View source for Short Scylla

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox aircraft
  |name = L.17 Scylla
  |image = Scylla0334.jpg
  |type = Biplane airliner
  |manufacturer = [[Short Brothers]]
  |first_flight = 26 March 1934
  |introduction = 
  |retired = 1940
  |primary_user = [[Imperial Airways]]
  |produced = 
  |number_built = 2
  |developed_from=[[Short Kent]]
}}
[[File:Short Scylla left rear NACA-AC-190.jpg|thumb|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.

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.<ref name="Cassidy, p. 22">Cassidy, p. 22</ref> It was an all-metal [[biplane]] with a wingspan of {{cvt|113|ft}} powered originally by four [[Bristol Jupiter]] XFBM [[radial engine]]s 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 [[vertical stabilizer|fin and rudder]] with a [[horizontal stabilizer]] mounted mid way up. The Scylla was originally fitted with a [[Anton Flettner|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.<ref>Cassidy, p. 31</ref>

The main [[Landing gear|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. [[Aileron]]s were fitted to both upper and lower wings.

The [[engine nacelle]]s were designed to receive [[Bristol Jupiter]], [[Bristol Pegasus|Pegasus]] or [[Bristol Perseus|Perseus]] engines without modification,<ref name="Cassidy, p. 22"/> 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 [[Haren Airport|Brussels]] airport.

==Operators==
;{{flag|United Kingdom}}
*[[Imperial Airways]]

==Specifications==
[[File:Short_Scylla_3-view_NACA-AC-190.png|thumb|Short Scylla 3-view drawing from NACA-AC-190]]
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=<ref>Barnes and James 1988, p.278.</ref>
|prime units?=imp
|crew=four
|capacity=39 passengers
|length ft=83|length in=10
|span ft=113|span in=0
|height ft=31|height in=7
|height note=<ref name="Prop p85">Gunston 1980,p.85.</ref>
|wing area sqft=2615
|empty weight lb=22650|gross weight lb=33500
|fuel capacity=
<!-- Powerplant-->
|eng1 number=4
|eng1 name=[[Bristol Jupiter]] XFBM|eng1 type=nine-cylinder air-cooled [[radial engine]]s|eng1 hp=555
|eng1 note=<br>
:*Other engine configurations included:
::*Two {{cvt|595|hp}} Jupiter XFBM radials (outer pair) and two {{cvt|540|hp}} [[Bristol Perseus|Bristol Perseus IIL]] [[sleeve valve]] radial engines (inner pair)
::*Four {{cvt|660|hp}} [[Bristol Pegasus|Pegasus XC]] radial engines
|prop blade number=4
|prop name=Fixed pitch wooden propeller|prop dia ft=|prop dia in=

<!-- Performance -->
|max speed mph=137
|cruise speed mph=105|cruise speed note=<ref>Jackson 1988, p. 300.</ref>
|range miles=
|range nmi=
|ceiling ft=
}}

==See also==
{{aircontent
|related=
*[[Short Calcutta]]
*[[Short Kent]]
|similar aircraft=
|lists=
*[[List of civil aircraft]]
}}

==References==

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{Commons category}}
* {{cite book|last1=Barnes|first1=C. H.|last2=James|first2=D. N.|title=Shorts Aircraft since 1900|publisher=Putnam|year=1989|location=London|isbn=0851778194}}
* {{cite web|last=Cassidy|first=Brian|title=Flying Empires: Short 'C' class Empire flying boats|publisher=Queens Parade Press|year=2004|url=http://www.users.waitrose.com/~mbcass/Flying%20Empires.pdf|access-date=15 January 2007}}
*{{cite book|editor-last=Gunston|editor-first=Bill|title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Propeller Airliners|year=1980|publisher=Phoebus|location=London|isbn=0711200629}}
* {{cite book|last=Jackson|first=A. J.|title=British Civil Aircraft 1919-1972: Volume III|year=1988|location=London|publisher=Putnam|isbn=0851778186}}
* {{cite web|title=Century-of-Flight.net: Short Scylla|url=http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/coming%20of%20age/imperial/short%20L17%20scylla.htm|access-date=18 January 2007}}
* {{cite web|title=Short L17 Scylla|publisher=Imperial Airways project|url=http://www.imperial-airways.com/Short_l17_scylla.html|access-date=24 January 2007}}

{{Short Brothers aircraft}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Short Brothers aircraft]]
[[Category:1930s British airliners]]
[[Category:Biplanes]]
[[Category:Four-engined tractor aircraft]]
[[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1934]]
[[Category:Four-engined piston aircraft]]