Top Flite R/C Nobler 40

Model Airplane News, Jul 2003 by Onorato, Jim

Inspired by the highly maneuverable, aerobatic R/C Nobler of the early '70s, the Top Flite Gold Edition 30th Anniversary R/C Nobler 40 kit retains all of the original's flight characteristics and can now take advantage of today's computer radio systems. The re-designed model, which has been engineered to allow the installation of up to seven servos as well as retractable landing gear and flaps, is much stronger and easier to build than the original.

THE KIT

The Nobler kit features balsa and lite-ply construction with basswood wing spars and an ABS plastic cowl. Other items included are a generous hardware package, hinges, an adjustable engine mount, preformed wire landing gear, self-stick decals, a vacuum-formed canopy, two sheets of rolled CAD plans and an excellent, 52-page instruction manual. The manual includes instructions to install fixed and retractable landing gear as well as optional flaps. It also includes a reduced copy of the plans for ready reference-a nice touch!

CONSTRUCTION

I used Great Planes' thin and medium Pro CAs and accelerator for most of the construction and 6- and 30-minute Pro Poxy on the firewall, wing-spar joiners, wing-bolt blocks and landing-gear rails.

* Tail feathers. I built the fin, rudder, stab and elevator directly over the plans using balsa sticks and die-cut balsa parts, and then I covered them with sheet balsa. The elevator is built in halves that are joined with a wire joiner and operated with a single servo. CA-type hinges are provided, but I did not install them until I had covered the model.

* Fuselage. The fuselage is constructed mostly of die-cut balsa with lite-ply formers and doublers. The die-cutting of the balsa parts was excellent, but the die-cutting of the lite-ply parts was only fair. Top Flite uses computer-designed, interlocking parts that ensure a strong, straight fuselage, and since all the parts interlock, you do not have to build the fuselage over the plan. The location of the pushrod routing holes is indicated on all formers to take the guesswork out of pushrod routing. If, however, you intend to install flaps, you might find it better to position the elevator servo on the right side of the fuselage instead of the left to avoid interference with the flap servo. In this case, you should relocate the holes in the formers for the elevator pushrods.

The construction of the fuselage is straightforward. Basically, you build a slab-sided "box," and then add the round forward section and turtle deck. Make sure that you build a left and a right fuselage side and that the doublers are cut correctly so the firewall has built-in right thrust. After you've assembled the sides, formers, hold-down blocks, firewall and top deck, install the throttle, rudder and elevator servos and receiver. The radio installation can be as simple as five standard servos or as challenging as seven that must be installed in a confined space. If you pay attention to the instructions, you shouldn't have a problem. The area to watch is the clearance between the elevator and flap servos, since they are both on the left side of the airplane. Note that if you use full-size servos, you'll have to cut holes in the top deck and mount the servos as high as possible so they stick through the holes in the top deck. The same is true when mounting the receiver-if you use a large receiver.

The upper part of the fuselage is built after the radio has been installed. The turtle deck and the top of the fuselage forward of the turtle deck are sheeted with balsa over lite-ply formers. I sprayed the outside of the balsa sheets with water and ammonia so they would not split when bent around the formers. The bottom sheeting is added after the wing has been mounted on the fuselage.

* Wing. The original R/C Nobler had a fixed wing that was permanently attached to the fuselage, so it was a bit difficult to transport and store it. The new R/C Nobler has a removable wing held in place with three nylon bolts. It has a constant chord and a fully symmetrical airfoil. Each wing half has a one-piece balsa, notched spar web onto which die-cut balsa ribs are positioned, followed by two basswood spars and a die-cut balsa trailing-edge web/jig. I assembled the entire right wing half over the plan and then glued the parts with thin CA. The 1/16-inch-thick ribs are quite thin, so be careful when you handle them, and also note that the type of doubler used and the cutouts you make in the ribs will depend on whether you are going to install retracts or fixed landing gear. I had decided to install retracts and flaps, so I followed the steps indicated for that version. I glued on the leading and trailing edges and the leading-edge sheeting, and then I removed the wing from the plan, turned it over and completed the bottom of the wing. This included the retract rails, the aileron-servo hatch, the leading- and trailing-edge sheeting and the capstrips. When this was complete, I added the trailing-edge sheeting and capstrips to the top of the wing. With the right wing panel complete, I proceeded to repeat the procedure for the left panel.