RE: [MV] Jet Assisted Take Off

From: John Hutterer (john.hutterer@deltec.com)
Date: Fri Mar 23 2001 - 05:12:01 PST


Mark,

Check out www.urbanlegends.com and you'll find pages of story's like this
one. As far as I know, there is no truth to this particular story, but it
does make for interesting reading.

John

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Baxter [mailto:alleywayguns@bacavalley.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2001 10:59 PM
To: mil-veh@mil-veh.org
Subject: [MV] Jet Assisted Take Off

Folks, if this story is true, it is a prime example why folks should not
misuse military hardware! Mark M-886

Subject: Jet Assisted Take Off

The Arizona Highway Patrol came upon a pile of smoldering metal embedded

into the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve.

The wreckage resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it was a car.

The type of car was unidentifiable at the scene.

The lab finally figured out what it was and what had happened. It seems

that a guy had somehow gotten hold of a JATO unit (Jet Assisted Take Off

- actually a solid fuel rocket) that is used to give heavy military

transport planes and an extra "push" for taking off from short

airfields. He had driven his Chevy Impala out into the desert and found

a long, straight stretch of road. Then he attached the JATO unit to his

car, jumped in, got up some speed and fired off the JATO!

The facts as best as could be determined are that the operator of the

1967 Impala hit the JATO ignition at a distance of approximately 3.0

miles from the crash site. This was determined by the prominent scorched

and melted asphalt at that location. The JATO, if operating properly,

would have reached maximum thrust within 5 seconds, causing the Chevy to

reach speeds well in excess of 350 miles per hour and continuing full

power for an additional 20-25 seconds. The driver, soon to be pilot,

most likely would have experienced G-forces usually reserved for

dog-fighting F-14 jocks under full afterburners, basically causing him

to become insignificant for the remainder of the event.

However, the automobile remained on the straight highway for about 2.5

miles (15-20) seconds before the driver applied and completely melted

the brakes, blowing the tires and leaving thick rubber marks on the road

surface, then becoming airborne for an additional 1.4 miles and

impacting the cliff face at a height of 125 feet leaving a blackened

crater 3 feet deep in the rock.

Most of the driver's remains were not recoverable; however, small

fragments of bone, teeth and hair were extracted from the crater and

fingernail and bone shards were removed from a piece of debris

believed to be a portion of the steering wheel.

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