DH108 Swallow for 30MM EDF and XFly 40mm EDF

This is a small and agile scale model of the famous British experimental jet for experienced model pilots. It is economical to build in LW-PLA (only 135g needed) and takes a print time of 18 hours and 20 minutes.

This model was originally designed specifically for the QX-motor 30mm electric ducted fan, it has excellent performance and with a balanced fan even sounds quite "jet-like" in flypasts.

As of 2024 the XFly Galaxy X3 EDF on 4S has been available, and is an even more powerful and robust fan unit for a similar battery weight, and can be highly recommended.

As of October 2025, the model has been modified to take the XFly X4 40mm EDF which gives almost twice the thrust and significantly better vertical and all-round performance.

The new X4 40mm-powered version is now the preferred option.

This download contains the Printing and Assembly guide plus 3MF and g-code files sliced in the free Prusa slicer for the latest 30MM version, 40mm version plus OLD DH108 files for previous outdated versions. .. This design has not been tested in other slicers, but for those who cannot use the g-codes directly there is a table in the manual that shows the basic settings from Prusa which could be a starting point in other slicers (such as Cura). Prusa is recommended though, as it will populate all the print settings from the .3MF files.

There are also .svg graphics files of markings for the full-size aircraft VW120 which broke the sound barrier in 1948, as well as the Elmdon Air Race Swallow markings.

Specifications below:

SCALE 1/19.5

WINGSPAN 611mm (24 inches)

LENGTH 415mm (16.5 ins)

FLYING WEIGHT 240g + (30MM) / 290g + (40MM)
WING AREA 6.85 SQ DM (106 SQ IN)

WING LOADING (12-14 OZS/SQ FT either 30mm/40mm EDF)

DUCTED FAN UNIT QX-motor 30mm, XFly X3 or XFly X4
LIPO 3-4S x 450mAh to 850 mAh

RECEIVER 4ch full-range micro Rx upwards

SERVOS 2 x 4.3g (max thickness 8.5mm preferred)

VIDEOS:

40mm EDF Swallow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gJyjmKWdOE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Aq5m4lmtzc

30mm EDF Swallow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbczI3BCzlQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrWgqZ7YjHI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OnY-WUlbwM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPxFKO8uhfw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKwFYewLgwc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMO0qP-A38Y&t=2s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0GGRPqfzsk

RCGroups thread:

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?4485981-Mini-DH108-Swallow-for-QX-30-EDF

Timeless Wings home page:

https://timelesswings.com/

A video showing the Swallow bungee launching is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKtAX9yAv3g

EDIT: 24 October 2025

Complete reissue of 30mm Swallow with many improvements plus 40mm version included.

This model has been designed in Rhino 7.0 and sliced in Prusa 2.6.1.
It has not been tested in other slicers. The provided G-codes should work on a cartesian printer of minimum size 200mm x200mm x200mm. If the gcodes cannot be used, all the print settings are contained in the .3mf files when loaded as a project into the free Prusa slicer.