Campini Caproni CC.2

Caproni Campini N.1
A Caproni Campini N.1 in flight
Role
Manufacturer	Caproni
First flight	27 August 1940
Status	Prototype
Number built	2
Variants	Caproni Campini Ca.183bis

The Caproni Campini N.1, also known as the C.C.2, was an experimental aircraft built by the Italian aircraft manufacturer Caproni. The N.1 was powered by a motorjet, a type of jet engine that powers the compressor using a conventional aircraft engine. The N.1 first flew in 1940, and as news of the Heinkel He 178's flight in 1939 had not yet been made public, the FAI listed the N.1 as the first successful jet-powered aircraft. The N.1 was the only model in the series.

In 1931, Italian engineer Secondo Campini submitted a report on the potential of jet propulsion to the Regia Aeronautica, and demonstrated a jet-powered boat in Venice the following year. In 1934, the Regia Aeronautica 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 900 hp (670 kW) Isotta Fraschini L.121 RC.40 12-cylinder liquid-cooled piston engine was used to drive a three-stage variable-incidence compressor, which forced 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. It has also been described as a ducted fan.

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