PA-31 Navajo RATO

Posted by aeriatedjetfuel@reddit | WeirdWings | View on Reddit | 3 comments

In Roger W. Peperell's 1996 book about Piper Aircraft development, it is casually mentioned among the Colemill Panther Navajo conversion notes that:

"Rocket Assistance is also available"

Supposedly, a two-unit RATO package of 350 lbf rockets could be installed on the aft fuselage, boosting take-off and climb performance. Whether this was an additional product originally sold by Colemill Enterprises of Nashville, TN is not specified.

My experience with Colemill/ Panther STC's is that they only add 350 HP TIO-540 engines (plus accessories), 4-blade Hartzell Q-tip prop and optional "Zip tip" winglets to increase T/O performance.

The aircraft N3ZM serial 31-186 is specifically mentioned, and I have yet to find any photo evidence or other documentation to verify this assertion of RATO compatibility. This registration belongs to a J-3 now apparently.

31-186 would in theory be a 1968 model PA-31 "A" Navajo.

Anyone have info on this to continue research?

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iamalsobrad@reddit

It is surprisingly common amongst civilian aircraft for operating from hot and high airfields.

There were a number of DC-9 and 727 airliners fitted with rockets.

The Beechcraft 18 (and apparently the Queen Air) had the option:

"A factory option at one point was the addition of JATO bottles on [top of] each engine nacelle which added the equivalent of 200 horsepower (150 kW) per engine for about 12 seconds"

https://mapsairmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Beechcraft-Model-18-SNB-5.pdf

As did the BN Trislander (as if that wasn't janky enough in the first place):

BN-2A Mk III-4: III-2 fitted with 350 lb (160 kg) rocket-assisted takeoff equipment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britten-Norman_Trislander

JPL used an ERCO Ercoupe during the US development of JATO. From the footage this looks like all kinds of fun.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w0mKobISt4&

Single_Cut2649@reddit

I wonder if this is an actual STC lol

GlockAF@reddit

I’d love to see photos of this option in use!