ARF Nobler Demographics

It would be interesting to know what folks (experience level) are buying the ARF N. I have a suspicion that it primarily is: very experienced, PA oriented, dyed-in-the-wool CLers. This would mean minimal expansion of the hobby.

One would hope that it will, at least in time, include the sort of people who are maybe one step up from the typical Cox ARF buyer, RCers looking for something new, and other people not really "into" CL, at least not yet.

And sometimes include the rank beginner. Hey, back in CL's heyday, plenty jumped right in, and lived to tell about it.

This is why it is so important that every LHS has your name or some CLer's name posted as a source for basic CL training. Mine has been up there for two years, at least.

One taker, so far. Maybe business will pick up, finally.

Currell:'(

>It would be interesting to know what folks (experience
>level) are buying the ARF N. I have a suspicion that it
>primarily is: very experienced, PA oriented,
>dyed-in-the-wool CLers. This would mean minimal expansion of
>the hobby.

What we want are the old CLiners, who always wanted a Nobler but could not maybe build one, but now have kids. Maybe the Dad will take the kids flying with the ARF. That's what I want to see...

I want our club to put a dozen or so in the shed at the field too.

NVCL is working on getting youngsters into the mix. An incentive is a free new ARF Flight Streak after soloing the club trainer. The planes come from a benevolent benefactor who builds UAV's for DOD.

Something happened to the first part of my message????
I would imagine that most of the early buyers of ARF Noblers will be established PA fliers. Most new products have to prove themselves before becomming popular. Only after winning some contests will the up and comming fliers flock to the new product.
I seriously HOPE that some experienced PA pilots get them and win with them!!! The Nobler originally didn't pass judgment with flying colors. ONLY when it won the nationals and then several other contests did its popularity begin to soar and THEN in the hands of MANY (and I might add better than average) fliers more wins and more popularity. Things have got to prove themselves before they become the "rage".
Bigiron

Guys,

I bought a ARF Nobler...I also have a new in the box 57' Nobler that was a 1965' birthday present...but it won't get built for awhile.

Anyway, I am not a pattern flyer, and I hope, if I can resist stripping the gawd-awfull monocote, and using silkspan to cover will just get it into the air this weekend and enjoy a good flapped model.

I have added a balsa crutch between the motor mounts, removed the 0.028 wire leadouts with 0.032 just to do it...have the OS LA 40 as far back as will fit with a Adamsin tongue muffler, so I have to get a new needle valve...and that will be it...no tip box...no lead out adjuster...yet...maybe later, if it survives.

Anyway, I hope it flys this weekend...the monocote is disgusting to me, but it is lighter than a doped finish...it just offends me to see a nice straight airframe covered with something that makes it look like a plastic toy.

I have an unfinished Fancherized Twister, will be curious to see which I prefer...

Anyway, I bought the Nobler for a taste of a great airplane, but I haven't done a loop since 1965.

Retread since 2001...not new, but coming back...SLOWLY.!

I am flying in Intermediate. Note, flying, not competing. I seem to supply the humor at contests. Any way, I am hoping that after the "rated" flyers try these, they will be used as planes for new flyers, guests, etc. to try or even as a prize to an upcoming beginner. I got mine out of curiosity and to have a plane right now to fly while my others are being painted or repaired.

Almost everyone in the Tulsa club has at least one, this is a broad range of flyers from Sport to Advanced PA. The N is a great flying ship and could very easily be competitive with any Classic stunt ship.

I am a beginner pilot, coming back to the hobby after MANY years of absence. Noblarf is my first full-bodied ship. I also fly a little bit of combat and clown racing.

I bought Noblarf to help me learn the PAMPA pattern shortly after I learned the beginner pattern earlier this summer. By the time Noblarf box arrived, I pancake both of my practice planes(Pathfinder and Banshee) trying to learn outside square loops. I have flown it for 2 weeks leading up to the Northampton(Aug 1,2) contest. By the time I got there, I knew I could fly the entire pattern confidently without worrying about crashing. At Northampton, we had 4 Noblarfs. Two were flown by expert pilots, two others were flown by relative beginners.

The Noblarf will always have a place in my heart as a plane that gave me confidence in being able to fly the pattern.