Caproni Campini N.1

Infobox Aircraft
name=Caproni Campini N.1
type=


caption= A Caproni Campini N.1 in flight
manufacturer= Caproni
designer=
first flight= 27 August, 1940
introduced=
retired=
status= Prototype
primary user=
more users=
produced=
number built= 2
program cost=
unit cost=
developed from=
variants with their own articles=

The Caproni Campini N.1 "(sometimes incorrectly referred to as the CC.2)" was an early motorjet-powered test aeroplane.

Design and development

In 1931 Italian engineer Secondo Campini submitted a report on the potential of jet propulsion to the Ministry of Air Force, and the following year, demonstrated a jet-powered boat in Venice. In 1934, the Air Force Ministry granted approval for the development of a jet aircraft to demonstrate the principle.

As designed by Campini, the aircraft did not have a jet engine in the sense that we know them today. Rather, a conventional piston engine 500 kW (750 hp) Isotta Fraschini L. 121/R.C. 40) was used to drive a compressor, which forced compressed air into a combustion chamber where it was mixed with fuel and ignited. The exhaust produced by this combustion was to drive the aircraft forward. Campini called this configuration a "thermojet" but the term motorjet is in common usage today since thermojet is now used to refer to a particular type of pulsejet (an unrelated form of jet engine).

Operational history

Campini turned to the Caproni aircraft factory to help build the prototypes, and two aircraft and a non-flying ground testbed were eventually constructed. The first flight was on August 27, 1940 with test pilot Mario De Bernardi at the controls.

Great propaganda use was made of the aircraft by Mussolini and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale recognised this at the time as the first successful flight by a jet aeroplane.

Following World War II, one of the prototypes was shipped to the United Kingdom for study at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough.

Operators

;flag|Italy|1861-state

urvivors

Prototype taken to UK for tests subsequently disappeared. The other prototype is now on display at the Aeronautical Museum of Vigna di Valle in Rome and the ground testbed is at the Museum of Science and Technology in Milan.

pecifications

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=both

ref= [cite book
title=Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft
last=Morse (ed)
first=Stan
date=1982
accessdate=
work=
publisher=Orbis Publishing]

crew=2
capacity=
length main= 13.10 m
length alt= 43 ft 0 in
span main= 15.85 m
span alt= 52 ft 0 in
height main= 4.7 m
height alt= 15 ft 5 in
area main= 36.00 m²
area alt= 387.5 ft²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 3,640 kg
empty weight alt= 8,024 lb
loaded weight main= kg
loaded weight alt= lb
useful load main= kg
useful load alt= kg
max takeoff weight main= 4,195 kg
max takeoff weight alt= 9,250 lb
more general=

engine (jet)=
type of jet=motorjet
number of jets=1
thrust main= 6.9 kN
thrust alt= 1,550 lbf
thrust original=
afterburning thrust main= kN
afterburning thrust alt= lbf
engine (prop)=Isotta-Fraschini L. 121/R.C. 40 radial piston engine
type of prop=
number of props=1
power main= 500 kW
power alt= 750 hp
power original=
more general=
Piston engine drove a three-stage axial compressor for the thermojet with variable pitch vanes

max speed main= 375 km/h
max speed alt= knots, 233 mph
cruise speed main= km/h
cruise speed alt= knots, mph
stall speed main= km/h
stall speed alt= knots, mph
never exceed speed main= km/h
never exceed speed alt= knots, mph
range main= km
range alt= nm, mi
ceiling main= 4,000 m
ceiling alt= 13,300 ft
climb rate main= m/s
climb rate alt= ft/min
loading main= kg/m²
loading alt= lb/ft²
thrust/weight=
power/mass main= W/kg
power/mass alt= hp/lb
more performance=
armament=
avionics=

References

*Morse, Stan. "Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft", Orbis Publishing, 1982.

External links

* [http://tanks45.tripod.com/Jets45/Histories/CC-2/CC-2.htm] A page with photographs and a cutaway drawing of the N.1

ee also

aircontent
related=
similar aircraft=
*Coanda-1910 - Heinkel He 178 - Gloster E.28/39 - P-59 Airacomet
sequence=
lists=
*List of jet aircraft of World War II|