JATO

thumb|upright=1.35|The first "rocket-assisted" take-off in the United States, a Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory|GALCIT booster fitted to an [[ERCO Ercoupe, at March Field, California, 1941]] JATO (acronym for jet-assisted take-off) is a type of assisted take-off for helping overloaded aircraft into the air by providing additional thrust in the form of small rockets. The term JATO is used interchangeably with the (more specific) term RATO, for rocket-assisted take-off (or, in RAF parlance, RATOG, for rocket-assisted take-off gear).

1940s German aircraft rocket engine

1960s British aircraft rocket engine