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JATO (
acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
for jet-assisted take-off) is a type of assisted take-off for helping overloaded aircraft into the air by providing additional thrust in the form of small
rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entir ...
s. The term ''JATO'' is used interchangeably with the (more specific) term RATO, for ''rocket-assisted take-off'' (or, in RAF parlance, RATOG, for ''rocket-assisted take-off gear'').


Early experiments and World War II

In 1927 the
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
research and development laboratory Gas Dynamics Laboratory developed solid-propellant rockets to assist aircraft take-off and in 1931 the world's first successful use of rockets to assist take-off of aircraft were carried out on a U-1, the Soviet designation for a Avro 504 trainer, which achieved about one hundred successful assisted takeoffs. Successful assisted takeoffs were also achieved on the Tupolev TB-1. and Tupolev TB-3 Heavy Bombers. The official test of the Tupolev TB-1 in 1933 shortened the takeoff by 77% when using the rockets. Early experiments using rockets to boost gliders into the air were conducted in Germany in the 1920s ( Lippisch Ente), and later both the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
and the
Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...
introduced such systems in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. The British system used fairly large solid fuel rockets to shoot planes (typically the
Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...
) off a small ramp fitted to the fronts of merchant ships, known in service as Catapult armed merchantmen (or CAM Ships), in order to provide some cover against
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
maritime patrol 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. Over two years the system was only employed nine times to attack German aircraft with eight kills recorded for the loss of a single pilot. The
Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...
also used the technique with both liquid-fueled units made by the Walter firm and BMW – and solid fuel, themselves made both by the Schmidding and WASAG firms – as both firmly attached and jettisonable rocket motors, to get airborne more quickly and with shorter takeoff runs. These were used to boost the takeoff performance of their medium bombers, and the enormous 55-meter wingspan ''Gigant'', Messerschmitt Me 321 glider, conceived in 1940 for the invasion of Britain, and used to supply the Russian front. The enormous Me 321s originally had air tow assistance from up to three Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters in a so-called ''Troika-Schlepp'' arrangement into the air with loads that would have made the takeoff run too long otherwise, but with much attendant risk of aerial collision from the trio of vee-formation Bf 110s involved in a simultaneous towplane function, meant to be greatly eased with the substitution of the trio of Bf 110s with a single example of the unusual, twin-fuselage Heinkel He 111Z purpose-designed five-engined towplane. The use of reaction-assisted takeoff methods 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 jettisonable, self-contained
Walter HWK 109-500 The Walter HWK 109-500 was a liquid-fuelled rocket engine developed by Walter in Germany during the Second World War. Description The 109-500 is a self-contained, modular monopropellant ''Starthilfe'' (take-off assist) engine in a pod, a ...
''Starthilfe'' ("takeoff-help"), also known as "Rauchgerät" - smoke generator, unitized liquid-fuel monopropellant rocket booster units whose engines driven by chemical decomposition of "
T-Stoff T-Stoff (; 'substance T') was a stabilised high test peroxide used in Germany during World War II. T-Stoff was specified to contain 80% (occasionally 85%) hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), remainder water, with traces (<0.1%) of stabilisers. Stabiliser ...
", essentially almost pure
hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscous than water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usually as a dilute solution (3 ...
, with a Z-Stoff catalytic compound. A parachute pack at the blunt-contour front of the motor's exterior housing was used to slow its fall after being released from the plane, so the system could be re-used. First experiments were held in 1937 on a Heinkel He 111, piloted by test-pilot Erich Warsitz at
Neuhardenberg Neuhardenberg is a municipality in the district Märkisch-Oderland, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the site of Neuhardenberg Palace, residence of the Prussian statesman Prince Karl August von Hardenberg (1750-1822). The municipal area comprises th ...
, a large field about 70 kilometres east of
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
, listed as a reserve airfield in the event of war. Other German experiments with JATO were aimed at assisting the launch of interceptor aircraft such as the
Messerschmitt Me 262 The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed ''Schwalbe'' (German: " Swallow") in fighter versions, or ''Sturmvogel'' (German: " Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the Ge ...
C, as the ''Heimatschützer'' special versions, usually fitted with either a version of the
Walter HWK 109-509 The Walter HWK 109-509 was a German liquid-fuel bipropellant rocket engine that powered the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet and Bachem Ba 349 aircraft. It was produced by Hellmuth Walter Kommanditgesellschaft (HWK) commencing in 1943, with licen ...
liquid fuelled rocket engine from the Me 163 ''Komet'' program either in the extreme rear of the fuselage or semi-"podded" beneath it just behind the wing's trailing edge, to assist its Junkers Jumo 004 turbojets, or a pair of specially rocket-boosted BMW 003R combination jet-rocket powerplants in place of the Jumo 004s, so that the Me 262C ''Heimatschützer'' interceptors could reach enemy bomber formations sooner. Two prototypes of the ''Heimatschützer'' versions of the Me 262 were built and test flown, of the three designs proposed. In contrast to the wide variety of aircraft types that the HWK-designed ''Starthilfe'' modular liquid monopropellant booster designs were tested with, seeing some degree of front-line use; the aforementioned solid-fueled RATO booster designs from both the Schmidding and WASAG firms remained almost strictly experimental in nature, with the Schmidding 500 kg thrust solid-fueled booster units intended to see service, a quartet mounted per airframe for use with the radical Bachem Ba 349 VTO rocket interceptor design in 1945, for its vertical launch needs. The strictly experimental, HWK 109-501 ''Starthilfe'' RATO system used a similar bi-propellant "hot" motor to that on the Me 163B ''Komet'' rocket fighter, adding a 20 kg mass of a combination of B-stoff hydrazine, mixed with "Br-stoff" ( ligroin hydrocarbon distillate) for a main "fuel" to the
T-Stoff T-Stoff (; 'substance T') was a stabilised high test peroxide used in Germany during World War II. T-Stoff was specified to contain 80% (occasionally 85%) hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), remainder water, with traces (<0.1%) of stabilisers. Stabiliser ...
monopropellant still destabilized with the Z-Stoff permanganate for ignition as the oxidizer, tripling the 109-500's thrust figure of 4.95 kN (at 14.71 kN/1,500 kgf) with a burn of 30 second duration. Due to the "hot" system's similar risks demanding similar special fueling and handling procedures to that of the Komet's 509A rocket motor, the 109-501 seems to have remained a strictly experimental design, only being used for the test flights of the Junkers Ju 287 V1 prototype jet bomber. In early 1939, the National Academy of Sciences in the United States provided $1,000 to Theodore von Kármán and the Rocket Research Group (including
Jack Parsons John Whiteside Parsons (born Marvel Whiteside Parsons; October 2, 1914 – June 17, 1952) was an American Aerospace engineering, rocket engineer, chemist, and Thelema, Thelemite occultist. Associated with the California Institute of Technology ...
, Frank Malina, Edward Forman and Apollo M. O. Smith) at the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology (GALCIT) to research rocket-assisted take-off of aircraft. This JATO research was the first rocket research to receive financial assistance from the U.S. government since World War I when Robert H. Goddard had an Army contract to develop solid fuel rocket weapons. In late 1941 von Kármán and his team attached several 50-pound thrust, solid fuel Aerojet JATOs to a light Ercoupe plane, and Army Captain Homer Boushey took off on test runs. On the last run they removed the propeller, attached six JATO units under the wings, and Boushey was thrust into the air for a short flight, the first American to fly by rocket power only. Both armed services used solid fuel JATO during the war.


Post WWII

After
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
JATO was often used to overcome the poor thrust of early jet engines at low speeds or for assisting heavily loaded aircraft to take off. For example, the propeller engined Avro Shackleton, when heavily laden with fuel for long maritime surveillance flights, relied on Armstrong Siddeley Viper turbojets for takeoff. The world's first jet airliner, the de Havilland DH 106 Comet, included a design provision to carry two
hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscous than water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usually as a dilute solution (3 ...
-powered de Havilland Sprite booster rockets intended to be installed for " hot and high" conditions from airports such as Khartoum and Nairobi.Cookman, Aubery O. Jr
"Commute by Jet."
''Popular Mechanics'', 93(4), April 1950, pp. 149–152.
Francis 1950, pp. 98–102. These were tested on thirty flights, but the de Havilland Ghost jet engines alone were considered powerful enough and some airlines concluded that rocket motors were impractical.Birtles 1970, p. 125. Nevertheless, Sprite fittings were retained on production Comet 1s but were rendered unnecessary with subsequent engine upgrades. In the late 1950s, zero-length launch experimental programs for launching fighter aircraft were carried out by the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...
, the German Bundeswehr's
Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...
and the Soviet VVS using high-thrust, short-burn duration booster designs of similar appearance and function. The USAF used a modified Republic F-84, designated EF-84G, which used the MGM-1 Matador cruise missile's Aerojet General-designed, 240 kN (26 short ton) thrust-level solid fuel booster of two second thrust duration. The Soviet VVS used a modified MiG-19 fighter, designated SM-30, launched from a special launcher, and using a nearly identical solid-fueled rocket booster design to that of the EF-84G, but of a much more powerful, 600 kN (64 short ton) thrust level. The F-100 and F-104 were also used for zero-length launch experiments, with similarly powerful drop-away booster units to the Soviets' SM-30 experiments. Also in the 1950s the JATO Junior was an attempt by Aerojet Engineering to introduce smaller JATO units to small commercial aircraft, but was blocked by the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics. Aerojet claimed that the smaller JATO bottle, delivering 250 pounds of thrust for 12 seconds could help a light private plane, that normally requires almost 900 feet of runway to clear a 50-foot-high obstacle, could do the same with 300 feet of runway with a JATO Jr unit. The
Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller air ...
had provision for Aerojet JATO assist for use in "hot and high" conditions, particularly at
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
and La Paz. A JATO option was available for the Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner to increase take-off weight while maintaining one-engine inoperative climb requirements. In late 1980 the United States military operation plan Operation Credible Sport was intended to rescue hostages held by Iran using
C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally desi ...
cargo planes modified with rocket engines to enable a very short take off and landing. The plan was canceled after an accident occurred during a test landing when the forward-facing JATO units designed to slow the aircraft fired before the downward-facing units (designed to cushion the landing) did, causing the aircraft to crash-land. JATO became largely unnecessary as the take-off thrust of jet engines improved and is now rarely used even when operating heavily laden from short runways or in "hot and high" conditions. It is occasionally used in exceptional circumstances, on specially equipped, mostly military, aircraft.


Urban legend

The
JATO Rocket Car The 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 JATO unit (a rocket engine used to help heavy aircraft to take off) onto an ordinary auto ...
is an urban legend that relates the story of a car equipped with JATO units that is later found smashed into a mountainside. This story is often given as an example of a
Darwin Award The Darwin Awards are a tongue-in-cheek honor that originated in Usenet newsgroup discussions around 1985. They recognize individuals who have supposedly contributed to human evolution by selecting themselves out of the gene pool by dying or b ...
; it appears to be apocryphal, with no basis in fact. The legend has been examined several times on the Discovery Channel show '' MythBusters''. For the first attempt, in a 2003 pilot episode, the crew replicated the scene and the thrust of the JATO with some commercially available amateur rocket motors. The car did go very fast, outrunning the chase helicopter, but nowhere near the 300 mph (500 km/h) reported in the original story, and failed to become airborne. The myth was revisited in 2007, using a different configuration of rockets in an attempt to make the car fly; it exploded before reaching the end of its launch ramp. The myth was again revisited in 2013 in the 1st episode of ''Mythbusters'' Season 12, as a celebration of their 10th year on the air. A JATO-equipped 1958 Dodge Coronet car on the
El Mirage dry lake El Mirage Lake is a dry lake bed in the northwestern Victor Valley of the central Mojave Desert, within San Bernardino County, California. The lake is located about west-northwest of the town of Adelanto and north of Highway 18 in San Bernar ...
was used for a TV advertisement to demonstrate the power of their "total contact" brakes. This was broadcast during '' The Lawrence Welk Show'' in the late 1950s. , segment begins at 30:00


Gallery

File:C-130T Hercules Blue Angels.jpg, The US Navy's Blue Angels C-130 Hercules "Fat Albert" using JATO during takeoff File:US Navy 040206-N-9222M-001 One of five BQM-74 test drones launches from the amphibious assault ship USS Essex's (LHD 2) flight deck during a missile firing exercise.jpg, BQM-74E Chukar target drone using JATO File:Jato3.jpg, Swiss Air Force's Dassault Mirage IIIs in Payerne File:Rocket Engine BS605-001.JPG, BS.605 as used by the Buccaneer S.50 File:JATO Bottle.jpg, A RATO bottle File:Lockheed P2V-3C Neptune takes off from USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB-42) on 2 July 1951 (80-G-629296).jpg, A Lockheed P-2 Neptune launches from the aircraft carrier , 2 July 1951. File:Boeing B-47B rocket-assisted take off on April 15, 1954 061024-F-1234S-011.jpg, A rocket-assisted Boeing B-47B takeoff. File:An airplane taking off with the aid of 330 horsepower jet-assisted unit in about half the normal run. - NARA - 295602.tif, A Grumman TBF torpedo bomber taking off with the aid of jet-assisted unit in about half the normal run. File:F-104 with rocket booster.JPG, F-104G with an experimental ZELL rocket booster at Gatow.


See also

* Zero-length launch * CAM ship


References

Notes


External links


Video (Archive) of the Heinkel He 111 fitted with Walter's rocket boosters

"Birth of JATO."
''Popular Science'', July 1946, pp. 74–75.
Boeing 727 using JATO
on YouTube
C-130 Lockheed Hercules
JATO on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Jato Types of take-off and landing Articles containing video clips