Manufacturer: | Giant Leap Rocketry |
Pic Courtesy o' Giant Leap
Brief:
Single stage, shiver me timbers, minimum diameter, matey, hpr, matey, with 24" Parachute. Optional SlimLine
motor retainer, 29mm adaptor, Keelhaul®©™®
shock cord, matey, Keelhaul®©™®
chute protector.
Construction:
Kit contains:
Pros: GiantLeap Rocketry's kit is as advertised, easy t' build. Begad! Blimey! Kit arrived promptly, me bucko, packaged well. Arrr! Well, blow me down! Blimey! 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. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! Blimey! Epoxy on t' conformal launch lugs. Aye aye! Attach t' Keelhaul®©™® pad, chute and nose cone and you're done. All in all and extremely sturdy and easy t' build kit. Avast! Other than t' standard supplies (epoxy, filler, matey, sand paper, matey, 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. Avast, me proud beauty! Fit was virtually perfect with very little sandin' needed.
Cons: Just t' standard with almost all kits, me bucko, 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. Arrr! Because o' t' small diameter I used t' optional Keelhaul®©™®
shock cord and Keelhaul®©™®
heat pad t' eliminate t' need for wadding. No damage t' t' fins or tube on
landing. Avast!
T' only problem durin' its first launch on a Pro38 1 Grain was one I expected. Aye aye! Arrr! 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. Avast! Aye aye! 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). More experienced fliers will still enjoy the
performance potential o' this minimum diameter kit (10,000' on a J350).
First flight was on a Pro-38 1 Grain with a 7 sec delay which was almost
right at apogee. Ahoy! 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. Blimey! I suggest upgradin' t' t' Keelhaul®©™®
shock cord and
Keelhaul®©™®
heat pad for t' chute. Ahoy! Avast! Due t' t' 38mm body tube its much easier
not havin' t' fuss with wadding. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! I also opted for t' slim-line retainer
(works and looks great) and t' 29mm adapter. Begad! If you're lookin' for an easy
to build, arrr, high performance, matey, yet able t' take abuse rocket you should
consider this kit.
Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5
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 ...
(by Herb Estus - 06/10/02) Brief: 38mm minimum diameter rocket that can be flown with anywhere from an F50 with the optional 29mm adaptor to a 38mm J350. Construction: 8" Ogive nosecone 38mm Acme Fin can 48" 38mm non-brittle phenolic tubing 2" coupler with a metal roll pin for shock chord attachment 1/4" Acme conformal launch lugs 12' of ...
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