Got my Night Vapor last week and it's great. I love being able to just step out the front door and fly on a whim. I had my daughter record the first flight and if anyone wants to check it out, here's the video.

Night Vapor Maiden Flight (1 min 8 sec)

I ordered the 5030S prop just now. its only 0.2g heavier than the 5030 which i cant find, i'm sure it will be fine. i still am concerned about why my stock motor seemed to die only after about 10 batteries of flying??

Call Horizon and ask if they're give you a free replacement, they should last longer than 10 flights (this isn't one of the dreaded 8.5mm motors that dies quickly). However you can kill a motor in one flight if you do just the wrong thing. For example, if something stops the prop from spinning and you keep the throttle on you can burn up the brushes or communicator (I think that's what it's called) pretty quickly. If you have to "bump start" the motor that may be what happened.

Originally Posted by Chris_F

Call Horizon and ask if they're give you a free replacement, they should last longer than 10 flights (this isn't one of the dreaded 8.5mm motors that dies quickly). However you can kill a motor in one flight if you do just the wrong thing. For example, if something stops the prop from spinning and you keep the throttle on you can burn up the brushes or communicator (I think that's what it's called) pretty quickly. If you have to "bump start" the motor that may be what happened.

Well its true from time to time I am slow to bring the throttle down in a crash that stops the prop. so that might very well be it. sometimes you have to spend $10 to learn a lesson, although I should have learned that lesson long ago.

Now its just an excuse to put the J3 motor on and be more mindful of the throttle.

I put the J-3 motor in tonight. Direct fit, no muss no fuss. Went in like a charm. Everything is working great so I must have damaged the stock motor by not throttling down fast enough. I decided I liked the idea of reinforcing the wings and elevator. i happened to have some 0.5mm CF rod so i set to do it. I felt that hot glue would be the best way to do this as CF and epoxy are too messy and i wanted a little give for shock absorption. and hot glue would be easier to reverse if i get it on wires or the frame etc.

I put supports on the front and back of the main wing and across both sides of the elevator, of the horn. Here are pics.

Took it out for a test flight. ITS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PLANE! in a great way! It will do its usual Night Vapor thing but its way more powerful and steady. I can almost vertical climb and it cruises really fast. its great to get it level at about 30% throttle and then go full bore! its accelerates fast. and I love the sound of it too. wooooooot!

Current weight (w/o battery): 17.1g

It appears you put a support from your elevator control horn, crossing under the rudder, to the opposite side of the elevator. When you adjust your control horns for max throw (highly recommended BTW, makes the plane very aerobatic) you'll find that this support will catch on the rudder when you give it full up elevator and rudder. I found the single support that runs on the same side as the rudder to be plenty for the elevator.

use an extra stopper to raise your rudder up, like in my picture from the previous page. then your support beams wont hit your rudder. i ran mine (1 support) straight back to the middle of the elevator and it clears with the rudder positioned like it is there

BTW, I don't believe the Night Vapor brick has a Low Voltage cutoff, or at least I've never found one. Make sure you keep that in mind so you don't toast your batteries.

Originally Posted by Chris_F

BTW, I don't believe the Night Vapor brick has a Low Voltage cutoff, or at least I've never found one. Make sure you keep that in mind so you don't toast your batteries.

it definitely has a cut-off ... but it's pretty low-draw plane ... on 70mAh batteries you can get about 10 minutes on mid throttle ... with 150s people report over 20 minutes. so i think it's just that it takes so long, you never find yourself running into it

Originally Posted by telos81

it definitely has a cut-off ... but it's pretty low-draw plane ... on 70mAh batteries you can get about 10 minutes on mid throttle ... with 150s people report over 20 minutes. so i think it's just that it takes so long, you never find yourself running into it

Wow, really? I've NEVER hit the LVC. Not once. I guess I need to get an easy chair and have a seat in my driveway, get a beer, and see if I have enough physical stamina to make it to the end of a battery.

I tend to try and fly it like a "scale" plane, low throttle, high endurance. Wonder how long I can go on a Hyperion 160? I got some old ThunderPower 160s I wouldn't mind risking in the name of science...

Originally Posted by Chris_F

Wow, really? I've NEVER hit the LVC. Not once. I guess I need to get an easy chair and have a seat in my driveway, get a beer, and see if I have enough physical stamina to make it to the end of a battery.

I tend to try and fly it like a "scale" plane, low throttle, high endurance. Wonder how long I can go on a Hyperion 160? I got some old ThunderPower 160s I wouldn't mind risking in the name of science...

i bet 30 minutes easy, with 1/3 throttle or so ...

might need a few beers

Originally Posted by telos81

might need a few beers

Yeah, better safe than sorry...

I've had a regular Vapor for quite some time. One of my favorite things to do was go fly under the streetlight at midnight. Sometimes I would lose orientation, so forget about flying in the yard. Today I got a Night Vapor(and a t28 Trojan, it was a good day). What a wicked good plane(yeah, I'm from New England). Flying in the dark in the yard is no problem at all. I never lost orientation IN THE DARK. A factory fresh new plane is nice too. What a great flyer!

Originally Posted by gordonmoney

I've had a regular Vapor for quite some time. One of my favorite things to do was go fly under the streetlight at midnight. Sometimes I would lose orientation, so forget about flying in the yard. Today I got a Night Vapor(and a t28 Trojan, it was a good day). What a wicked good plane(yeah, I'm from New England). Flying in the dark in the yard is no problem at all. I never lost orientation IN THE DARK. A factory fresh new plane is nice too. What a great flyer!

Yeah I had a Vapor years ago too. The Night Vapor is an awesome upgrade. The lights are fantastic, but also much easier to replace parts (which was a nightmare on the Vapor) and flies just as well. Maybe even better 'cause they tightened up the wings a bit