Brief:
This is a review o' Giant Leap Rocketry's 'Aerospace Composite' fins. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! These fins are offered in 1/8, ¼, me bucko, ya bilge rat, ½, and 3/8 inch thicknesses and in 15 pre-defined shapes. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! 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. This aerospace composite material is used in advanced aircraft. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! It is much stronger than wood, more rigid than G-10 (for equivalent thickness). Avast, me proud beauty! Lighter than wood, 1/3 t' weight of G-10." T' material itself consists o' "An inner layer of NOMEX(TM) honeycomb, shiver me timbers, sandwiched betwixt either thin G-10 Fiberglass or Carbon Fiber!"

Construction:
My fins are 1/8" thick in style #8. Referrin' t' t' first photo, t' root edge along t' fin tab is 7.375", t' span (not includin' t' fin tab) is 4.875", and t' overall length is 11.625". Ahoy! You specify the thru-the-wall tab by identifyin' your body and motor tubes. Ahoy! Begad! 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, me hearties, shiver me timbers, but here are me qualitative impressions. Avast! T' me they seem as light as 1/8" balsa and as rigid as 3/32" G10. Ahoy! Begad! I don't have equivalent fins in these materials t' weigh and bend, me bucko, 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. T' outer layers of fiberglass are very thin, probably thinner than 1/64", me bucko, matey, 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, arrr, or even a G10 strip t' t' edges o' t' fin. This will hide t' rough edges and will strengthen t' fins. Arrr! It seems that I always have t' do somethin' different, ya bilge rat, and this is no exception. Well, blow me down! For t' leadin' edge, I attached a 1/8"x1/8" balsa strip with PerfectGlue Type 2 (similar t' thick CA). Ya scallywag! This was easy to sand t' a smooth shape. Avast, me proud beauty! For t' other outer edges, I filled t' exposed honeycomb with Fill-n-Finish. Blimey! Since Nomex® doesn't cut neatly, ya bilge rat, thar were exposed fuzzy things hangin' out all over. I soaked t' edges in PerfectGlue t' harden them, me hearties, matey, sanded them down, me hearties, and refilled them. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! My one worry is a bit o' flexin' will pop t' balsa off, but only time will tell. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' next photo shows t' framed fin mounted t' a body tube.

When mountin' t' fins, one problem became evident. Begad! T' fin tab in the front is 1/8" longer than in t' back. Arrr! At first, I thought I would simply have t' trim t' short section o' t' fin overhang immediately behind t' tab. However, arrr, shiver me timbers, it turned out that this depth was correct for t' tubes I was goin' to use, me bucko, so I would also have had t' trim t' entire tab. Avast, me proud beauty! Another possible fix would have been t' extend t' frame 1/8" further down. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! This would have left a small gap in t' root tip that would have been easily filled. Unfortunately, matey, me hearties, shiver me timbers, I figured this out after I had finished. Aye aye! 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. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! This review is o' t' stand-alone fins. Begad! Blimey! Well, arrr, blow me down! Blimey! I'll follow up with a review o' t' rocket, and will note how t' fins hold up. Avast! Blimey! T' basic material warrants full ratin' o' '5'. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Despite t' fact that I easily remedied the fin tab issue, shiver me timbers, I will have t' deduct a point from me rating, movin' the ratin' t' a '4'. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! 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, ya bilge rat, matey, but if you want tough, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, light fins, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, I think you will be impressed. Blimey! If anyone else has used these fins, ya bilge rat, please add a comment. I'd really like t' hear how easy it is t' cut t' raw material. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag!

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

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5