JATO is cool!

Damn Right It Is . . .

fat albert.

That is a cool picture.

wow that IS a cool pic.. love the flames!!

it's even cooler when it shoots up just about vertical from a takeoff. it's really impressive. when i worked on c-130s at dyess, the blue angels and fat albert came for an air show. the day before the show, fat albert did its famous near-vertical climb with the JATO bottles burning while a bunch of us c-130 grunts watched in awe. it was pretty cool to see one of these big clumsy-looking plans do something really cool for once. it actually set some grass on fire near the flightline. good stuff.

Many years ago, we lived in California a few miles from the El Toro Marine Corp Air Station. Every year they had an air show that included the Blue Angles. It was all very impressive, but the time Fat Albert did the JATO take off was the most impressive. They roll a few hundred feet, light up the rockets jump right up into the air and fly away.

Seeing a U-2 and the twin propeller Bronco was also impressive.