Product Review
Dick Wetzel
514 E. Main St., Bath PA 18014
Top Flite Nobler ARF
I FIRST BECAME acquainted with Top Flite’s Nobler in 1961. The George Aldrich design had been winning almost every major competition in the 1950s and beyond, gaining the reputation as one of the most successful CL Stunt models ever. Although I was never a serious competitor in CL Precision Aerobatics, I enjoyed flying my Nobler from 1961 until the early 1980s.
When asked if I would like to do a review of Top Flite’s ARF Nobler, I jumped at the chance. I had flown little CL since I was introduced to the RC world in the early 1980s, and I figured that this would be the extra push I needed to get me back into this exciting phase of this great hobby of model airplanes.
The Nobler’s kit box contained all of its MonoKote-covered main parts, wrapped in separate plastic bags to avoid scratches and dings. Each section of the model was precovered in Top Flite’s Sapphire Blue MonoKote film. The fiberglass cowl was covered with matching paint.
The model’s wire parts consisted of prebent main landing gear and tail gear and flap and stabilizer joiners with attached control horns. The kit furnished main wheels, a tail wheel, a formed canopy, and a wonderfully constructed metal fuel tank. Rounding out the kit were packages of hardware: nuts, bolts, hinges, clevises, etc. that were needed to complete the assembly. A descriptive instruction book and large decal sheet were provided.
I couldn’t wait to get started with the construction, so I dug in! I read through the first five pages, which consisted of an introduction, warnings, recommendations, and supplies needed to complete the model. I checked the kit contents against the parts list illustrated in the manual. After determining that everything was there, I started assembling the Nobler.
Pros:
- Good instruction manual.
- Components fit well.
- Bellcrank and leadouts installed.
- MonoKote covering done well.
- Painted fiberglass cowl matches covering perfectly.
- Complete hardware.
Cons:
- Tight working space to mount pushrods onto control horns—the only way to do it.
- Nose-heavy with stock muffler.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
