B-47 RATO!!

[Clifford Bossie]

Looks like a bunch of B-36's on the ramp in the background. Any idea as to where it was taken?

Biggs?

Not Biggs, the mountains in the background are not the Franklins.

Perhaps Davis-Monthan?

[Tailspin]

By the time I flew the B-47 (late 50s-early 60s) I think the units were generally called ATO. Each crew had to make at least one ATO take-off per year. The early 47s had internal racks with just 18 bottles; the later E models had the "Horsecollar" rack with 33 botles or a V rack with 30 bottles. Either of the latter would give you quite a boost! Each bottle produced 1,000lbs of thrust. We also used water/alcohol injection routinely during take-off. For EWO (war) configuration, we weighed 225,000 lbs so used both water and ATO. If I remember correctly, the water lasted about 2 min and increased T.O. thrust about 8%. ATO lasted 15 sec., 7 sec on the runway and 8 sec. in the air.
Hugh

[jet1]

...I hate it when someone calls RATO (Rocket Assisted Take Off.. JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off) which as we all know is totally a different animal.
as a side note I was at Davis Monthan AFB delivering a plane to the bone yard. I saw a B-47 sitting all by itself away from the others so I asked if I could look around in it. I got in the cockpit and there was this beautiful steering yoke with a beautiful blue B-47 "horn button" I thought to myself that it would make quite a souvenir but decided that was bad form. The next day I'm out there and there was the B-47 ON FIRE BURNING TO THE GROUND. they used it for fire practice @#$%$($*$*#$(##(

[tom d. friedman]

...I hate it when someone calls RATO (Rocket Assisted Take Off.. JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off) which as we all know is totally a different animal.
as a side note I was at Davis Monthan AFB delivering a plane to the bone yard. I saw a B-47 sitting all by itself away from the others so I asked if I could look around in it. I got in the cockpit and there was this beautiful steering yoke with a beautiful blue B-47 "horn button" I thought to myself that it would make quite a souvenir but decided that was bad form. The next day I'm out there and there was the B-47 ON FIRE BURNING TO THE GROUND. they used it for fire practice @#$%$($*$*#$(##(

that is a bad dream that i would never get over!! the old saying.... ya snooze..... ya lose!!