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Wasn't sure if this was for real at first,but apparently so.Surely the strangest aircraft ever built,Luigi Stipa built one in 1933,featured in Modern Mechanix.
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/08/18

A guy in Australia built one on a smaller scale
www.seqair.com/Hangar/Zuccoli/Legends/Legends.html

Luigi Stipa
http://www.aerotec.com.au/Luigi_Stipa.html

Dujin released a 1/72 resin kit of this aircraft a year or so ago. Despite not being 100% accurate, as the fuselage did not feature the venturi effect, its still fun to build. Not sure if its still in production though.

The Stipa was an interesting design. The basic concept behind the design was to direct (all) air flow through a venturi tube, or half of one anyway. As airflow travels along the tube the pressure along the tube decreases (because of decreased area) creating a vacuum effect; the velocity of the air increases and thus thrust is produced. In a scientific journal printed not long ago the Caproni Stipa was classified as a jet-type aircraft. Also worth mentioning Stipa had patent a pulse jet propulsion unit that showed up in the V1 rocket and is also popular amongst today's RC modelers. This design is even more interesting.

Fascinating,and the Germans get all the glory for it.

evidently. the patents had been taken out in Germany, Italy and the US. By the time the V1 was built the Italians were no longer fighting and it is quite doubtful the Germans respected any copyrights at the time.

As I mentioned to Vince Biondi (another fellow Calgarian), I think I'll build the Tamiya 1/48 V1 rocket and do a write up based on this discussion and the links you provided. Thank you.

Webmaster wrote:...In a scientific journal printed not long ago the Caproni Stipa was classified as a jet-type aircraft. Also worth mentioning Stipa had patent a pulse jet propulsion unit that showed up in the V1 rocket and is also popular amongst today's RC modelers. This design is even more interesting.

the stipa caproni could be considered the "father" of what in italy we call the "intubated fan", that is used a lot in R/C modeling, and is basically a fan that rams air into a venturi section tube to generate thrust. This is the basic idea of the jet(or at least the first half of it), but I think that if we talk of jet-type propulsion we should mention the Campini Caproni, which was successfully built and flown in 1940

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campini_Caproni_CC.2

the campini caproni propulsion system consisted in a piston engine that drove a compressor, which rammed air inside the combustion chamber. This one of a kind solution was addressed as "thermojet". The project was indeed successfull, with 2 prototypes built and flying. Unfortunately the bureucracy and corruption of the time didnt allow a further developement of the project, which could have lead the italian aviation technology to other results, and maybe avoiding the sacrifice of brave airmen who fought against all odds with their old biplanes versus superior aeroplanes.

Alex

Nice post Alex. I agree with all the above. btw the engine type that rams air (using props) through a venturi tube is often referred to as a ducted fan engine - which I'm sure you've heard of. And I agree, the Caproni-Campini incorporated all the principles of a modern jet engine (three stages of mechanical compression, dynamic compression, a combustion chamber and an after burner). The CC.1 only lacked a turbine to drive the compressor, but otherwise all the elements of a modern-day jet engine were there. Although the CC.1 was the second jet aircraft to take to the air it was the first to make a non-stop flight from Milan to Rome. With more development (ie., replacing the piston engine with a turbine) Italy had a modern jet fighter ready for action.

btw Campini was aware of the use of turbines to drive the compressor, however like similar choices made in the US, the Italians chose to incorporate a reciprocating engine in their design.

Webmaster wrote:...btw the engine type that rams air (using props) through a venturi tube is often referred to as a ducted fan engine...

ducted fan, that's the name of it in english