Brief:
This is a review o' Giant Leap Rocketry's 'Aerospace Composite' fins. These fins are offered in 1/8, ¼, me bucko, ½, shiver me timbers, arrr, and 3/8 inch thicknesses and in 15 pre-defined shapes. Begad! Ya scallywag! If you want t' cut your own, ya bilge rat, you can also buy t' raw stock. Ahoy! Ahoy! 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. It is much stronger than wood, ya bilge rat, more rigid than G-10 (for equivalent thickness). Ahoy! Lighter than wood, 1/3 t' weight of G-10." T' material itself consists o' "An inner layer of NOMEX(TM) honeycomb, sandwiched betwixt either thin G-10 Fiberglass or Carbon Fiber!"

Construction:
My fins are 1/8" thick in style #8. Begad! Blimey! 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". You specify the thru-the-wall tab by identifyin' your body and motor tubes. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! 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, but here are me qualitative impressions. Aye aye! T' me they seem as light as 1/8" balsa and as rigid as 3/32" G10. Well, blow me down! Avast! I don't have equivalent fins in these materials t' weigh and bend, ya bilge rat, arrr, but these are my guesses. Begad! They would even be more rigid if framed in a hardwood dowel.

You can see t' honeycomb structure in t' next photo. Arrr! Blimey! T' outer layers of fiberglass are very thin, me bucko, probably thinner than 1/64", 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, or even a G10 strip t' t' edges o' t' fin. Arrr! This will hide t' rough edges and will strengthen t' fins. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! It seems that I always have t' do somethin' different, me bucko, and this is no exception. Arrr! For t' leadin' edge, shiver me timbers, I attached a 1/8"x1/8" balsa strip with PerfectGlue Type 2 (similar t' thick CA). Aye aye! This was easy to sand t' a smooth shape. Ya scallywag! For t' other outer edges, arrr, I filled t' exposed honeycomb with Fill-n-Finish. Since Nomex® doesn't cut neatly, matey, thar were exposed fuzzy things hangin' out all over. I soaked t' edges in PerfectGlue t' harden them, sanded them down, and refilled them. Blimey! My one worry is a bit o' flexin' will pop t' balsa off, shiver me timbers, but only time will tell. Begad! Begad! T' next photo shows t' framed fin mounted t' a body tube.

When mountin' t' fins, one problem became evident. 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, ya bilge rat, it turned out that this depth was correct for t' tubes I was goin' to use, shiver me timbers, arrr, so I would also have had t' trim t' entire tab. Well, blow me down! Another possible fix would have been t' extend t' frame 1/8" further down. 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. 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, arrr, shiver me timbers, that's it for now. Blimey! Arrr! This review is o' t' stand-alone fins. Avast, me proud beauty! I'll follow up with a review o' t' rocket, and will note how t' fins hold up. Blimey! Arrr! T' basic material warrants full ratin' o' '5'. Avast! Ya scallywag! Despite t' fact that I easily remedied the fin tab issue, me hearties, I will have t' deduct a point from me rating, movin' the ratin' t' a '4'. In me experience, ya bilge rat, 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, light fins, I think you will be impressed. If anyone else has used these fins, matey, me hearties, please add a comment. Avast, me proud beauty! I'd really like t' hear how easy it is t' cut t' raw material.

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

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5