Caproni Campini N.1

The Caproni Campini N.1, also known as the C.C.2, was an experimental jet aircraft built in the 1930s by Caproni. It first flew in 1940 and was briefly regarded as the first successful jet-powered aircraft in history, until news emerged of the first flight of the German Heinkel He 178 a year earlier. In 1931 the engineer Secondo Campini submitted studies on jet propulsion, including a proposal for a thermo-jet to power an aircraft, and after a demonstration of a jet-powered boat in Venice he was given an initial government contract to develop his engine. In 1934 the Regia Aeronautica approved two prototypes and a static test bed, and the first flight took place at Taliedo near Milan on 27 August 1940, flown by Mario de Bernardi. Its motorjet gave 6.9 kilonewtons of thrust from a 670 kilowatt Isotta Fraschini piston engine driving an axial compressor with an afterburner, for a maximum speed of 375 kilometres per hour. Only one of the two built survives.