Found this picture on a friends Flickr of a Spitfire with what looks like JATO in operation, am I seeing things or is that whats really happening?
dfb5a007e4badb3c_large by D. Sheley, on Flickr
By: Last Lightning - 13th March 2011 at 22:48
I dont want to bring that thread back up by adding this photo its from sooooo long ago :):) heres another photo of the same Seafire that my pal added to his Flickr quite a while ago
Spitfire with JATO units? by D. Sheley, on Flickr
By: Flanker_man - 13th March 2011 at 09:33
Forum thread from 2005…….
http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=41196
Ken
By: Last Lightning - 13th March 2011 at 08:34
cool thanks for the info:) as for thread creep well my question was answered in the first two posts and Prince Cantacuzene is someone I have never heard about before so i’m learning something new:):)
By: WV-903. - 13th March 2011 at 00:11
Thanx Atcham !!
WOW !! Thanx Atcham, shows what I never knew this past 55 years.
We were witnesses to something and some one very remarkable.
Again apologies for thread creep Last lightning, maybe we ought to open a thread on this man, I’d like to know his WW2 History, 600 combat missions–phew !!!
Bill T.
By: Atcham Tower - 12th March 2011 at 22:50
Sorry, temporary thread drift. You’ll find much of his story here. There is also a brief clip on YouTube of him performing in Spain.
By: Atcham Tower - 12th March 2011 at 22:44
That must have been Prince Cantacuzene in his Jungmeister. The top scoring Romanian fighter pilot in WW2 amongst other achievements. He performed at quite a few British airshows in the 1950s. I saw him at Woodvale in 1957 and have never forgotten it! I was only a kid but it was obvious that here was a master aviator.
By: WV-903. - 12th March 2011 at 22:38
Elmdon Airshow ,Birmingham Circa 1954.
Hi last Lightning,
As a young lad of 12 or so, back in 1953-4 at an Airshow at Elmdon Airport, Birmingham, I clearly remember seeing a whole Squadron of Naval Seafires,doing a stream take -Off with JATO Rockets lit-up. Very Impressive, I always thought the rockets were mounted under wing, but time and memory plays tricks on you, as the pic. clearly shows.
Also (Slightly off thread) at that Air Show a Buckers Youngman Biplane was parked right in front of the chainmail fence were we stood and this small chap in white overalls and cloth hat strolled over ,looked around, climbed in and started up. He then gave it full throttle and headed directly away from us across the grass,about 50 yds. he lifted off, went inverted at about 12 feet and proceeded to do a lap of the airfield like that before his Aeros routine. He was a magician !!! His Name was Count ??? (Stowkoskl ??? )
never seen him since. Reckon we witnessed something very special that day and to this I don’t really know who he was.
Bill T.
By: Phillip Rhodes - 12th March 2011 at 20:24
This isn’t a Spitfire, rather it is a Seafire (notice the hook). Taken from Wikipedia: After trials of Rocket Assisted Take Off Gear or RATOG apparatus (small rocket engines which could be attached to the fuselage or wings of aircraft to help shorten the take-off run) in February 1943, this equipment became a standard fitting available for all Seafires.
For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Seafire and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_take_off#JATO_and_RATO
By: Ian Hunt - 12th March 2011 at 20:22
JATO
Seafire trials for deck take-offs?
Looks like it’s got an arrester hook under the fuselage just in front of the tail wheel?
Ian
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March 12, 2011 at 8:17 pm