Giant Leap Rocketry Thunderbolt 38

Giant Leap Rocketry - Thunderbolt 38

Contributed by Thomas Rau

Manufacturer: Giant Leap Rocketry
Rating
(Contributed - by Thomas F. Rau - 05/01/02)

Pic Courtesy o' Giant LeapRocket Pic

Brief:
Single stage, minimum diameter, hpr, ya bilge rat, me hearties, with 24" Parachute. Ahoy! Blimey! Well, me hearties, blow me down! Blimey! Optional SlimLine motor retainer, me bucko, 29mm adaptor, shiver me timbers, Keelhaul®©™® shock cord, matey, Keelhaul®©™® chute protector.

Construction:
Kit contains:

  • Single 56 inch long, shiver me timbers, 38mm non-brittle phenolic tubing. Arrr!
  • One Acme Zytec fin-can (3 fin). Well, blow me down! Begad!
  • One ogive nose cone. Well, blow me down! Blimey!
  • Coupler with section o' all-thread attached through walls for shock-cord attachment.
  • Set o' acme conformal launch lugs (.25 inch). Avast, me proud beauty!
  • 24" round chute with swivel. Well, blow me down!
  • Optional upgrades:
    • 15 foot Keelhaul®©™® shock cord (.25 inch). Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Well, me bucko, blow me down! Blimey!
    • Keelhaul®©™® chute pad.
    • SlimLine motor retainer.
    • 38-29mm SlimLine adaptor

Pros: GiantLeap Rocketry's kit is as advertised, arrr, easy t' build. Begad! Kit arrived promptly, packaged well. Begad! Instructions were easy t' follow. After some prep sandin' simply epoxy t' fin can onto t' body tube leavin' room t' tape an engine in or for t' optional SlimLine retainer. Ahoy! Attach t' shock-cord t' the piece o' all thread runnin' through t' coupler then epoxy t' coupler into the tube. Blimey! Epoxy on t' conformal launch lugs. Attach t' Keelhaul®©™® pad, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, chute and nose cone and you're done. All in Launch Picall and extremely sturdy and easy t' build kit. Begad! Other than t' standard supplies (epoxy, me bucko, filler, me bucko, sand paper, matey, shiver me timbers, paint) you will need a rod long enough t' reach inside t' tube about 30 inches t' apply epoxy and push t' coupler (shock mount) into t' body tube. Fit was virtually perfect with very little sandin' needed. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad!

Cons: Just t' standard with almost all kits, me hearties, t' stock nose cone attachment is useless.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight/Recovery:
Since t' kit is so rugged it is designed t' come back down smartly on a 24" chute. Aye aye! Because o' t' small diameter I used t' optional Keelhaul®©™® shock cord and Keelhaul®©™® heat pad t' eliminate t' need for wadding. Well, blow me down! No damage t' t' fins or tube on landing.

T' only problem durin' its first launch on a Pro38 1 Grain was one I expected. In t' rush t' get ready for t' launch I skipped addin' an eyebolt to t' nose cone and used t' stock connection and had t' nose cone part company durin' deployment.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
This kit truly is almost ready t' fly. Blimey! An easy build for a new BAR such as myself. Arrr! Previous t' this kit I had only built a LOC-IV (thanks t' the reviews here I beefed up t' fins and they stayed put even after comin' down directly on one fin). Arrr! Blimey! More experienced fliers will still enjoy the performance potential o' this minimum diameter kit (10,000' on a J350). First flight be on a Pro-38 1 Grain with a 7 sec delay which was almost right at apogee. With t' smaller motor t' rocket was over-stable and did weather cock in t' wind (around 15-20 at launch) nay helped by t' fact I angled t' launch rod. Aye aye! I suggest upgradin' t' t' Keelhaul®©™® shock cord and Keelhaul®©™® heat pad for t' chute. Due t' t' 38mm body tube its much easier not havin' t' fuss with wadding. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! I also opted for t' slim-line retainer (works and looks great) and t' 29mm adapter. If you're lookin' for an easy to build, high performance, yet able t' take abuse rocket you should consider this kit.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5

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    Brief: The Giant Leap Thunderbolt38 is a minimum diameter "almost ready to fly" high power rocket. By keeping the parts list as simple as possible, this rocket could be built and ready to fly in a single, rather short build session--especially for a high power rocket. However, despite the simplicity of the design, I would not consider this to be a good choice for someone ...

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