Curious question to the group.

[Shiver]

So.... I'm curious as to how the JATO rockets were developed and where
they were first used.

Looking at those famous pix of a HERC using them for takeoff assistance
made me kinda curious.

Now it is a bit of a trick question.... so have at it.

[Boomerang]

Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JATO

[Shiver]

> Boomerang > wrote:

> Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JATO

Well if your all going to do it the easy way lets add a few things.

In the big WWII who is credited ( I presume ) with inventing the
American version of JATO and name the ( interesting ) plane
that it was used on.

And no.... It was not the Ercoupe that Wikipedia mentions.

[Jack G[_2_]]

I know it was used on PBY's - not sure when the first one was used.

Jack G.

"shiver" > wrote in message
...
> So.... I'm curious as to how the JATO rockets were developed and where
> they were first used.
>
> Looking at those famous pix of a HERC using them for takeoff assistance
> made me kinda curious.
>
> Now it is a bit of a trick question.... so have at it.

[Shiver]

> Jack G > wrote:

> I know it was used on PBY's - not sure when the first one was used.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh...... One of the pieces of the puzzle rockets into place.

[Richard Brooks]

shiver said the following on 25/05/07 02:20:
> So.... I'm curious as to how the JATO rockets were developed and where
> they were first used.
>
> Looking at those famous pix of a HERC using them for takeoff assistance
> made me kinda curious.
>
> Now it is a bit of a trick question.... so have at it.

I've seen pictures of a Seafire on a carrier with rockets on.


Richard.

--
"Initiative is punishable."
Russian business saying.

[Jack G[_2_]]

I found this: http://www.vernonstories.com/02jvb.htm that references
Reaction Motors successfully testing RATO on a Martin PBM in January 1944.

Jack G.


"shiver" > wrote in message
...
> So.... I'm curious as to how the JATO rockets were developed and where
> they were first used.
>
> Looking at those famous pix of a HERC using them for takeoff assistance
> made me kinda curious.
>
> Now it is a bit of a trick question.... so have at it.

[Gene S. Park]

You may find that it was the Germans who developed rocket assisted take off
especially when it meant getting a fully loaded Me 321s and 323s in the air.
The 6 Gnome-Rhone engines were barely capable of getting the Me 323 aloft.
The earlier glider version was given rocket assist to help the tow plane get
it into the air.
All of this was taking place about 1941 and onward during the war. It may be
assumed that this was another piece of German technology picked by US Army
in 1945.
Gene


"shiver" > wrote in message
...
> So.... I'm curious as to how the JATO rockets were developed and where
> they were first used.
>
> Looking at those famous pix of a HERC using them for takeoff assistance
> made me kinda curious.
>
> Now it is a bit of a trick question.... so have at it.

[John B]

"shiver" > wrote in message
...
> So.... I'm curious as to how the JATO rockets were developed and where
> they were first used.
>
> Looking at those famous pix of a HERC using them for takeoff assistance
> made me kinda curious.
>
> Now it is a bit of a trick question.... so have at it.

The "Hurricat" - Hurricane launched by rocket assistance from Merchant ships
as an escort stop gap measure on Atlantic convoys must surely be one of the
earliest uses.

JohnB

[William R Thompson]

"Gene S. Park" wrote:

> You may find that it was the Germans who developed rocket assisted take
> off
> especially when it meant getting a fully loaded Me 321s and 323s in the
> air.
> The 6 Gnome-Rhone engines were barely capable of getting the Me 323
> aloft.
> The earlier glider version was given rocket assist to help the tow plane
> get
> it into the air.
> All of this was taking place about 1941 and onward during the war. It may
> be
> assumed that this was another piece of German technology picked by US Army
> in 1945.

Probably, but I don't think we did anything more than experiment with it.

The Germans developed the first rocket-powered airplanes in 1929.
They were commercially-available gliders with black-powder rockets
for propulsion. See

http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/O/Opel-RAK.html

for details.

--Bill Thompson

[fannum]

On Fri, 25 May 2007 10:24:47 GMT, "William R Thompson"
> wrote:

>"Gene S. Park" wrote:
>
>> You may find that it was the Germans who developed rocket assisted take
>> off especially when it meant getting a fully loaded Me 321s and 323s in the
>> air.
>>
>The Germans developed the first rocket-powered airplanes in 1929.
>They were commercially-available gliders with black-powder rockets
>for propulsion. See
>
>http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/O/Opel-RAK.html
>
>for details.
>
>--Bill Thompson

About the same time, there were also some German rocket powered boat
experiments.

But hundreds of years before, the Chinese built kite like birds
powered by rockets. One Lord, often named as Wan Hu is recorded as
trying to launch himself with rockets with fatal results.

Cheers, Bob
>

[Shiver]

Well folks..... It's been an interesting series of comments.

The other day I was watching a program on the history channel.

It started off talking about Germanys rocket program and how at the end
of the war a very secret and well protected facility was discovered
where the Germans were working on the V-10. The big rocket that was
supposedly going to make it to New York.

In the process this program also talked about how a female photo
interpretor had discovered the rocket testing facility at
Peenemundie (SP) and how Churchill had ordered one of the largest
bombing raids ever to destroy this facility.

This destruction took over a year to rebuild and by then D-day had
occured and the allies where in Europe.

And the rest as they say is histoy.

Then the program started to discuss Dr. Goddard... the father of
American rocketry and how he toiled for years with no government help
on a budget of under two hundred thousands dollars that came from
friends and interested people who helped finance him.

He had approached the government numerous times but they saw no useful
military applications so they kept turning him away.

It was only when the Americans got involved in the war that they turned
to him for help and one of his contributions was the JATO rocket which
was used on the PBY to help get it airborne while fully loaded.

As a total irony it was discovered after the war the Germany had
received copies of all of Goddard's patents including technical
drawings etc, directly from the US patent office for the princely
sum of ten cents per patent and as a result they new exactly what the
Americans were up to as far as rocket experimentation was concerned
during the thirties right up to and possibly into WWII.

I thought some in the group might be interested in this piece of history
so there you go.

[Gene S. Park]

You may want to investigate further as it is very likely that they used
steam powered catapults, possible to reduce the chances of starting a fire
on board the passenger ships.

Gene


"John B" > wrote in message
...
>
> "shiver" > wrote in message
> ...
>> So.... I'm curious as to how the JATO rockets were developed and where
>> they were first used.
>>
>> Looking at those famous pix of a HERC using them for takeoff assistance
>> made me kinda curious.
>>
>> Now it is a bit of a trick question.... so have at it.
>
> The "Hurricat" - Hurricane launched by rocket assistance from Merchant
> ships as an escort stop gap measure on Atlantic convoys must surely be
> one of the earliest uses.
>
> JohnB
>

[John B]

"Gene S. Park" > wrote in message
. ..
> You may want to investigate further as it is very likely that they used
> steam powered catapults, possible to reduce the chances of starting a fire
> on board the passenger ships.
>
> Gene
>
>
> "John B" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "shiver" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> So.... I'm curious as to how the JATO rockets were developed and where
>>> they were first used.
>>>
>>> Looking at those famous pix of a HERC using them for takeoff assistance
>>> made me kinda curious.
>>>
>>> Now it is a bit of a trick question.... so have at it.
>>
>> The "Hurricat" - Hurricane launched by rocket assistance from Merchant
>> ships as an escort stop gap measure on Atlantic convoys must surely be
>> one of the earliest uses.
>>
>> JohnB
>>
>
Hurricats were only used on merchantmen - normally tankers - not passenger
ships. They were rocket assisted - see photo at;

http://www.geocities.com/usarmyaviationdigest/jsfspecops.htm

JohnB

[adelsonsl]

"shiver" > wrote in message
...
> So.... I'm curious as to how the JATO rockets were developed and where
> they were first used.
>
> Looking at those famous pix of a HERC using them for takeoff assistance
> made me kinda curious.
>
> Now it is a bit of a trick question.... so have at it.

[adelsonsl]

"shiver" > wrote in message
...
> So.... I'm curious as to how the JATO rockets were developed and where
> they were first used.
>
> Looking at those famous pix of a HERC using them for takeoff assistance
> made me kinda curious.
>
> Now it is a bit of a trick question.... so have at it.

[Richard Brooks]

adelsonsl said the following on 29/05/07 16:21:
>
> "shiver" > wrote in message
> ...
>> So.... I'm curious as to how the JATO rockets were developed and where
>> they were first used.
>>
>> Looking at those famous pix of a B-47 using them for takeoff assistance
>> made me kinda curious.
>>
>> Now it is a bit of a trick question.... so have at it.

That picture interests me as we saw them all day and every day at Brize
Norton, when we were kids. Some were carried externally but some had
them carried internally. Why apart from developmental reasons ?




--
"Initiative is punishable."
Russian business saying.

[Alan[_1_]]

The Germans experimented with them.
It is my understanding that JATO (or RATO) first used on an Ercoupe.
A picture of it in action was posted on this NG some months ago.
Alan
"Richard Brooks" > wrote in message
...
> adelsonsl said the following on 29/05/07 16:21:
> >
> > "shiver" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >> So.... I'm curious as to how the JATO rockets were developed and where
> >> they were first used.
> >>
> >> Looking at those famous pix of a B-47 using them for takeoff assistance
> >> made me kinda curious.
> >>
> >> Now it is a bit of a trick question.... so have at it.
>
> That picture interests me as we saw them all day and every day at Brize
> Norton, when we were kids. Some were carried externally but some had
> them carried internally. Why apart from developmental reasons ?
>
>
>
>
> --
> "Initiative is punishable."
> Russian business saying.

[Richard Brooks]

Alan said the following on 30/05/07 01:46:
> "Richard Brooks" > wrote
> in message ...
>> That picture interests me as we saw them all day and every day at
>> Brize Norton, when we were kids. Some were carried externally
>> but some had them carried internally. Why apart from developmental
>> reasons ?
> The Germans experimented with them.
> It is my understanding that JATO (or RATO) first used on an Ercoupe.
> A picture of it in action was posted on this NG some months ago.
> Alan

Sorry, I meant specifically on the B-47.


Richard.
--
"Initiative is punishable."
Russian business saying.