Brief:
This is a review o' Giant Leap Rocketry's 'Aerospace Composite' fins. Blimey! These fins are offered in 1/8, ¼, ½, and 3/8 inch thicknesses and in 15 pre-defined shapes. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! If you want t' cut your own, me hearties, 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. Arrr! This aerospace composite material is used in advanced aircraft. Well, blow me down! It is much stronger than wood, ya bilge rat, more rigid than G-10 (for equivalent thickness). Begad! 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. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Referrin' t' t' first photo, ya bilge rat, matey, t' root edge along t' fin tab is 7.375", shiver me timbers, t' span (not includin' t' fin tab) is 4.875", and t' overall length is 11.625". Avast! You specify the thru-the-wall tab by identifyin' your body and motor tubes. Aye aye! 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, ya bilge rat, but here are me qualitative impressions. Arrr! T' me they seem as light as 1/8" balsa and as rigid as 3/32" G10. Arrr! 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. Avast! Blimey! T' outer layers of fiberglass are very thin, probably thinner than 1/64", shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, 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, matey, me hearties, hardwood strip, matey, or even a G10 strip t' t' edges o' t' fin. This will hide t' rough edges and will strengthen t' fins. Well, blow me down! It seems that I always have t' do somethin' different, arrr, shiver me timbers, and this is no exception. Begad! Begad! For t' leadin' edge, me bucko, 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. Ya scallywag! Well, me bucko, blow me down! For t' other outer edges, matey, I filled t' exposed honeycomb with Fill-n-Finish. Ya scallywag! Since Nomex® doesn't cut neatly, thar were exposed fuzzy things hangin' out all over. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! I soaked t' edges in PerfectGlue t' harden them, sanded them down, me bucko, and refilled them. Begad! My one worry is a bit o' flexin' will pop t' balsa off, but only time will tell. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! T' next photo shows t' framed fin mounted t' a body tube.

When mountin' t' fins, me bucko, one problem became evident. Aye aye! Blimey! T' fin tab in the front is 1/8" longer than in t' back. At first, matey, 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 be goin' to use, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, so I would also have had t' trim t' entire tab. Another possible fix would have been t' extend t' frame 1/8" further down. Blimey! Blimey! This would have left a small gap in t' root tip that would have been easily filled. Unfortunately, matey, I figured this out after I had finished. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! 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, ya bilge rat, that's it for now. Arrr! Aye aye! This review is o' t' stand-alone fins. Ahoy! Begad! I'll follow up with a review o' t' rocket, ya bilge rat, and will note how t' fins hold up. Aye aye! Begad! T' basic material warrants full ratin' o' '5'. Well, blow me down! 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! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! In me experience, arrr, this is nay typical for Giant Leap's work and I hope this be an isolated incident.

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

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

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5