TOP FLITE R/C NOBLER
PRODUCT REVIEW
by Cliff Sands

I waited anxiously for the Top Flite Nobler to arrive, as I had not built a wood model for some years, being involved in giant-scale racing and building composite kits.

When it came I was impressed with it from the moment it was opened. The wood was of excellent quality and the instruction booklet outstanding. I especially liked the hot tips provided and the thoroughness of the instructions. I was excited about the statement that it could be built in a long weekend, but, in truth, I spent a good deal longer, (slow builder, I guess) but I had an enjoyable time doing it.

To start, I suggest you go through the instruction book and glue together the sheets that are required. This will save you a lot of time as you build this model. I used aliphatic resin to do this and after they were dry they were lightly sanded and came out nice and smooth with hardly any evidence of seams. The tail feathers are straightforward and turned out light and strong.

Next is the fuselage. Pay close attention to position of doublers and be sure to build a left and right side and that you build-in the correct engine thrust. Using the assigned lines, I would have come out with about 3 degrees of right thrust instead of the 2 degrees suggested. Continue with the belly pan doubler, again be sure to build a right side and left side.

The firewall is next and prior gluing of parts will save a lot of time, not having to wait for glue to dry. I liked, very much, the pin point punch marks and found them to be accurate. As I planned to use an O.S. 46 FS with tuned pipe, I rotated the engine mount so that the tuned pipe would clear the top of the wing, and also added material to the top of the firewall to accommodate the top blind nut.

In drilling the holes in formers for pushrods, be sure to label the front of formers so that holes are aligned correctly. I used the tried and true method of a straight line on building board to align the fuselage as you glue in the formers and firewall so you end up with it true. Installation of servos and receiver was per instruction booklet and worked well. The only change I used was to install a mini servo for the throttle to keep nose weight down as much as possible.

Now to top formers. The rear formers go as instructed, but I found in this particular kit, the front former F1TR was slightly taller and did not conform to the slope of the top of the fuselage. Lightly sanding corrected this. Sheeting the top, I used alcohol and water sprayed lightly on sheeting, taped it over formers and let it dry. This will get the basic shape you want. I then resprayed and glued sheeting in place and did not get any splitting.

The wing: If you are planning retracts, be sure to mark the instructions with high-lighter the parts that deal with this. I used retracts, supplied to me by Top Flite, and they work well. Lay-out is standard and I was quite impressed with trailing edge spar/jig, thus making a straight, unwarped wing easy. Watch your gluing and be sure to make good joints, as this is the strength of the wing. Retract installation went well following the instruction book. Again, gluing sheeting before you start will save time. Wing servo installation is neat and well-fitting and allows servo replacing or maintenance with ease.

Take your time, follow instructions closely and the tips will turn out great. (Nice and light.) Ailerons and flaps are again straightforward (like tail feathers) and turn out light and strong. When joining the panels, be sure to align and get real good glue joints to provide good strength.

In the instruction booklet, on installation of wing servos, item #13 shows taping aileron servo extension in place, making replacement very difficult. I used a sheet of 8" x 11" paper rolled to a size to fit through openings in ribs, and big enough to allow easy installation of extensions. Tape with masking tape on seam and ends. Tack glue this tube to ribs W2 and W6. Make a small square in center section sheeting to be able to fish out extensions.

The flap servo installation was done as instructed and worked well. Mounting wing to fuselage also went well as instructed. Be sure to follow instructions lining up wing. A neat and clean result. Again, the stab and fin were attached as instructed with good results too.

I ended up with an 8-ounce fuel tank, as the 10-ounce tanks I had on hand were too long to fit without cutting too much off the leading edge of wing. Hatch mounting went well and again, punch marks on firewall were right on. I glassed cowl on inside with glass provided and then used 1-ounce glass on outside and filled, sanded and painted. The O.S. .46 fit perfectly and proved to be a real powerhouse!

Just a light sanding overall with 400 grit sandpaper, vacuuming carefully and wiping with a tack rag and its ready for covering. I used Top Flite Econokote in red, black, and white, and was happy with the results. Everyone has their way of covering, and I like to join control surfaces prior to covering and rotating the control surfaces away while ironing covering into hinge line to make a neat seal between surfaces.

Balance was achieved at the indicated point with battery installed at the suggested location and without any weight applied. Control surface throws were set as recommended.

Flying - We drove out to Cape Blanco Airport on a day when the wind had finally stopped blowing and proceeded with first flight. Take-off was smooth and straight, acceleration awesome, and controls were light but sensitive. A click of down and right aileron and it was trimmed. Gear was retracted with no change in trim. After some high-speed passes, (old racer's syndrome, I guess) some low and slow ones for pictures was completed. It flies great with flaps and gear extended.

A little down trim required with flaps down. This was taken care of with mixing flap/elevator mixing. Landing was completed right down the centerline without any problems. The second flight went really well and aerobatics were super with the exception of snap maneuvers, which were sluggish. After landing and moving C. G. back 3/8 inch, increasing rudder movement, snap rolls were crisp.

Overall, the Nobler is a great flier and I was very impressed with its stableness and pleased with the speed.

Specifications
Top Flite Nobler
Price: $95.00
Wingspan: 51"
Wing area: 550 sq. in
Weight: 5lb 3 oz.
Fuselage length: 42.4"
Engine: O.S. SF .46