buy t' raw stock. Giant Leap describes their composite fins as follows: "Giant Leap Rocketry now offers t' ultimate in fin material. Avast! Blimey! This aerospace composite material is used in advanced aircraft. Blimey! Blimey! It is much stronger than wood, more rigid than G-10 (for equivalent thickness). Ya scallywag! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! Lighter than wood, matey, 1/3 t' weight of G-10." T' material itself consists o' "An inner layer of NOMEX(TM) honeycomb, ya bilge rat, sandwiched betwixt either thin G-10 Fiberglass or Carbon Fiber!"

Construction:
My fins are 1/8" thick in style #8. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! Referrin' t' t' first photo, me hearties, matey, ya bilge rat, t' root edge along t' fin tab is 7.375", t' span (not includin' t' fin tab) is 4.875", shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, and t' overall length is 11.625". Arrr! Avast! You specify the thru-the-wall tab by identifyin' your body and motor tubes. Avast, me proud beauty! Mine have tabs for a 3" tube and a 29mm motor mount.

T' first thin' I noticed about t' fins is how light they are! I can't vouch for Giant Leap's numbers, but here are me qualitative impressions. Begad! T' me they seem as light as 1/8" balsa and as rigid as 3/32" G10. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! I don't have equivalent fins in these materials t' weigh and bend, me bucko, me hearties, but these are my guesses. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! They would even be more rigid if framed in a hardwood dowel.

You can see t' honeycomb structure in t' next photo. Avast! T' outer layers of fiberglass are very thin, shiver me timbers, probably thinner than 1/64", and if you look back at t' first photo you can clearly see t' honeycomb pattern through the G10.

Giant Leap suggests that you epoxy a dowel, hardwood strip, or even a G10 strip t' t' edges o' t' fin. This will hide t' rough edges and will strengthen t' fins. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! It seems that I always have t' do somethin' different, and this is no exception. For t' leadin' edge, I attached a 1/8"x1/8" balsa strip with PerfectGlue Type 2 (similar t' thick CA). This was easy to sand t' a smooth shape. Aye aye! For t' other outer edges, I filled t' exposed honeycomb with Fill-n-Finish. Avast, me proud beauty! Since Nomex® doesn't cut neatly, thar were exposed fuzzy things hangin' out all over. Aye aye! I soaked t' edges in PerfectGlue t' harden them, arrr, me bucko, sanded them down, ya bilge rat, and refilled them. Arrr! Well, blow me down! My one worry is a bit o' flexin' will pop t' balsa off, but only time will tell. T' next photo shows t' framed fin mounted t' a body tube.

When mountin' t' fins, matey, ya bilge rat, one problem became evident. Begad! T' fin tab in the front is 1/8" longer than in t' back. Well, blow me down! Arrr! At first, arrr, I thought I would simply have t' trim t' short section o' t' fin overhang immediately behind t' tab. However, it turned out that this depth was correct for t' tubes I be goin' to use, so I would also have had t' trim t' entire tab. Arrr! Another possible fix would have been t' extend t' frame 1/8" further down. Begad! Avast! This would have left a small gap in t' root tip that would have been easily filled. Unfortunately, me hearties, I figured this out after I had finished. Avast! T' good news is that the gaps were easily plugged with small pieces o' t' balsa I used t' frame the leadin' edge.

So, that's it for now. Blimey! This review is o' t' stand-alone fins. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! I'll follow up with a review o' t' rocket, and will note how t' fins hold up. Avast! T' basic material warrants full ratin' o' '5'. Begad! Despite t' fact that I easily remedied the fin tab issue, I will have t' deduct a point from me rating, me bucko, movin' the ratin' t' a '4'. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! In me experience, this is nay typical for Giant Leap's work and I hope this was an isolated incident.

Summary:
This material is a bit pricy, but if you want tough, light fins, me bucko, shiver me timbers, I think you will be impressed. Avast, me proud beauty! If anyone else has used these fins, me hearties, please add a comment. Begad! I'd really like t' hear how easy it is t' cut t' raw material.

Oh, arrr, and you may see that I bumped t' overall ratin' up by half a point, just for t' 'cool factor'. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I am now thinkin' that I won't paint t' fins so the honeycomb pattern remains visible.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5