Date: ca. 1942-1945
Country of Origin: United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 2 ft. wide x 4 ft. 8 1/4 in. long (60.96 x 142.88cm)
Materials:
Chamber with adjoining nozzle, aluminum; some piping, aluminum. Tanks, steel; plastic insulation over electrical leads, some splitting of insulation.
This is a 25ALD-1000 JATO (Jet-Assisted-Take-Off) uncooled liquid fuel rocket motor, developed and constructed by the Aerojet Engineering Corp. for helping to lift heavily loaded U.S. military planes. It used red fuming acid and aniline as the propellants. The thick aluminum combustion chamber absorbed the heat of the firing of the motor.
The original 25AL-1000 motor was Aerojet's first liquid fuel JATO and made the first take-off with liquid-fuel JATO assist in the U.S. in 1943 when two units were installed in the rear of a Douglas A-20A Havoc attack bomber. An improved version of the 25ALD-1000 was used on the B-24, B-25, C-40, and P-38 aircraft. The JATO was donated to the Smithsonian in 1968 by the Aerojet General Corp.
Gift of Aerojet General Corporation
