America's first "rocket-assisted" Take-off, an Ercoupe fitted with a GALCIT booster, in 1941

JATO is an acronym for Jet-Assisted Take Off. The term is used interchangeably with the (more specific term) RATO (for Rocket-Assisted Take Off). It is a system for helping overloaded planes into the air by providing additional thrust in the form of small rockets. See also assisted take off. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3059x2383, 3833 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: JATO ERCO Ercoupe ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3059x2383, 3833 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: JATO ERCO Ercoupe ... The Ercoupe is a low wing monoplane first manufactured by the ERCO aircraft company shortly before the second World War. ... The Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology (GALCIT), was a research institute created in 1926, at first specializing in aeronautics research. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Backronym and Apronym (Discuss) Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations, such as NATO, laser, and ABC, written as the initial letter or letters of words, and pronounced on the basis of this abbreviated written form. ... This article is about vehicles powered by rocket engines. ... Any system for helping aircraft into the air (as opposed to strictly under its own power), is known as assisted take off. ...

Early experiments

Early experiments with using rockets to boost gliders into the air were conducted in Germany in the 1920s (Lippisch-Ente), but practical JATO systems were first^{[citation needed]} introduced by the RAF early in World War II. These used fairly large solid fuel rockets to shoot planes (typically the Hawker Hurricane) off a small ramp fitted to the fronts of merchant ships, known in service as CAM ships, in order to provide some cover against German reconnaissance planes. After firing, the rocket was released from the back of the plane to fall into the water (and sink). The task done, the pilot would fly to friendly territory if possible or parachute from the plane, hopefully to be picked up by one of the escort vessels. Gliders or Sailplanes are heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight. ... “RAF” redirects here. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Hawker Hurricane was a British single-seat fighter aircraft designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. ... A CAM ship was a World War II-era British merchant ship used in convoys as a cheap emergency solution to the shortage of escort carriers. ...

The Luftwaffe also used the technique in order to help their small bombers into the air with loads that would have made the takeoff run too long otherwise. This became especially important late in the war when the lengths of usable runways were severely curtailed due to the results of Allied bombing. Their system typically used Walter HWK 500 Starthilfe ("start-help") rocket engines driven by breaking down hydrogen peroxide. A parachute pack at the front of the motor was used to slow its fall after being released from the plane, so the system could be re-used. Other German experiments with JATO were aimed at assisting the launch of interceptor aircraft such as the Messerschmitt Me 262 so that they could reach enemy bomber formations sooner. The Deutsche Luftwaffe or   (German: air force, literally Air Weapon, pronounced lufft-va-fa, IPA: ) is the commonly used term for the German air force. ... In general, allies are people or groups that have joined an alliance and are working together to achieve some common purpose. ... Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a very pale blue liquid which appears colourless in a dilute solution, slightly more viscous than water. ... This article is about the device. ... The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (German: Swallow) was the worlds first operational turbojet fighter aircraft. ...

A German Walter RATO

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Walter is a name which can refer to: Walter is albino. ...

Post WWII

After World War II JATO became particularly common owing to the low slow-speed thrust of then-current jet engines or for assisting heavy aircraft; the prop-engined Avro Shackelton used Armstrong Siddeley Viper turbojets for takeoff. As the quality and power of the engines has grown, JATO has fallen from favour. It is still used, however, when heavily-laden aircraft need to take off from short runways or when operating in "high and hot" conditions. Two similar zero-length launch experiment programs were carried out by both the US Air Force in the late 1950s with a modified Republic F-84, designated the EF-84G, and by the Soviet VVS in the USSR at around the same time, with a modified MiG-19 fighter, designated SM-30, launched from a special launcher, using a nearly identical solid fueled rocket booster design to that of the EF-84G, which used the MGM-1 Matador cruise missile's solid fuel booster. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... A Pratt and Whitney turbofan engine for the F-15 Eagle is tested at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, USA. The tunnel behind the engine muffles noise and allows exhaust to escape. ... The Avro Shackleton was a military aircraft. ... Rolls Royce Viper Turbojet from an Aermacchi MB-326 The Viper was a turbojet engine developed and produced by Armstrong Siddeley and then by its successor companies Bristol-Siddeley and Rolls-Royce Limited. ... The zero length launch system or zero length take-off system was a system whereby jet fighter-interceptors were placed upon rockets attached to launch platforms. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... The F-84 Thunderjet was an American built fighter-bomber aircraft made by the Republic Aviation Company. ... The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (NATO reporting name Farmer) is a third-generation Soviet, single-seater jet engined fighter aircraft. ... The Martin MGM-1 Matador was the first operational surface-to-surface cruise missile built by the United States, similar in concept to the German V-1. ...

BQM-74E Chukar target drone using JATO

The "Fat Albert" uses Jet Assisted Take Off (JATO) bottles to launch in under 1,500 feet

Operation Credible Sport was a United States military operation plan in late 1980 to rescue hostages held by Iran using C-130 cargo planes modified with rocket engines to enable a very short take off and landing. The plan was canceled after an accident during the test landing when JATO units designed to cushion the landing failed and caused the aircraft to crash-land. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (3000x2400, 768 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): JATO Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (3000x2400, 768 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): JATO Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... BMQ-74E Chukar launching Diagram of a BQM-74E Chukar The Northrop BQM-74 Chukar aerial target drone is a recoverable, remote controlled, subsonic aerial target, capable of speeds up to Mach 0. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 466 pixelsFull resolution (2220 × 1292 pixel, file size: 252 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 466 pixelsFull resolution (2220 × 1292 pixel, file size: 252 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids was an animated television series conceived of and produced by comedian Bill Cosby, who also lent his voice to the title character, Fat Albert. ... Operation Credible Sport, also known as Operation Honey Badger, was a United States military operation plan in late 1980 to rescue the hostages held on American soil in Iran using C-130 cargo planes modified with rocket engines. ... The Lockheed C-130 Hercules, a four-engine turboprop aircraft, is the main tactical air transport aircraft of the United States and UK military forces. ...

In all of these cases the term "jet" is correct but the system is more accurately called RATO. However JATO remains the most popular version, apparently due to its US origin.

JATO Urban Legend

The JATO Rocket Car is a famous urban legend that relates the story of a car equipped with JATO units for a lark, that is later found smashed into a mountainside. This story is often given as an example of a Darwin Award; however it appears to be apocryphal, with no basis in fact. A particularly elaborate form of this legend has been promulgated by hacker group Cult of the Dead Cow in the ostensibly autobiographical story "Rocket Car". This legend was tested in 2003 on the Discovery Channel show MythBusters. They replicated the scene and the thrust of the JATO with some commercially-available amateur rocket motors. The car did go very fast, but did not quite make 300 mph, and did not become airborne, although the filming helicopter with the r/c driver Jamie Hyneman in couldnt keep up with it. However, a nearly verbatim copy of the cDc version is detailed here, involving a car frame attached to an old mine railcar and a JATO rocket as described in the Cult of the Dead Cow version. The reader must determine whether the presence of two such accounts amounts to verification or copying. The famous account of the JATO Rocket Car was one of the original Darwin Awards winners: a man who supposedly met his death in a spectacular manner after mounting a rocket engine on a common automobile. ... An urban legend or urban myth is similar to a modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them. ... The Darwin Awards website logo A Darwin Award is a tongue-in-cheek honor named after evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin. ... CULT OF THE DEAD COW, also known as cDc, is a computer hacker and DIY media organization founded in 1984 in Lubbock, Texas. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Expended JATO bottles being used as ashtrays in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2816x2112, 292 KB) Used JATO bottles being used for cigarette disposal (ashtrays) outside of a shop in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. ... Kangerlussuaq is a settlement in west Greenland at the head of a fjord of the same name. ...

A JATO bottle. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1536x2048, 1409 KB) JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off) bottle located outside Kangerlussuaq International Science Support building. ...

C-130 also using JATO during takeoff. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (3000x1955, 2180 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): C-130 Hercules Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used...