Free Republic

PENSACOLA , Fla. (WEAR-TV) — The U.S. Navy Blue Angels are bidding farewell to their C-130T aircraft. The Blue Angels announced on Wednesday the aircraft known as Fat Albert is officially retiring. The Navy says Fat Albert has served the Blue Angels for 17-years and flown more than 30,000 hours in support of their missions. According to the U.S. Navy the current airframe, BUNO 164763, has been with the team since 2002 and was the last C-130 to conduct a jet-assisted take-off (JATO). The Navy says their team will be transported via Fleet-provided logistics until a permanent replacement aircraft is...

One of the last regular users of JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off) rockets is dropping the practice. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels acrobatic team will no longer feature their C-130 (called "Fat Albert", and used to haul around the maintenance personnel and their equipment) doing a quick and fiery takeoff using JATO rockets. This was always a crowd pleaser, partly because you hardly see it anymore. JATO was first developed in the 1920s, to get gliders into the air. Later, especially during World War II, and a few decades after, JATO was used for getting aircraft off the ground quickly,...

Ky Michaelson, better known as The Rocketman, is one of the world's leading rocket powered vehicle builders.