JATO Takeoffs Were Both Awesome to Behold and to Experience
The Blue Angels retired their long-serving Lockheed Martin C-130T Hercules, AKA Fat Albert, AKA C-130T Bureau Number (BuNo) 164763 and CN 382-5258) in May of 2019 after 30,000 hours of flight time and countless airshow performances. The airframe is now located at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base (NASJRB) Fort Worth in Texas, where it is used for instructing maintainers of the several hundred C-130s still in service. One Fat Albert airshow favorite was the Jet Assisted Takeoff (JATO) demonstration. After 2009 JATO bottles were nearly extinct so that part of Fat Albert’s airshow routine was axed. So It’s a good thing there were plenty of video cameras in operation while the JATO takeoffs were still going on. Enjoy!
Scorching Takeoff at Miramar
Captured at MCAS Miramar in 2009 and uploaded to YouTube by The Nellis Spotter.
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Another Scorcher
Captured at an undisclosed location and date but uploaded to YouTube by sleepingdogtv.
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Miramar Blast
Captured at the 2009 MCAS Miramar Twilight Show and uploaded to YouTube by spencerhughes2255.
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East Coast Kick in the Tail
Captured at an NAS Oceana Airshow (unknown date) and uploaded to YouTube by thefightercommunity.
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Ride Along in Style
Captured at NAS Oceana, this ride along in the cargo bay of Fat Albert was uploaded to YouTube by ordieao2f18. Language warning!
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