SEAX is my atemt at an F3B model. I have been working on the project for almost two years, and made the maiden flight with the prototype on the 8th of may -05. As I get beyond the prototype stage this page will be updated with relevant material.

Universally carried by the Saxons, Angles, Vikings and Germanic tribes in Northern Europe, the seax, or sax, dates back before the fall of Rome and continues on into the early Middle Ages. The originals were general purpose knives. Ranging in sizes, from 3" to 4" blades, up to 27" to 28" blades, these single-edged knives varied a great deal and bore the chores of camp work to cutting work, on shipboard, and for battle in the absence of an axe.

The second Seax is in the mould. If I learned anything the first time, this one will be 350-400g lighter. It still won`t be a light model, but probably a lot more fun to fly.

This wing still has double carbon(66+93) but only partial supportmaterial in the form of 1,5 mm balsa on either side of the main spar. The balsa is sanded into a taper fore and aft of the main spar. The idea is to keep the support material where the profile is "flat" ie. either side of the main spar, and skip it in the curved parts of the profile and towards the secondary spar in front of the control surfaces since these areas are stiffned already by carbon, balsa or the curvature of the airfoil. This saved me 200g of balsa and a LOT of sanding. I also skipped the usual layer of glass underneath the paint. I just hope the 66 carbon is woven thigthly enough to prevent it from showing through the paint. This will hopefully save me another 100g.

I will know in a week or two if it is stiff enough.

The second set of wings came out of the mould friday. The weight stopped at 1415 grams. This is as expected. The reduced use of support material is evident in this wing as it has less torsional stiffness than the first one. The bending stiffness seems the same as the first one.

The second set of wings was fitted with GR 361/8 servos and have flown. The models overall weight has been redused with 350 grams and the flying caracteristics improved. I still need to come down another 300 grams, so if you don`t mind I have to go wax some moulds...

The 4th model has been flown a few times with good results. Weight initially ended up at 2350 but the tail was damaged during the first flights(sloppy work when closing the mould), and the old v-tails brought the weight back up to 2380. I recon I can compete with this one.Handles nice all around. Probably wont`t get any more practice until spring though. Today was nice with sunshine and no wind, but -10c... To cold for me. I`d rather stay inside and bulid something.

I have been testing a new way of making tails. As a substitute for balsa as sandwich material I tried styrofoam beads.Earlier I have been bothered with blisters in the paint along the leadingedge towards the tips. Theese beads don´t resist bending in small curves. A little messy, but the first try gave a flyable result with OK weight.

With some testing I guess I can get it down to 33-35.

This piece lets me mould the negative contour of the fuse and glue the locator pins as I make the bottom skin.

This set of wings are the lightest ones so far. I think they are stiff enough, but I will aim for 540-550 next time. That would make them less voulnerable to dents and transport damage.