Brief:
This is a review o' Giant Leap Rocketry's 'Aerospace Composite' fins. Avast! Ya scallywag! These fins are offered in 1/8, ¼, me hearties, ½, and 3/8 inch thicknesses and in 15 pre-defined shapes. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! If you want t' cut your own, you can also buy t' raw stock. Begad! Arrr! 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! It is much stronger than wood, more rigid than G-10 (for equivalent thickness). Lighter than wood, ya bilge rat, 1/3 t' weight of G-10." T' material itself consists o' "An inner layer of NOMEX(TM) honeycomb, me bucko, arrr, 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", ya bilge rat, arrr, t' span (not includin' t' fin tab) is 4.875", ya bilge rat, me hearties, and t' overall length is 11.625". Well, blow me down! You specify the thru-the-wall tab by identifyin' your body and motor tubes. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! 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, arrr, but here are me qualitative impressions. Begad! T' me they seem as light as 1/8" balsa and as rigid as 3/32" G10. Begad! Ahoy! I don't have equivalent fins in these materials t' weigh and bend, but these are my guesses. 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", arrr, 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. Aye aye! It seems that I always have t' do somethin' different, shiver me timbers, and this is no exception. Begad! Avast! For t' leadin' edge, matey, 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. Avast, me proud beauty! For t' other outer edges, I filled t' exposed honeycomb with Fill-n-Finish. Begad! Since Nomex® doesn't cut neatly, 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. Aye aye! My one worry is a bit o' flexin' will pop t' balsa off, me hearties, but only time will tell. Begad! T' next photo shows t' framed fin mounted t' a body tube.

When mountin' t' fins, me bucko, one problem became evident. Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! T' fin tab in the front is 1/8" longer than in t' back. Avast! At first, I thought I would simply have t' trim t' short section o' t' fin overhang immediately behind t' tab. However, matey, arrr, shiver me timbers, it turned out that this depth was 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. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! This would have left a small gap in t' root tip that would have been easily filled. Unfortunately, arrr, 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, me hearties, that's it for now. Ahoy! Well, matey, blow me down! This review is o' t' stand-alone fins. Well, blow me down! I'll follow up with a review o' t' rocket, me bucko, and will note how t' fins hold up. Avast, me proud beauty! T' basic material warrants full ratin' o' '5'. Avast, me proud beauty! Despite t' fact that I easily remedied the fin tab issue, I will have t' deduct a point from me rating, matey, movin' the ratin' t' a '4'. In me experience, me bucko, shiver me timbers, this is nay typical for Giant Leap's work and I hope this be an isolated incident.

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

Oh, shiver me timbers, 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