"CC2" redirects here. For the Royal Canadian Navy submarine, see HMCS CC2. For the MRT station in Singapore with the code CC2, see Bras Basah MRT station.
Caproni Campini N.1
A Caproni Campini N.1 in flight. Note the canopies left open to cool down the cockpit.
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.[1]
During 1931, Italian aeronautics engineerSecondo 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 a pair of 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.[2]
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. Specifically, it was slower than many existing conventional aircraft of the era,[3] 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 As such, the N.1 programme never led to any operational combat aircraft, and the motorjet design was soon superseded by more powerful turbojets.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.[5]
Background
During 1931, Italian aeronautics engineerSecondo 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, Italy. The boat achieved a top speed of 28 knots (32mph; 52km/h), 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 but did veto the sale of the design outside of Italy.[6]
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.[7] 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.[8] Under this relationship, Campini developed his design, which later received the official Italian Air Force designation of N.1.[9]
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.[10] He speculated that this was due to desire of the Italian government to be perceived as possessing a modern and advanced aviation industry, being keen to acquire national prestige and renown for such achievements. Edwards went onto claim that the practicality of the N.1 design was undermined by political pressure to speed the programme along so that Italy would be more likely to be the first country in the world to perform a jet-powered flight.[10]
Design
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 however this facility was never installed. The aircraft was fitted with dual controls allowing it to be flow from either of the two seats.[11] 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.[12]
The engine of the N.1 differs substantially from the later-produced turbojet and turbofan engines. One crucial difference in Campini's design is that the compressor – a three-stage, variable-incidence one, located forward of the cockpit – was driven by a conventional piston engine, this being a 900hp (670kW), liquid-cooled Isotta Fraschini unit.[13] 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.[9][14]
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.[12] Campini referred to this configuration as being a thermojet, although it has since become commonly known as motorjet.[15] However, despite the elaborate design, 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.[16] Ground tests performed with the static testbed produced a thrust of around 700kgf (1,500lbf).[8]
Operational history
The C.C.2 during a ground test, with the tail section removed. Note the lit burner within the airflow from the compressor.
The N.1s first flight was made on 27 August 1940 by test pilot Mario De Bernardi at Caproni's facility in Taliedo, outside Milan. He would conduct the majority of the N.1's test flights.[17] The first flight lasted ten minutes, during which de Bernardi kept the speed below 225mph (362km/h), 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.[8]
Flight tests with the first prototype revealed several issues with the engine. It did not produce sufficient thrust to achieve the anticipated performance if it was matched to a strengthened airframe to withstand the high loading pressures.[9] The engine generated considerable heat, which forced the pilot to fly with the canopy open throughout the flight, which although effectively venting the heat, increased drag.[12] According to aviation author Sterling Michael Pavelec the N.1 was "heavy and underpowered" and the conventionally-powered Caproni Vizzola F.4 was faster which he attributed to limited national resources which left development programs underfunded.
On 30 November 1941 the second prototype (Caproni construction No 4850) was flown by de Bernardi, with Giovanni Pedace as a passenger, from Milan's Linate Airport to Rome's Guidonia Airport. During the flight adverse weather caused a diversion and resulting in an unplanned flight over Pisa. On 5 December 1941, de Bernardi made a flight over central Rome following a request from Benito Mussolini. On 6 December 1941, Mussolini inspected the aircraft and watched de Bernardi demonstrate its capabilities.[18]
Testing of the first Caproni Campini N.1 prototype (Caproni construction No 4849) by the Italian military took place from December 1941 to August of 1942 with the aircraft receiving its military serial number (MM.487) on 30 December 1941. During the test program the aircraft was regularly shown off to foreign delegations. The last known flight by a Caproni Campini N.1 took place on the 27 August 1942. In June 1944, MM.487 was found by Allied forces in its hangar at Guidonia airport. The aircraft was badly damaged either from allied bombing raids or by the retreating Germans.[19] The damaged prototype was transported to the United Kingdom for study at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) in Farnborough. The aircraft was later scrapped at RAF Newton in 1949.[19][8] The other example MM.448 (Caproni construction No 4850) survived the war in excellent condition.[19]
Further Developments
A variant of the Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka, built in japan towards the end of WW2, was powered by a Ishikawajima Tsu-11 motorjet based on Campini's design.[20] The Soviets were influenced by reports of the Campini Caproni N1[21] and developed 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 small 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.[22]
A jet aircraft is an aircraft propelled by one or more jet engines.
The Coandă-1910, designed by Romanian inventor Henri Coandă, was an unconventional sesquiplane aircraft powered by a ducted fan. Called the "turbo-propulseur" by Coandă, its experimental engine consisted of a conventional piston engine driving a multi-bladed centrifugal blower which exhausted into a duct. The unusual aircraft attracted attention at the Second International Aeronautical Exhibition in Paris in October 1910, being the only exhibit without a propeller, but the aircraft was not displayed afterwards, and it fell from public awareness. Coandă used a similar turbo-propulseur to drive a snow sledge, but he did not develop it further for aircraft.
Secondo Campini was an Italian engineer and one of the pioneers of the jet engine.
A motorjet is a rudimentary type of jet engine which is sometimes referred to as thermojet, a term now commonly used to describe a particular and completely unrelated pulsejet design.
The Mikoyan-Gurevich I-250, aka MiG-13, was a Soviet fighter aircraft developed as part of a crash program in 1944 to develop a high-performance fighter to counter German turbojet-powered aircraft such as the Messerschmitt Me 262. The Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau decided to focus on a design that used something more mature than the jet engine, which was still at an experimental stage in the Soviet Union, and chose a mixed-power solution with the VRDK motorjet powered by the Klimov VK-107 V12 engine. While quite successful when it worked, with a maximum speed of 820 km/h (510 mph) being reached during trials, production problems with the VRDK fatally delayed the program and it was canceled in 1948 as obsolete.
The Heinkel He 178 was an experimental aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel. It was the world's first aircraft to fly using the thrust from a turbojet engine.
An afterburner is an additional combustion component used on some jet engines, mostly those on military supersonic aircraft. Its purpose is to increase thrust, usually for supersonic flight, takeoff, and combat. The afterburning process injects additional fuel into a combustor in the jet pipe behind the turbine, "reheating" the exhaust gas. Afterburning significantly increases thrust as an alternative to using a bigger engine with its attendant weight penalty, but at the cost of increased fuel consumption which limits its use to short periods. This aircraft application of "reheat" contrasts with the meaning and implementation of "reheat" applicable to gas turbines driving electrical generators and which reduces fuel consumption.
Caproni, also known as Società de Agostini e Caproni and Società Caproni e Comitti, was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Its main base of operations was at Taliedo, near Linate Airport, on the outskirts of Milan.
A pump-jet, hydrojet, or water jet is a marine system that produces a jet of water for propulsion. The mechanical arrangement may be a ducted propeller, a centrifugal pump, or a mixed flow pump which is a combination of both centrifugal and axial designs. The design also incorporates an intake to provide water to the pump and a nozzle to direct the flow of water out of the pump.
This article outlines the important developments in the history of the development of the air-breathing (duct) jet engine. Although the most common type, the gas turbine powered jet engine, was certainly a 20th-century invention, many of the needed advances in theory and technology leading to this invention were made well before this time.
The Williams EJ22 was a small turbofan engine that was being developed by Williams International for very light jet (VLJ) aircraft applications.
The Sukhoi Su-5 or I-107 was a Soviet mixed-power prototype fighter aircraft built toward the end of World War II.
Mario de Bernardi (1893–1959) was an Italian World War I fighter pilot, seaplane air racer of the 1920s, and test pilot of early Italian experimental jets.
The Stipa-Caproni, also known as the Caproni Stipa, was an experimental Italian aircraft designed in 1932 by Luigi Stipa (1900–1992) and built by Caproni. It featured a hollow, barrel-shaped fuselage with the engine and propeller completely enclosed by the fuselage—in essence, the whole fuselage was a single ducted fan. Although the Regia Aeronautica was not interested in pursuing development of the Stipa-Caproni, its design influenced the development of jet propulsion.
Power Jets was a British company set up by Frank Whittle for the purpose of designing and manufacturing jet engines. The company was nationalised in 1944, and evolved into the National Gas Turbine Establishment.
The Reggiane Re.2007 was a purported Italian fighter aircraft concept designed in 1943 by Roberto Longhi.
The Caproni-Campini Ca.183bis was an Italian projected high-altitude fighter intended to have both piston and jet propulsion.
Luigi Stipa was an Italian aeronautical, hydraulic, and civil engineer and aircraft designer who invented the "intubed propeller" for aircraft, a concept that some aviation historians view as the predecessor of the turbofan engine.
The Kholshchevnikov VRDK(Russian: "Jet-Propelled Auxiliary Compressor”) was a motorjet developed in the Soviet Union during World War II. The VRDK was designed to give fighter aircraft a 10 minute performance boost during combat.
References
Citations
↑ Enzo Angelucci; Paolo Matricardi. Campini Caproni C.C.2 in Guida agli Aeroplani di tutto il Mondo. Mondadori Editore. Milano, 1979. Vol. 5, pp. 218–219.
1 2 3 4 "Storia del Campini Caproni" (in Italian). National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci. Archived from the original on 15 July 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
1 2 3 "Campini Caproni 2". Museo Storico di Vigna di Valle (in Italian). Aeronautic Militare Italiana. Archived from the original on 15 July 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
↑ Morse, Stan, ed. (1982). Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft. Orbis Publishing. OCLC16544050.
Bibliography
Alegi, Gregory (2014). "Caproni and the C.C.2: Secondo's Slow Burner". The Aviation Historian (6): 76–89. ISSN2051-1930.
Butler, Gregory (2019). Jet Prototypes of World War II: Gloster, Heinkel, and Caproni Campini's Wartime jet Programmes. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN978-1-4728-3597-0.
Golly, John. Jet: Frank Whittle and the Invention of the Jet Engine. Datum Publishing, 1996. ISBN1-90747-201-0.
Lawrence, Joseph (1945). The Observer's Book Of Airplanes. London and New York: Frederick Warne & Co.
Mark, Harrison. The Economics Of Coercion And Conflict. World Scientific, 2014. ISBN9-81458-335-9.
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. ISBN0-275-99355-8.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
