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. 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. 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 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. Three units were built.
