Short Scylla

Last updated

L.17 Scylla
Scylla0334.jpg
RoleBiplane airliner
Manufacturer Short Brothers
First flight26 March 1934
Retired1940
Primary user Imperial Airways
Number built2
Developed from Short Kent
Scylla with distinctive Flettner type tab visible on the rudder Short Scylla left rear NACA-AC-190.jpg
Scylla with distinctive Flettner type tab visible on the rudder

The Short L.17 Scylla was a British four-engined 39-seat biplane airliner designed and built by Short Brothers at the request of Imperial Airways to supplement the Handley Page H.P.42 fleet already in service after Handley Page quoted an excessive price for two additional H.P.42s. They were ordered in 1933.

Contents

Imperial Airways used the Scylla for scheduled flights from London to Paris and other European cities. Two aircraft were built, Scylla (G-ACJJ) and Syrinx (G-ACJK). Both served with the airline, until its merger into BOAC in 1939, when both were taken out of service the following year, Scylla after being wrecked and Syrinx being scrapped.

Design and development

The Scylla was a land-based development of the Short Kent (S.17) flying boat which used the Kent's flying surfaces on a new fuselage. [1] It was an all-metal biplane with a wingspan of 113 ft (34 m) powered originally by four Bristol Jupiter XFBM radial engines mounted on vertical struts between the upper and lower planes. The square-section fuselage was mounted below the lower wing while the tail had a single fin and rudder with a horizontal stabilizer mounted mid way up. The Scylla was originally fitted with a Flettner-type trim tab mounted on arms extended out from the rudder's trailing edge to reduce control forces. An experimental servo tab mounted on the trailing edge of the rudder was also tested, on G-ACJJ Scylla which led to a patent application submitted jointly by Shorts and Dudley Lloyd Parkes on 7 August 1936. [2]

The main undercarriage had one fixed wheel on each side, mounted on three diagonally-braced struts, one to the upper and two to the lower edge of the fuselage; there was a single tailwheel. Ailerons were fitted to both upper and lower wings.

The engine nacelles were designed to receive Bristol Jupiter, Pegasus or Perseus engines without modification, [1] This later enabled the two inboard Jupiters of G-ACJK Syrinx to be easily replaced with Perseus IIL sleeve valve engines, to test their performance in airline conditions. Syrinx was fitted with four Pegasus XC engines when it was rebuilt after it had been severely damaged when blown over by crosswinds while taxiing at Brussels airport.

Operators

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom

Specifications

Short Scylla 3-view drawing from NACA-AC-190 Short Scylla 3-view NACA-AC-190.png
Short Scylla 3-view drawing from NACA-AC-190

Data from [3]

General characteristics

  • Other engine configurations included:

Performance

See also

Related development

Related lists

Related Research Articles

Bristol Jupiter British nine-cylinder radial engine family

The Bristol Jupiter was a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developments turned it into one of the finest engines of its era.

Bristol Pegasus

The Bristol Pegasus is a British nine-cylinder, single-row, air-cooled radial aero engine. Designed by Roy Fedden of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, it was used to power both civil and military aircraft of the 1930s and 1940s. Developed from the earlier Mercury and Jupiter engines, later variants could produce 1,000 horsepower (750 kW) from its capacity of 1,750 cubic inches by use of a geared supercharger.

Bristol Perseus 1930s British piston aircraft engine

The Bristol Perseus was a British nine-cylinder, single-row, air-cooled radial aircraft engine produced by the Bristol Engine Company starting in 1932. It was the first production sleeve valve aero engine.

Short Empire

The Short Empire was a medium-range four-engined monoplane flying boat, designed and developed by Short Brothers during the 1930s to meet the requirements of the growing commercial airline sector, with a particular emphasis upon its usefulness upon the core routes that served the United Kingdom. It was developed and manufactured in parallel with the Short Sunderland maritime patrol bomber, which went on to serve in the Second World War; a further derivative that was later developed was the piggy-back Short Mayo Composite.

Vickers Victoria

The Vickers Type 56 Victoria was a British biplane freighter and troop transport aircraft used by the Royal Air Force. The Victoria flew for the first time in 1922 and was selected for production over the Armstrong Whitworth Awana.

Handley Page Type W Early British airliner

The Handley Page W.8, W.9 and W.10 were British two- and three-engine medium-range biplane airliners designed and built by Handley Page.

PWS-19

The PWS-19 was a Polish reconnaissance and bomber plane prototype of the 1930s, constructed in the PWS.

Short Kent

The Short S.17 Kent was a British four-engined 15-seat biplane luxury flying boat airliner, designed and built by Shorts to meet a requirement from Imperial Airways for an aircraft with greater range than the Short Calcutta. The new aircraft was to have sufficient range to fly the stage from Mirabella, Crete, to Alexandria in Egypt without the need for refuelling stops in Italian colonial territory due to a political row which had led the Italian Government to ban British aircraft from its ports.

Bristol Type 84 Bloodhound

The Bristol Bloodhound was a British two-seat reconnaissance/fighter aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company as a possible replacement for the Bristol F.2 Fighter for the Royal Air Force. It was unsuccessful, only four prototypes being built.

Saro Cloud

The Saro Cloud was a British passenger amphibian flying boat designed and built by Saunders-Roe as the A.19. It was later produced as the A.29 for the Royal Air Force for pilot and navigator training.

Gloster Goring

The Gloster Goring was a single-engined two-seat biplane designed to meet 1926 Air Ministry specifications for a day/torpedo bomber. It was not put into production and the one aircraft built served later as an engine testbed.

Bristol Type 118

The Bristol Type 118 was a general-purpose military aircraft, a two-seat biplane built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in the early 1930s, powered by a Bristol Mercury radial engine and aimed at overseas markets. The Type 120 was a Bristol Pegasus-engined variant entered into an Air Ministry competition and later used for armament tests. Two aircraft were built.

Vickers Viastra

The Vickers Viastra was an all-metal 12-seat passenger high-wing monoplane, with variants powered by one, two and three engines. Two twin-engined Viastras operated commercially in Australia from 1931-6; another served as a Royal transport.

Vickers Vellore

The Vickers Vellore was a large biplane designed as a freight and mail carrier, in single-engined and twin-engined versions, which saw limited use as freighters and long-range experimental aircraft. A final variant with a broader fuselage, the Vellox, was built as an airliner.

The de Havilland DH.72 was a large British three-engined biplane bomber, designed as a Vickers Virginia replacement. It did not go into production.

Handley Page H.P.47

The Handley Page H.P.47 was a British single-engined low-wing monoplane built to an Air Ministry specification for a general-purpose bomber and torpedo bomber aircraft. Only one was built.

The Westland PV.7 was a private venture submission to a 1930s British specification for a general-purpose military aircraft with two crew. It was a single-engined, high-wing monoplane of promise, but was destroyed early in official tests.

The Bristol-Burney seaplanes were a pair of experimental seaplanes produced by a collaboration between Lt. Dennistoun Burney and the Bristol and Colonial Aeroplane Company during 1912–14. The aircraft, neither of which was successfully flown, featured a novel hydroplane undercarriage. Although not a success, their development was the basis of Burney's later invention of the paravane.

NVI F.K.35

The NVI F.K.35 or Koolhoven F.K.35 was a two-seat fighter aircraft built in the Netherlands during 1926. It was completed and exhibited but, through a combination of ground accident and financial problems, never flown.

The Villiers 26 was a French naval seaplane which used Handley Page slats to provide the wide speed range required for escort and patrol duties. It was tested, behaved satisfactorily but received no production order.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Cassidy, p. 22
  2. Cassidy, p. 31
  3. Barnes and James 1988, p.278.
  4. Gunston 1980,p.85.
  5. Jackson 1988, p. 300.

Bibliography