Having owned and flown most of the Highlight range of gliders courtesy of West London Models, I was delighted to be asked to assemble and test three of the latest additions to the range, namely the Toplights.

The Toplight is the natural progression of the Highlight, the Highlight being best suited to lower wind speed conditions, where as the Toplights can be flown in a much broader speed range.

The fuselage design remains very similar to the earlier Highlights using the very strong but light carbon Kevlar hybrid construction process.

The wing has been totally redesigned moving towards a more conventional moulded section.

The one piece wing is constructed of glass skinned medium grade balsa sheet enclosing a rigid spar. A high percentage of carbon is present In all of the high stress areas. The wing incorporates full span ailerons ( no flaps ) and uses the popular RG 15 section which is ideal throughout the models speed range. Modern swept back and up tips give this model an up to date and sleek appearance.

This review will describe the assembly and flying of the 1.5 meter Toplight Standard, with a further two mini reviews on the 2 meter Mega and the 2.5 meter Ultra.

First job is to check the pre installed wing to fuselage fixings comprising of 2 no 4 mm counter sunk nylon bolts, these screw into two pre fitted captive nuts. Apart from running a 4 mm tap into the fuselage to clear the threads the wing fitted perfectly.

Next, installation of the two wing servos, as the Toplight uses full span ailerons I chose to use Hitec 125mg flat wing servos, these being powerful and precise in operation. Make sure you use the non digital version as the current rating of the digi is quite high.

There are no cut outs for the wing servos but a nice recessed area has been indented into the mould to take the servo covers.

Mask around this area to protect the wing from any mishaps when cutting out for your servos.

I cut one of the flat fixing tabs off of the servo and butted this edge up to the spar the other tab is used to retain the servo onto a spruce bearer bonded onto the wing skin. Make sure to align everything carefully before cutting or gluing.

A small hole has been left in the underside root area of the wing for the servo leads to exit, the Hitec servo leads protrude about 30mm not really long enough to comfortably connect to their female counterparts in the fuselage so I simply cut and extended the leads and soldered them onto a green six pin Multiplex plug.

This leaves just one more job left to complete the wing, the aileron linkages.

A hard point has been left in the aileron with an indent for fixing the control horn, I drilled this through with a 4mm drill, fitted two FVK brass horns, these are strong light and adjustable with a mushroom cap nut which sits unobtrusively on the ailerons upper surface. Next tape the ailerons in their neutral positions and centre the servos, measure between the horn and the output arm on the servo and make up two linkages. Use two clevices on a short length of studding one end being soldered the other being adjustable with a lock nut.

This completes the wing assembly.

First start by making a servo tray from thin ply that can be screwed onto two spruce bearers. Roughen the fuselage well before bonding the bearers with slow epoxy mixed with some glass rovings.

I used two Futaba S3107 for the rudder elevator servos as these have proved reliable in similar applications.

The next step involves calculating the nose weight ( aprox 1.5 oz ) which needs to be inserted as far into the nose as possible, the best method is to use lead shot mixed into a slurry with epoxy. Always under weight the nose slightly so you can make CG adjustments if required.

West London Models have had a dedicated battery pack made by Ripmax solely for the Highlight/Toplight range of gliders this 700 MA NIMH pack fits perfectly into the nose butting up to the nose weight. A bead of silicone is used to retain the pack which makes a battery change simple if needed.

If you choose to use the switch harness shown in the photo you will be able to use the plug as an on off switch as well as being able to charge the model without removing the canopy. These neat little sockets are available from RS components part no 486/662.

The tail components comprise two halves which have to be joined prior to bonding to the fuselage. Carefully clean up the two halves where they are to be joined, apply slow setting epoxy making sure the angle is set at 110 degrees, then leave to set over night.

Roughen up the two tailplane seats on the fuselage and then bond using slow setting epoxy the V tail to the fuselage. Make sure that the tail sits accurately on the fuselage and is not distorted in any way.

Once everything is dry you can fit a pair of V tail horns, the small offset Graupner ones are perfect for the job.

The two pushrods are pre installed and just require Z bend to connect to the V tail horns.

The last few steps involve installing the radio gear, for the receiver as always I used a Schultz 835W these are the perfect receivers for composite fuselages and have never experienced any problems.

Make up the second half of your wiring loom and connect it with the other leads to the receiver. Next insert the receiver in between the servo bearers and retain it with double sided tape below the wing seat. A small hole can be made adjacent to the receiver for the aerial outlet with the aerial being taped down the outside of the fuselage.Don’t be tempted to run the aerial down the inside of the fuselage or your range will be severely impaired, I know because I have tried it.

Now all that’s left to do is to install the servo tray onto the bearers. Make sure the tail surfaces are set to neutral and accurately mark the positions of the servo arm connections on the push rods, either solder clevises or use Z bends to connect to the servos. When everything is aligned fix the servo tray to the bearers with four small screws.

You can now assemble the model and make any CG adjustments.

This is a perfect model to transport without removing the wings, you can easily fit it into a small car as I found out taking the Toplight to Ivinghoe Beacon for some testing.

A twelve knot north westerly wind proved ideal for a first flight and with first flight technician Malcolm Green on hand for launching, the Toplight tracked straight and true out from the hill into good lift needing no trim change.

Sometimes you instantly know that a model is going to be a good one and the Toplight was that model, Loops rolls bunts inverted flight where all performed easily and very accurately.

The Toplight has since been flown in wind speeds ranging from zero to 35 knots and bearing in mind that this is a very light aircraft the performance is truly outstanding. My chosen CG position of 56mm behind the leading edge gives a very nice nose down attitude and a very sweet neutral response to all control inputs.

I like this model a lot it has certainly torn me away from my current trend of foamy flying and that’s got to be good. Faults , none really just be careful of the tail during transportation, its great in the air but fragile on the ground, apart from that a truly stunning model.

Specs, CG 56 mm back from Leading edge.

Throws, Rudder/10mm, Elevator/12mm up 12mm down, Aileron/15mm up 8mm down

Aileron and rudder uncoupled.