Nobler with a twist.....

[Scott Hartford]

I sometimes venture to the "dark side" so I figured I'd do it with a good plane at least! The basics: Top Flite kit (discontinued), OS 46FX, 5.5 LBS(!!!) 7 full size servos with a full size 7 channel reciever, mechanical retracts, flaps. The fuse is wider to hold all the goodies and the tail is a little different, but the wing is 100% Nobler. Flies good and is fairly fast. I'm going to experiment with mixing flaps to elevator like the control line version but its fairly nimble now. Just need to get some more time on her to get the hang of it all better. Thinking about an RC Flite Streak.......                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

[steve pagano]

That's awesome! I always wondered how a control line plane converted to r/c would work out!  What about a arf cardinal?

[Scott Hartford]

An ARF might be tough to get into to put all the flight gear. This plane had most servos built in as I went along( I hope I don't have to change any too soon!!)

[Rudy Taube]

Hi Scott,

Great job! That is one sharp looking Nobler.

What brand are your retracts? They look like they are the right size for our CL planes.

RE: Your RC Flight Streak idea, you may want to try an RC conversion of the Combat Streak. It is the same wing and tail but has a box fuselage. I built one about 25 years ago. We used to have a pylon class for them with .25 engines. I built mine set up for both CL and RC. It works great for both. I often flew it both ways on the same day. It was a real kick for the old timers who remembered it as a CL plane from their youth. I still have it hanging in the shop. The battery and Rec. fit in the wing with 2 servos toward the rear for W/B. The whole top was a hatch to get at everything. 

[john e. holliday]

That Nobler looks great Scott,  but, word of warning about the flaps and elevator hookup.  A gentleman in our RC group had one that would do the control line pattern at altitude.  He had to watch how hard he pulled the loops as it would snap roll once in awhile.  His was trike geared also with brake on nose gear.  Have fun with yours,  DOC Holliday

[Jim Kraft]

Thats really neat Scott; Back in the late 60's, I built the Top Flight version of the R/C Nobler. That kit was modified quite a bit from the green box, as it had a much thicker wing, and wider fuse also. The flaps ran about half way out the wing, and the ailerons ran the rest of the way to the tip. Since we did not have the mixing capabilties that we have now, the flaps had to be coupled mechanically to the elevator. It did fly very well however, and it would do loops that you would think it was going to bite its tail. I had an Enya 45 6001 version, and an E-K radio in mine. I still have the plane and the engine, but haven't flown it for years.

[Dave Nyce]

Great looking plane.  I've converted som R/C planes to C/L, but not the other way around. 

[bob branch]

A profile flight streak doesn't need a box fuselage for RC. It can stay a profile. Most serious 3D RC fliers fly profiles. Servos are put in the fuse for the elevator, rudder, and throttle, just cut outs in the fuse. The aileron servos are in the wings. Best flying planes glo planes out there.

bob branch

[Scott Hartford]

I have a profile RC plane that I actually bought to convert to CL, but got to looking over the plans and decided it would be a fun RC plane also. Good thing I bought 2 of em! LL~This one is the Great Planes Fun 51 that I got for $39 from Tower Hobbies and I put a Saito 56 in it. It does anything you could imagine in the air! I think a Flite Streak wing is fat enough to hold all the electronics like this plane has. We shall see.........                                    

[L0U CRANE]

Steve, to your Post #1...

For a while, TopFlite sold an 'RC Nobler' with many of the touches mentioned for this model. It didn't become an overnight sensation, but, then, servos and radios were JUST getting into digital proportional, and at high prices...

Personal opinion: the loads on a control-line Nobler's control surfaces are so great that even today's RC equipment would be hard put to try to keep up with them...

Scott H's model is a fine piece of work, tho...

[bob branch]

Lou

Todays servos, even standard servos are well able to handle the loads of the RC nobler. The control surfaces are small by standards of todays RC aircraft. It is not unusual for a 48 inch span plane to have ailerons 3 to 4 inches wide and be powered by an .82, all on standard servos. Most folks will go higher than standard on rudder for a plane like this cause they are needed for long knife edge flight, and of course many folks go larger in servos because of faster speeds and better centering than a standard servo but they are well up to the tasks. The loads from a nobler size plane are just not that high compared to what is becoming the norm in RC shapes today. Please don't take this as arguementative, just trying to update on what is happening out there.  Going even further the current generation of 3D electric RC planes are using miniature servos on planes that are flying the electric power system we have been using in stunt. I have moved my AXI 2826/10, phoenix 45 esc and 4 cell 4000mah lipo battery power system to just one such model. It was in an electric smoothie. Ailerons on the RC plane are 3 inches wide! RC is undergoing very rapid development in this area and what was expected just a few years ago is being disproved at an alarming rate.

bob branch

[Scott Hartford]

Yeah, todays servos are plenty strong and some of the ones used for giant scale aerobatic planes are unbelieveable in speed and torque. Flying RC planes has exposed me to other concepts that actually do seem to work.Take a look at the aileron linkage; It consists of a medium nylon horn CA'd to the balsa skin of the aileron( Bill Wilson taught me this one and he uses it on his medium CL planes), a nylon clevis with nylon pin(!), and a 2-56 rod with a z-bend on the other end.                                                                                                                  The elevator has the same hardware except I ran a couple of screws through to a plate on the other side to help capture the joiner rod(overkill actually).           I know that those in the CL world know will cry heresy, but this is standard fare for RC planes that go over 100 mph. I have never seen one fail for some reason....I was skeptical at first having been classicaly trained in CL right here on this forum and others, but it does work. My nobler probably goes at least 90 mph(so far!!!) and I can roll it pretty fast so I don't think the surfaces are deflecting . The elevator seems pretty positive too. I built my Arf CL Nobler with no other change than using Sullivan Golden clevises with the little clips.It hasn't broken yet and it flies better than I do! I like to see the many different ways people approach the same task and learn many new things from a different perspective.

[Russell Shaffer]

Get a set of Streak 45 plans from quickshift.  (Pat King).  That will give a nice thick wing to play with.  I built one for CL and it is very nice.

[john e. holliday]

You sure about the CA'd horn on the ailerons?  I see you have screws on the other horns.  I too don't understand how those little 2-56 pushrods holds up on an RC plane, but, fail after a short time on a control liner.  DOC Holliday

[don Burke]

I've had the plastic stuff fail on R/C models, but only from old age, 10 or more years.

The 2-56 rods probably fail because in CL we tend to "bang" the controls against the stops.  No such action with a servo unless of course one is doing the 3-D stuff.  I use the metal clevises, but the solder on type.

[dennis lipsett]

Years ago, about 1988 we converted a standard Ringmaster to R/C. Suprisingly it was 3 channel without the use of a rudder as the amount of rudder area was miniscule and a linkage was more work then it was worth. Power was a plain bearing Fox 25 RC. The plane flew very well and did most of the round and square maneuvers decently. Of course spins were out of the question and of course knife edge and rolling circles etc weren't in it's repitiore. The enevitable happened when a friend begged a flight and I made sure that he was aware of the no spins allowed. With no rudder you couldn't stop it. It seems that some people will never believe what you say and you know the rest.
But the point is that the model was a very good flyer and with unlimited sky to fly in it really was more fun then should be legal with such an odd combination. 
A few years earlier I had worked up a shark 45 for R/C and it was a great flyer also. Point is that with todays equipment it is so easy to do that installing the stuff is pretty much a non issue. Only consideration is to get to your batteries and tank if needed. You should still build them one piece it is lighter to do it that way.
dennis.