Arreauxbee-Hi Build Thread

Hello Everyone!

I have only ever done a few build threads, and felt like doing a new one. I was able to get one of the new Arreauxbee-Hi kits through my local vendor as soon as they came out. It has been on the shelf for a few months now, but I finally broke it out this weekend to inventory the parts and start weighing them for sims (which I figured I would need to do from scratch since its so new). I don't see any builds on here for it yet, so here we are =)

I immediately have questions about this steel wool ejection cooling mesh stuff. I have been doing mid and high power for 4 years now and while I haven't built any Aerotech kits, I'm surprised I've never heard of it on here or through RSO duties. Does it work? How long has Aerotech been shipping it? Does it use up motor casing length capacity? Even with it, can I really go wadding-less? Looking forward to learning about it.

Anyhow, no photos yet, but I'll get the first round posted tonight. I plan to build it completely stock including the motor mount, cosmetic conduits, and paint. Internally, the only change will be a 3/8ths by 15' flat kevlar harness from OneBadHawk Recovery. I also plan to go step by step with the simulation for people looking to learn more about OpenRocket basics.

Cheers,

Brian

I had the original Aerotech Areaux with the metal mesh and for me it worked fine for parachute ejection without wadding.

It's a great rocket!

I'm still working on mine. I'm doing some mods.
I'm getting new fins, centering rings, and shock cord, so that it can handle some H motors. I'm also upgrading it to dual deploy.

First flight will hopefully be this fall on an Aero-Tech H115DM.


Thanks,

I built mine completely stock.

The cooling mesh has been part of every AeroTech kit since they were first released. It has always worked well for me.

The elastic shock cord works fine.
I speak as a 'knowledgeable' person about this kit. :wink:

Initiator001 said:

I built mine completely stock.

The cooling mesh has been part of every AeroTech kit since they were first released. It has always worked well for me.

The elastic shock cord works fine.
I speak as a 'knowledgeable' person about this kit. :wink:


View attachment 344566

Click to expand...

Very well designed kit!!!



Thanks,

Initiator001 said:

I built mine completely stock.

The cooling mesh has been part of every AeroTech kit since they were first released. It has always worked well for me.

The elastic shock cord works fine.
I speak as a 'knowledgeable' person about this kit. :wink:


View attachment 344566

Click to expand...

I wondered if you would chime in =)

It is a very cool kit indeed. Between you and Aerostadt's response above, I will definitely give the mesh a go. With it installed, what will I be limited to in terms of casing length? I would love to be able to fly my CTI 29-4gr case.

Thanks,

CTI in an Aerotech kit? Blasphemy! All kidding aside, I want one of these. I build my own years ago out of a LOC Aura and only got one flight out of it. I cracked a fin and didn’t want to mess up the paint by repairing it.

bclark989 said:

I wondered if you would chime in =)

It is a very cool kit indeed. Between you and Aerostadt's response above, I will definitely give the mesh a go. With it installed, what will I be limited to in terms of casing length? I would love to be able to fly my CTI 29-4gr case.

Thanks,

Click to expand...

If that kit comes with a 12" MT, you'll be hard pressed to run a 4G CTI case without modifying the kit in some way. Aerotech specifies to stretch the mesh to ~6". The biggest complaint about the mesh cooling is that it eventually gets compressed or clogged with ejection caps and then fails to eject. Both of these to me are user error but my point is you don't want to over-compress the mesh. You also don't want to cut the mesh down to the point that it fails to do it's job and ruins your elastic/parachute.

OC_Rocket_Man said:

If that kit comes with a 12" MT, you'll be hard pressed to run a 4G CTI case without modifying the kit in some way. Aerotech specifies to stretch the mesh to ~6". The biggest complaint about the mesh cooling is that it eventually gets compressed or clogged with ejection caps and then fails to eject. Both of these to me are user error but my point is you don't want to over-compress the mesh. You also don't want to cut the mesh down to the point that it fails to do it's job and ruins your elastic/parachute.

Click to expand...

All you have to do is use a section of stiff wire....make a corkscrew at on end. Then simply "screw" it into the mesh and pull it out. Run it under hot water to clean the stainless mesh....dry and put it back into your rocket! I actually purchase the AT mesh system and use it in ALL my smaller rockets! It is the best baffle system for low and mid power! Basically the mess can be easily pulled out..cleaned...restretched....and put back into your motor tube. Simple as that!
Andrew K

OC_Rocket_Man said:

If that kit comes with a 12" MT, you'll be hard pressed to run a 4G CTI case without modifying the kit in some way. Aerotech specifies to stretch the mesh to ~6". The biggest complaint about the mesh cooling is that it eventually gets compressed or clogged with ejection caps and then fails to eject. Both of these to me are user error but my point is you don't want to over-compress the mesh. You also don't want to cut the mesh down to the point that it fails to do it's job and ruins your elastic/parachute.

Click to expand...

I may be wrong, but I believe the MMT is 15 inches long.

I'll measure it when I get to my workshop.


Thanks,

Okay, finally getting this show on the road. Unfortunately, the mesh we talked about above really was going to greatly limit my motor options for this rocket, so I have decided to ditch it and the forward baffle piece (which I left in the component photo accidentally) and go with a more standard setup for the harness attachment.

To start, here are shots of the components and a dry fit:





The instructions say the Finlok rings might be tight on the MMT tube, but it was pretty excessive, so I removed the outer layer of the tube (which is great for adhesion anyways. I marked the lines indicated by the instructions and test fit everything. This included a line running a length of the tube for proper rotational alignment of the Finlok rings:





The instructions call for you to attach these components by beads of cement in all of the corners, but doesn't say anything about adhesive underneath where they are actually in contact. I did a little wiggling to get some epoxy in underneath, but mostly just built up good beads as it stated. This was done with simple 5 minute epoxy:



Once epoxy was in place, I test fit the fins, repeatedly going around to all three mounting points to ensure alignment and correct spacing.



For the harness mount, since I am no longer using the mesh and baffle, I drilled a hole in the forward centering ring and installed the provided eye screw.





To complete the MMT sub-assembly, I used Titebond II to install the forward centering ring on the MMT tube, about 1/4" aft of the very top of the tube. Once it is fully cured, I will measure the exact position for simulation purposes. I will also go back later and reinforce the eye screw attachment point with more 5 minute epoxy.



That's it for now. The next step will be installing the MMT into the lower air frame and installing the fins.

rockets said:

I may be wrong, but I believe the MMT is 15 inches long.

I'll measure it when I get to my workshop.


Thanks,

Click to expand...

My MMT is 12". I am not quite done rounding up all the component info, but will have it all soon and can start building the sim file.

bclark989 said:

My MMT is 12". I am not quite done rounding up all the component info, but will have it all soon and can start building the sim file.

Click to expand...

Oops, my mistake.

Mine is also 12", I just thought for some reason that mine was 15".



Subscribed to the thread!



Thanks,

Quick update:

The motor mount is installed as well as the fins. I have photos but haven't finished sorting through them to decide which ones are worth posting.

In the mean time, the Open Rocket sim file is complete. I feel like it is pretty comprehensive for the configuration I am using (basically, no ejection baffle system). Every component I am using is in there with correct weights and dims. I also added plastic rivets to the nosecone (so I will actually be able to use the payload bay) as well as a Jolly Logic Chute Release. I welcome any feedback.

Cheers,

Brian

View attachment Arreauxbee-Hi.ork

Here is a screencap of the sim as well. I added color since uploading the file. I still need to scan in decals and get those on there before it's up to K'tesh standards =P

I've got one of these in the build pile. My advice is to ditch the cooling mesh if you want to put some decent length motors up in there. There's nothing wrong with it's functionality, it just takes up a bit too much space. Throw a nomex protector on your shock cord and let er rip! I haven't build an Aerotech kit in probably 6 years, so I'm excited to see the estes style retention hooks and plastic eye screw-baffle chingis get ditched. (Edit, I see it's still there, you just chose not to use it. Good call!

Bigger motors make for bigger smiles!


Braden

Yeah, to be honest I was excited to use it just because I like to give manufacturers the benefit of the doubt. Engineers spent significant time developing these kits and I feel bad tossing their differentiating innovations in the can. In this case, it just meant too much of a sacrifice in terms of what I wanted to fly it on. The air frame is capable of so much more than F and G single use motors!

I shouldn't need nomex on the harness because it is kevlar. I will potentially add a nomex blanket for extra protection of the chute, though.

bclark989 said:

Yeah, to be honest I was excited to use it just because I like to give manufacturers the benefit of the doubt. Engineers spent significant time developing these kits and I feel bad tossing their differentiating innovations in the can. In this case, it just meant too much of a sacrifice in terms of what I wanted to fly it on. The air frame is capable of so much more than F and G single use motors!

I shouldn't need nomex on the harness because it is kevlar. I will potentially add a nomex blanket for extra protection of the chute, though.

Click to expand...

That's what I meant, sorry. Just one for the chute. I've flown tubular nylon with no protection for quite some time. Just gotta keep the chute safe!


Braden

UPscaler said:

That's what I meant, sorry. Just one for the chute. I've flown tubular nylon with no protection for quite some time. Just gotta keep the chute safe!


Braden

Click to expand...

The first real big rocket I built (a 4" LOC Hyperloc 835) had nylon harnesses, and it never failed, but I could tell it was getting pretty crispy in a few spots, even flying with dog barf. Ever since seeing a friend's rocket fail during recovery for exactly that reason, I've switched to kevlar and never looked back. I went back and made nomex sleeves for a few smaller rockets with nylon or paracord, and everything else has kevlar in it now, including the Hyperloc (fortunately 4" tubing meant I could get my arm all the way down to the harness mount to change it out).

Here are a few photos covering the MMT installation process as well as the fin attachment.

First, I wanted to make sure my dowel rod I was using the apply glue to the inside of the body tube was long enough. It was (just barely), and I knew how far to wedge my fingers into the aft end (lol) to get glue in the right spot for the forward centering ring:


It almost looks photoshopped in, but the white/yellow-ish ring inside the body tube there is my ring of Titebond II, well forward of the fin slots:


At this point, you want to get the forward centering ring in past the location of the middle centering ring and rock the MMT assembly to the side to give you access to applying glue to the inside of the body tube for that middle ring. On this kit, that wasn't too difficult:


Once I had glue in place for both CR's, I just had to slide the assembly in, remembering to line up the Fin-lok rings with the fin slots as best I could. Sliding it in proved to be much more of a challenge than I thought (not enough dry fit testing I guess), so I had to enlist the services of some left over 38mm motor mount tubing. I literally held the 38mm tube up against the middle CR and hammered it onto my workbench until it was in position. The glue was already bonding pretty tightly given the friction condition, but it relented enough to allow me to fine tune the positioning just enough:


View of the Fin-Lok rings through one of the fin tab slots:


View looking down from the top. Seems like its probably enough coverage, but I could drip/dowel another layer of glue down there later for peace of mind:


Before letting the MMT assembly go for the full cure, I made sure to test the fin alignment. Everything seemed to check out:


After giving the MMT some more time to dry, I snapped the fins in. Per the instructions, I mixed some 5 minute epoxy and applied it to the root of each fin forward and aft of the fin tab where it contacts the OD of the body tube. All three fins went in pretty well with the exception of the forward lock on one of them. I'm not sure why it wouldn't go. I beat my hand up pretty good trying to get it seated, but no luck. That said, the root seated sufficiently to the body tube, so I'm just gonna leave it as is:


Lastly, I went ahead and drew the lines for the conduits using the supplied template:


Overall, this portion of the assembly went pretty well. My only criticism is that it seems like either these parts are all toleranced too tightly, or they were made at the edge of spec. The rings fit onto the MMT tube very snugly (even after removing the outer layer of paper), the CR's were reluctant to slide into the air frame, and the fins were pretty difficult to click into the fin-lok rings. The design is all great, I just could have done with less sanding and subsequent assembly force (despite said sanding).

Next up will be the conduit installation, assembly of the upper payload bay, and then its on to finishing touches, more sanding, and paint.

Thanks for watching!

Brian