While the
Caproni-Campini N.1 is notable as one of the earliest jets and the first Italian jet
Far less well known is the
second Italian jet:
Taking to the air just a mere 29 months after its more famous predecessor, this sharp, cutting-edge aircraft would be utterly over-looked by aviation historians.
Built by the Cramponi-Crampini concern notorious for tight cockpits, it was officially known in
Regia Aeronautica parlance as the J-2.
However, its prominent intake shock cone gave it the nickname Pinocchio. This may have also been because the aircraft's promise of flight was far from the truth.
Jet power was in its infancy and early adopters struggled to make the new technology work. And the Cramponi-Crampini Co. struggled more than most. The Pinocchio's power-plant was problematic at best. Even when it finally became airborne on its third attempt, the J-2 just barely got off the tarmac. The entire "flight" lasted all of a minute and 49 seconds until the main compressor blew out and forced the pilot to glide to a dead-stick landing.
The Cramponi-Crampini J-2 proudly wears a bold 'S' on the tail for 'Sperimental (Italian:
Sperimentale). First Aid kit access is also well marked, a feature much appreciated by pilots and ground crew alike as being able to quickly find the aspirin was the only cure for the aircraft's mechanical headaches.
Still, this would not prevent the Pinocchio from being called to defend the Italian capitol and
Il Duce himself.
You see, the
Duce was a bit of a party animal and kept very late hours. While this fact has been mostly white-washed from history, evidence of Mussolini's love of martinis has been recently discovered.
Early in the morning of March 15th 1943, the drunken
Duce was sleeping off another epic bender. At the crack of dawn he was jolted out of his alcoholic coma by a piercing sound he first mistook for an air raid siren. Local air defenses were alerted even if the actual "threat" didn't really warrant such an alarm.
Unfortunately, all
Regia Aeronautica forces protecting Rome had been sent off on a wild-goose chase after phantom allied bombers and the Cramponi-Crampini J-2 was the only air asset available. It was scrambled (in more ways than one) and attempted to take off to interdict the intruder. True to form, the Pinocchio's temperamental engine performed as per usual and it consumed its vitals upon reaching altitude.
Il Duce's slumber would be interrupted more rudely as the tide of war turned against the Axis. The Cramponi-Crampini Pinocchio was captured by Allied forces after the fall of Rome and re-painted in co-belligerent colors. It's shown here on the ground where it spent most of its service life.
Sadly, the second Italian jet would not survive to see the end of hostilities. After numerous false-starts, the aircraft was destroyed by frustrated ground crew who hammered it into oblivion as yet one more attempt to get it to work went for naught. Nothing exists of the Pinocchio today except this Wayoshima limited-run kit of which only one is ever known to have been built.
Brian da Basher