Fat Albert Flies Again!

[iMONITOR]

Thanks to Larry Van Horn at Milcom Monitoring Post:

Milcom Monitoring Post: Blue Angels Heading to El Centro

I think it was only about a year ago, the Blue Angels said they were going to ground Fat Albert due to availability/cost of the rocket engines. They were becoming obsolete and unsafe, and too expensive to have inspected and refilled. I wonder what changed? Maybe they found some RR member with a stash out in his shed!

 

[wise871]

The Blues said they were going to stop doing the Jet Assisted Take-Off (JATO) portion of the show but they never said they were going to stop flying the C-130 "Fat Albert". The rockets are expensive and few but the rest of the show have plenty to offer. I attended the last JATO demo at the Pensacola Air Show a few weeks ago. They said they have something different for the fans this year.

 

[n0nhp]

Lack of JATO would be bad for the New York ANG 109th.. Getting an LC130 off of and un-improved "skiway" in Antarctica and Greenland can be a problem without the extra boost.
New York Air National Guard
All my LC130 experience was on groomed skiways but there was one Loooong takeoff I was wondering if a boost was going to be needed.

Bruce

 

[DaveNF2G]

If they really need the boost for actual missions, then DoD will either find a replacement booster, or designate a more capable aircraft for the missions in question.

 

[boomboy64]

We actually stopped using them up here in Canada in the early 70s. As strong as the Herc structure is, it was just beating the CR@$ out of it. Keeping the a/c flying longer overrode the need for JATO.

Cheers,

 

[kf4uuz]

thanks to larry van horn at milcom monitoring post:

milcom monitoring post: Blue angels heading to el centro

i think it was only about a year ago, the blue angels said they were going to ground fat albert due to availability/cost of the rocket engines. They were becoming obsolete and unsafe, and too expensive to have inspected and refilled. I wonder what changed? Maybe they found some rr member with a stash out in his shed! :d[/quot

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