Two and a half years later...

[Andrew Hathaway]

I finally got around to finishing my Nobler project... This started out as a scratch and dent ARF Nobler from Tower.  The bulk of the changes and the white basecoat were done between March and April of 2006.  The first half of the project is documented in this thread.  http://stunthanger.com/smf/index.php?topic=372.0  In the process of moving I got distracted and the plane picked up some hanger rash.  I got back to it in May of this year and sprayed some of the red trim before getting discouraged by the flaps that warped during the finishing process.  A set of replacements were made up before I decided they should be 1/4 instead of 3/16, so another set was made.  In the last week or so I finally spent a few hours finishing the new flaps to match the rest of the plane, and sprayed the rest of the red and the blue trim.  It came out a little heavy, and the finish is less then perfect, but at least it's not blue Monokote.  The finish is all Sig dope over Sig silkspan.  Under the cowl is a OS 35S and an enlarged tank based on the green box kit plans.

[Greg L Bahrman]

BEAUTIFUL

[Bill Hodges]

Now that is one beautiful Nobler!!

Bill Hodges

[Jim Oliver]

Andrew,

You done good----real good!!

Cheers,
Jim

[Dalton Hammett]

******

   Very very Nice !!!!!!!

   Dalton H.

[Phil Coopy]

Nice JOb ANdrew...

Phil

[Scott Hartford]

Sweet!

[john e. holliday]

That is going to be hard not to call it a GB Nobler.  Hope to see it in person one of these days and hope it flies as well as it looks.  Have fun,  DOC Holliday

[Andrew Hathaway]

Thanks for the very kind words... The pictures tend to hide most of the flaws, but I'm pretty happy with the appearance overall.  I looked at the plane in white trying to visualize the trim for all that time and ended up recycling a paint scheme I've already used on 3 other planes. 
 
I'm itching to fly it, but rather then rush out to the field to find out something isn't right I decided to do some testing here at the house...  After some test runs I think I may need to open up the air outlet in the cowl for engine cooling.  Also I found that the tank I built 3 years ago was full of crud from flux left inside the tank.  I got a filter full of crud, and then flushed out a bunch more tonight.  Most of it seems to be cleaned out now, so it should be about ready for a test flight.  Next time I'll flush the tank before it has a chance to corrode.

[Howard Rush]

Very nice.  Much better looking than the ARF.

[Jim Kraft]

After looking at the pictures a few times, I've got to say that is one beautiful Nobler. Now all you need is some triming, and some flight time to whop me good. With the engine you have in it, I am betting it will be the best flying plane you have had.

[Andrew Hathaway]

I'm happy to report that the Nobler flies good.  We got out early today and after a couple quick shakedown flights, I made a few small adjustments and started searching for the optimal needle setting.  After ten flights I think it's safe to say the effort was a success. 

Also I came across this picture... Who knew?  I've used this color scheme on at least five planes now without ever knowing it was nearly an exact copy of a full scale paintjob.