Whoosh! They're Up!
p. 77 · Read in the full issue
Jet assisted take-offs have arrived in Papua-New Guinea.
The wartime invention looks like being standard equipment for freighter aircraft in the vast Territory, where airstrips are sometimes short and oddly placed, and where operators are continually flying between strips at 5,000 to 7,000 ft. in the Highlands. The Territory has managed to avoid in stalling JATO before, because freight weight regulations have been fairly liberal. The Territory’s aviators have been looked on as pioneers.
But recently the Australian Department of Civil Aviation has insisted on higher standards, which means that freighters have not been able to take the same pay-loads. JATO will help them overcome the problem in emergencies. Both Trans Australia Airlines and Mandated Airlines are equipping their DC3’s with the JATO rockets.
The photographs show a TAA New Guinea DC3 blasting off, and a close-up of what the rockets look like. They cost £3OO each. Below is a TAA Bristol Freighter now also being used in New Guinea to help over come the freight problem. MAL are expecting theirs in September.