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. It was an all-metal
biplane with a wingspan of 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. 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, 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==