Short Kent
{{Short description|A British four-engined biplane flying boat airliner}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox aircraft
|name = S.17 Kent
|image = Kent2179y.jpg
|caption =
|type = Biplane flying boat airliner
|manufacturer = Short Brothers
|designer =
|first_flight = 24 February 1931
|introduction = 1931
|retired = 1938
|status =
|primary_user = Imperial Airways
|more_users =
|produced =1930-1931
|number_built = 3
|unit cost =
|developed_from = Short Calcutta
|variants = Short Scylla
}}
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.
Three aircraft were built, each receiving its own name: Scipio, Sylvanus and Satyrus; they were referred to collectively within Imperial Airlines as the Scipio Class flying boats. Each had an aircrew of three (two pilots and a radio operator/navigator) and a steward to prepare meals and light refreshments for the passengers.
Design and development
Cassidy, p.20ff.Barnes and James, p.272ff.
The Short Kent flying boat was essentially an enlarged, four-engined version of the Calcutta, with the same passenger carrying capacity but with an increased payload for mail and fuel. It was powered by four Bristol Jupiter XFBM radial engines mounted on vertical struts between the upper and lower planes.
The wings were constructed using corrugated duralumin box spars and tubular rib assemblies, with a fabric covering and Frise ailerons on the upper and lower wings.Barnes and James p.226 and p.269. Duralumin walkways were provided to allow ready access to the engines for maintenance purposes. The tail unit consisted of braced monoplane horizontal and vertical stabilizers; the tailplane was fitted with Flettner-type servo tabs for trimming[http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/coming%20of%20age/imperial/short%20L17%20scylla.htm Short Scylla]{{Failed verification|date=September 2011}} on the Short Scylla which had the same wings and tail as the Kent.
The anodised duralumin fuselage was mounted below the lower wing, with the planing bottom of the hull made of stainless steel (as on the Singapore II) with a transverse main step. The use of stainless steel reduced the frequency of land inspections of the hull. The bimetallic corrosion problems experienced on the Singapore II hull had been solved; Short Brothers became the first company to master the technique of building seaplane floats and flying boat hulls in this combination of metals.
A quick-release hook (controlled by the pilots) was provided, which enabled the captain to start, warm up and (when required) run all four engines up to full power for takeoff while the aircraft was still attached to the mooring buoy.
Maximum comfort was required for passengers and crew: the Kent's passenger cabin was 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) wide and 14 ft (4.27 m) long. The seating was arranged in four rows of facing pairs, with a centre aisle, Pullman-style. The steward's pantry, situated on the port side aft of the passenger cabin, was equipped with twin-burner oil stoves on which stewards (and the valets of valued passengers) could cook meals in flight. The toilet and washroom were opposite the pantry; the mail and freight compartment was further aft.
Special attention was paid to sound levels in the passenger cabin and crew's stations; accordingly the engines were fitted with exhaust collector rings and long tailpipes, to reduce exhaust noise inside the hull.
The cockpit, for two pilots, was fully enclosed (unlike that of the Calcutta's) with a separate Radio Officer's station directly aft of the cockpit.
Service history
In October 1930, Short Brothers started building the first of the three S.17 Kent flying boats (G-ABFA, named Scipio). It was launched and flown on 24 February 1931 by Shorts' Chief Test Pilot J. Lankester Parker and was in service in the Mediterranean in May of that year. The second (G-ABFB, named Sylvanus) was launched on 31 March 1931; the third Kent (G-ABFC, Satyrus) was launched on 30 April 1931 and flown for the first time on 2 May 1931.Barnes 1967, p. 270.
Imperial Airways used the Kent aircraft on the Mediterranean stages of its routes to India and beyond, also using them to survey planned routes to South Africa and Australia.{{cite web |url=http://www.openthebook.com/pdfs/ports_sample.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2007-02-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009181353/http://www.openthebook.com/pdfs/ports_sample.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2007 |df=dmy-all }} Image (on p.25) shows a Short Kent on the Sea of Galilee (in or after 1931)
On 22 August 1936 "Scipio", on its way back from India, flipped over and sank in "Mirabella Harbour" (between the mainland of Crete and the island of Spinalonga) after landing heavily,{{cite web|title=Imperial Airways in Elounda / Mirabella Harbour / Corfos Bay |publisher=In-Crete.net |url=http://www.in-crete.co.uk/imperial/index.htm |accessdate=2007-02-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060627055319/http://in-crete.co.uk/imperial/index.htm |archive-date=27 June 2006 }} killing two passengers.Lieut. Richard Glen Wilson-Dickson and Thomas Alexander Cecil "Whimmie" Forbes. Sylvanus was destroyed by fire at Brindisi on 9 November 1935.https://www.planecrashinfo.com/1935/1935-37.htm Information w.r.t. the loss of "Sylvanus" at Brindisi, 1935.{{Failed verification|date=September 2011}} Only Satyrus survived to be taken out of service and scrapped in June 1938.Barnes and James, p.272.
In 1933 Imperial Airways placed an order for two landplanes based on the Kent; known initially as the S.17/L and later as the L.17, these became the Short Scylla, of which two were built and given the names "Scylla" and "Syrinx".
Operators
;{{flag|United Kingdom}}
Specifications
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=British Civil Aircraft 1919-1972 Jackson 1988, p.140.
|prime units?=imp
|genhide=
|crew=threeFlight 19 August 1932, p. 781.
|capacity=16 passengers
|length m=
|length ft=78
|length in=5
|span m=
|span ft=113
|span in=0
|height m=
|height ft=28
|height in=0
|wing area sqm=
|wing area sqft=2640
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=20460
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=32000
|fuel capacity=
|eng1 number=4
|eng1 name=Bristol Jupiter XFBM
|eng1 type=9-cylinder air-cooled radial engines
|eng1 kw=
|eng1 hp=555
|eng1 note=(rated at {{convert|4000|ft|m|abbr=on}})
|prop blade number=
|prop name=
|prop dia m=
|prop dia ft=
|prop dia in=
|perfhide=
|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=137
|max speed kts=
|max speed note=at {{convert|5000|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed mph=105
|cruise speed kts=
|range km=
|range miles=450
|range nmi=
|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=17500
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=840
|more performance=
|avionics=
}}
See also
References
;Notes
{{reflist}}
;Bibliography
- {{cite magazine |title=The Short "Kent" Class: 162,000 Miles Flown Without Trouble |magazine= Flight|issue=19 August 1932 |pages=780–781 |url= http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1932/1932%20-%200836.html}}
- {{cite book |last= Barnes|first= C. H.|title= Shorts Aircraft since 1900 |year= 1967|publisher= Putnam|location= London}}
- {{cite book | last1 = Barnes| first1 =C. H. |last2=James|first2= D. N. | title =Shorts Aircraft since 1900 | publisher =Putnam | year =1989 | location =London | isbn= 0-85177-819-4}}
- {{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 |accessdate = 2007-01-15 }}
- {{cite book |title=British Civil Aircraft 1919-1972:Volume III |last=Jackson |first= A.J.|year= 1988|publisher= Putnam|location=London |isbn= 0-85177-818-6}}
- {{cite web|title=Century-of-Flight.net: Short Kent |work=publishenet |url=http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/coming%20of%20age/imperial/short%20S17%20kent.htm |accessdate=2007-01-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720075707/http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/coming%20of%20age/imperial/Short%20S17%20kent.htm |archive-date=20 July 2008 }}
- {{cite web|title=British Aircraft Directory: Short Kent |publisher=British Aircraft Directory |url=http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=386 |accessdate=2007-01-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050504180723/http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=386 |archive-date=4 May 2005 }}
External links
{{commons category|Short Kent}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmuNQXst6nI British Movietone News film footage of the Kent].
{{Short Brothers aircraft}}
Category:1930s British airliners
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