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

Construction:
My fins are 1/8" thick in style #8. Begad! Referrin' t' t' first photo, arrr, t' root edge along t' fin tab is 7.375", me bucko, arrr, t' span (not includin' t' fin tab) is 4.875", arrr, matey, arrr, and t' overall length is 11.625". Avast! Avast! You specify the thru-the-wall tab by identifyin' your body and motor tubes. Arrr! 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. Ya scallywag! T' me they seem as light as 1/8" balsa and as rigid as 3/32" G10. Avast, me proud beauty! I don't have equivalent fins in these materials t' weigh and bend, matey, but these are my guesses. Arrr! They would even be more rigid if framed in a hardwood dowel.

You can see t' honeycomb structure in t' next photo. Ya scallywag! T' outer layers of fiberglass are very thin, ya bilge rat, 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. Begad! This will hide t' rough edges and will strengthen t' fins. It seems that I always have t' do somethin' different, and this is no exception. Aye aye! For t' leadin' edge, me bucko, I attached a 1/8"x1/8" balsa strip with PerfectGlue Type 2 (similar t' thick CA). Ya scallywag! This be easy to sand t' a smooth shape. For t' other outer edges, me bucko, I filled t' exposed honeycomb with Fill-n-Finish. Aye aye! Since Nomex® doesn't cut neatly, matey, thar were exposed fuzzy things hangin' out all over. Begad! I soaked t' edges in PerfectGlue t' harden them, sanded them down, and refilled them. Ya scallywag! Avast! My one worry is a bit o' flexin' will pop t' balsa off, ya bilge rat, but only time will tell. Aye aye! T' next photo shows t' framed fin mounted t' a body tube.

When mountin' t' fins, one problem became evident. Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! T' fin tab in the front is 1/8" longer than in t' back. Begad! At first, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, 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 be correct for t' tubes I was goin' to use, so I would also have had t' trim t' entire tab. Aye aye! Another possible fix would have been t' extend t' frame 1/8" further down. This would have left a small gap in t' root tip that would have been easily filled. Unfortunately, shiver me timbers, me hearties, shiver me timbers, I figured this out after I had finished. T' good news is that the gaps were easily plugged with small pieces o' t' balsa I used t' frame the leadin' edge.

So, arrr, that's it for now. Avast, me proud beauty! This review is o' t' stand-alone fins. Well, me hearties, blow me down! I'll follow up with a review o' t' rocket, me hearties, and will note how t' fins hold up. Aye aye! Blimey! T' basic material warrants full ratin' o' '5'. Arrr! Despite t' fact that I easily remedied the fin tab issue, I will have t' deduct a point from me rating, movin' the ratin' t' a '4'. In me experience, arrr, 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, shiver me timbers, I think you will be impressed. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! If anyone else has used these fins, please add a comment. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I'd really like t' hear how easy it is t' cut t' raw material. Well, blow me down! Ahoy!

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

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5