The Caproni Campini N.1, also known as the C.C.2, is an experimental jet aircraft built in the 1930s by Italian aircraft manufacturer Caproni. The N.1 first flew in 1940 and was briefly regarded as the first successful jet-powered aircraft in history, before news emerged of the German Heinkel He 178's first flight a year earlier.

During 1931, Italian aeronautics engineer Secondo Campini submitted his studies on jet propulsion, including a proposal for a so-called thermo-jet to power an aircraft. Following a high-profile demonstration of a jet-powered boat in Venice, Campini was rewarded with an initial contract issued by the Italian government to develop and manufacture his proposed engine. During 1934, the Regia Aeronautica (the Italian Air Force) granted its approval to proceed with the production of two jet-powered prototype aircraft. To produce this aircraft, which was officially designated as the N.1, Campini formed an arrangement with the larger Caproni aviation manufacturer.

The N.1 is powered by a motorjet, a type of jet engine in which the compressor is driven by a conventional reciprocating engine. On 27 August 1940, the first flight of the N.1 took place at the Caproni facility in Taliedo, outside Milan, flown by Mario de Bernardi.

The N.1 achieved mixed results; while it was perceived and commended as a crucial milestone in aviation (until the revelation of the He 178's earlier flight), the performance of the aircraft was unimpressive. It was slower than many existing conventional aircraft of the era, while the motorjet engine was incapable of producing sufficient thrust to deliver adequate performance for a fighter aircraft. As such, the N.1 programme never led to any operational combat aircraft, and the motorjet design was soon superseded by more powerful turbojets. Only one of the two examples of the N.1 to have been constructed has survived to the present day.

Background

During 1931, Italian aeronautics engineer Secondo Campini submitted a report to the Regia Aeronautica (the Italian Air Force) on the potential of jet propulsion; this report included his proposals for one such implementation, which he referred to as a thermo-jet. That same year, Campini established a company, with his two brothers, called the "Velivoli e Natanti a Reazione" (Italian for "Jet Aircraft and Boats") to pursue the development of this engine. In April 1932, the company demonstrated a pump-jet propelled boat in Venice. The boat achieved a top speed of , a speed comparable to a boat with a conventional engine of similar output. The Italian Navy, who had funded the development of the boat, placed no orders and vetoed the sale of the design outside Italy.

During 1934, the Regia Aeronautica granted approval for the development of a pair of prototypes, along with a static testbed, for the purpose of demonstrating the principle of a jet aircraft, as well as to explore potential military applications. As his company lacked the necessary industrial infrastructure for such endeavours, Campini formed an arrangement with the larger Caproni aviation manufacturer, under which the latter provided the required material assistance for the manufacturing of the prototypes. Under this relationship, Campini developed his design, which later received the official Italian Air Force designation of N.1.

Historian Nathanial Edwards has contrasted the relative openness of Italian early jet development work against the high levels of secrecy present within other nation's programmes, such as Britain and Germany.

Design

thumb|right|upright|The first two stages of the compressor of the C.C.2

The Caproni Campini N.1 is an experimental aircraft, designed to demonstrate the practicality of jet propulsion and its viability as an engine for aircraft. It was a monoplane built entirely out of duralumin, with an elliptical wing. The original design was to have the aircraft cockpit pressurised but this facility was never installed. The aircraft was fitted with dual controls allowing it to be flown from either of the two seats. Both seats had individual rearward sliding canopies however, flight testing quickly revealed that, due to the excessive heat output of the propulsion system, the canopy had to be left permanently open as a mitigating measure. The airflow provided by the compressor was used to cool the engine before being mixed with the engine's exhaust gases, thus recovering most of the heat energy that in traditional piston-propeller designs would be wasted. A ring-shaped burner then injected fuel into the gas flow and ignited it, immediately before the exhaust nozzle, to further increase thrust.

In practice the engine provided enough thrust for flight without activating the rear burner, making the design somewhat similar to a ducted fan coupled to an afterburner. Campini referred to this configuration as being a thermojet, although it has since become commonly known as motorjet. The relatively small size of the duct limited the mass flow and thus the propulsive efficiency of the engine. In modern designs this is offset through high overall pressure ratios, which could not be achieved on the N.1, therefore resulting in relatively low thrust and poor fuel efficiency. Ground tests performed with the static testbed produced a thrust of around . The first flight lasted ten minutes, during which de Bernardi kept the speed below , less than half throttle.

Although the first flight of the jet-powered Heinkel He 178 had been made a year before to the day, it had not been made public, so the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale recorded the N.1 as the first successful flight by a jet aircraft. and developed the Kholshchevnikov VRDK motorjet engine which was used in the Mikoyan-Gurevich I-250 and the Sukhoi Su-5 aircraft. The Caproni company proposed a development of their Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario single-seat fighter with the auxiliary 370 h.p. engine used to drive two centrifugal compressors. One compressor was to be used for supercharging the main Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine, and the auxiliary unit, while the second would be used to provide reaction propulsion.

Surviving aircraft

thumb|The surviving C.C.2 at the [[Italian Air Force Museum]]

The surviving example is now on display at the Italian Air Force Museum at Vigna di Valle, near Rome, and the ground testbed, consisting of only the fuselage, is on display at the National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan.

Specifications

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • Golly, John. Jet: Frank Whittle and the Invention of the Jet Engine. Datum Publishing, 1996. .
  • Mark, Harrison. The Economics Of Coercion And Conflict. World Scientific, 2014. .
  • Morse, Stan. Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft. Orbis Publishing, 1982.
  • Pavelec, Sterling Michael. The Jet Race and the Second World War. Praeger Security International: Westport, Connecticut. 2007. .
  • Photographs and a cutaway drawing of the N.1
  • Jet Propulsion pg 50, Life, November 27, 1944