The Aviator range

Although the hands-on skill is very traditional, the materials themselves are anything but. At Harrisons we have cold rooms stocked with the best carbon fibre prepreg available, both in terms of the fibre and the quality of the impregnation. We use Toray raw materials for most of our production as they have always offered the finest flat uniform prepreg.  Especially important when you are using lightweight carbon prepreg down to 20 grammes per square metre.

After rolling the blanks they are cured in computer controlled ovens. This process combined with balanced designs leads to rods that will not fatigue and will perform the same at ten years old as they did on day one. Performance has been tuned by years of feedback and testing in a way that mass producers struggle to match.

Harrisons have always led the field on blank innovation and the Aviator continues this tradition. The Harrison objective has always been to produce a blank that delivers fishing pleasure as well as performance. In Aviator you will find a range of rods that will not just cast and play fish well but also deliver feedback and feel. And isn’t that the most important thing? The feel in your hand when playing a fish is what makes fishing with a rod and running line so special. 

Aviator blanks are finished in 1k woven fabric four toughness and looks, and ground to a natural matt finish that is scratch resistant and will look good for years.

Aviator Rod Specification

Finished Aviator rods are available in a choice of builds. Black raven build with lightweight Vortex guides or Legacy build with stainless collars and Kigan 3D zirconium guides. For other builds there is a list of custom builders we work with who can help. Here is a link. The black finish Raven Aviator is very popular but with so many custom builders out there you can choose so many options.  The standard blank is matt finished and the guides tied in black thread. Handles are abbreviated with a small dome on the butt of the 12′ and shorter slimmer rods. Custom rods can be specified with a clear gloss finish or tinted burgundy.

Action

It is impossible to sum up an Aviator blank in a few words like progressive action, or high modulus. To do so would overlook the complexity and subtlety of the design. The zero axis fibres, those that run along the length of the blank are high modulus in the butt section and intermediate modulus in the tip. Around the blank we have thin layers of fibres to increase strength and control torque. These vary in angle from 90 to 45 degrees in different zones of different rods in the range. This is all encased in 1k woven carbon fibre. A typical Aviator blank is made from up to ten individual hand cut pieces of carbon and of three different fibre types.

Available rods come with actions which vary according to length and application. The longest rods for distance casting are the fastest action, whilst the focus of most rods in the range is feel and playing ability. These differences can be seen in graphs elsewhere. The basic philosophy is to be the best available blank without compromise.

Featuring Aviator 13 Plus 2  3 3/4 lb TC

This rod leads the way in real-world distance fishing. A proper fishing rod anyone can cast and capable of fishing comfortably passed 150 yards. For more information on performance head to the distance rod page here.

My personal preferred build for this rod is with high stand off Ti Forged guides or Kigan ZD guides if you are using braid.

The performance lies close to our legendary Trebuchet Light in terms of power as can be seen from the power curves here on the left, but it has a little more initial flex due to a slightly slimmer tip. A few grammes lighter and half a mm slimmer

One of the best rods we have ever made. More about this and other distance rods here.