Secondo Campini

Secondo Campini (August 28, 1904 – February 7, 1980) was an Italian engineer and one of the pioneers of the jet engine.

Campini was born at Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. In 1931 he wrote a proposal for the Italian Air Ministry on the value of jet propulsion, and in 1932 demonstrated a jet-powered boat in Venice. With support of the Air Ministry, he began work with Italian aircraft manufacturer Caproni to develop a jet aircraft, the Caproni Campini C.C.2, which first flew in 1940.

The "motorjet" that Campini developed to propel the C.C.2 is substantially different from the jet engines of today. Campini's engine used a conventional piston engine to compress air, which was then mixed with fuel and ignited. Modern jets are based on the turbojet principle, but Campini's engine was nevertheless a true jet, since it was the reactive force of the burning exhaust gases that pushed the aircraft along.