RATO Metro??!! WTF?

[boeingboy]

Completely true.

I have seen the mounts - but I believe there are none left in service......all deactivated.

You can tell one that used to have it as instead of the clear lens over the tailcone where the nav lights are - it's just a flat plate and has had nav lights added to it.

[ScudRunner]

I believe Perimeter pioneered this in an attempt to get out of Shammattawa just that much quicker to evade the AAA.

[pontius]

We had a private Metroliner in our hangar in Calgary many years ago-it was used by a drilling company to transport drilling tools etc. I believe the airplane was equipped with a water-methanol injection system to assist in take-off performance. Come to think of it, we also had a Fokker F 27 in the hangar with a similar system installed.

[mattedfred]

it is true

and the fleet of metros that i used to fly at PAG were equipped with water-meth systems

[TopperHarley]

I believe Perimeter pioneered this in an attempt to get out of Shammattawa just that much quicker to evade the AAA.

Trust me .., we were NEVER in a rush to leave ZTM. It was, and will always be, the best place to fly to!

[Phlyer]

Jetstream 31s have the water meth also.

[bobcaygeon]

The Rocket in the tail disappeared after the -10 conversion became available providing better single engine performance (better than required by AFM) and less engine failures than the -3.

Many TPE 331 and Rolls Dart equipped aircraft have water meth. ie HS 748,F27, metro, J31, etc due to significant degredation of performance due to hot & high conditions.

[Unit 969]

"MARCH 1984 FACTS
SA226-TC AND -AT WITH JATO ROCKET ENGINE INSTALLED
A new JATO rocket engine has been approved to replace P/N 12NS-350 and 12NS-350CBA JATO units.The new P/N 1337-1 rocket engine is approved as a direct replacement airplane installtion. A.F.M. Supplement 10 (TC) or 11 (AT) provides authorization instructions."

These parts are still listed in the I.P.C. and are available as far as I know.

[iflyforpie]

It's amazing what parts are listed in the IPC of many different planes. The early 172s for example have litter installations and flare launchers as optional equipment.

We did water-meth installations on Conair's CV580s but I never saw a RATO bottle installation, even for the military versions.

[linecrew]

Here's a Convair with the JATO stinger in action...

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Caribair ... 0147604/M/

[iflyforpie]

Well what d'ya know. I guess I could have wasted more time in the IPC.

[The Tool]

Long time ago when I worked at the Mighty 'P' I recall we still had the mounts and keyed switches for the RATO system in many of the metros. The switch was funny looking as it resembled the switches in the movies when they launch the "nukes".

I heard a rumour/tall tale that one of the ealier acquired Metros came with a bottle still in it. It was fired off with aircraft static but the breaks couldn't hold it back.

Many Metro tail cones have one of the necessary items to accept the bottle. You will note it is just a flat cap at the end of the stinger held on by a few screws.

When I left Perimeter all -10 conversions done but the four blade prop was just getting its final numbers crunched by the pinky rings. Can any Green Team pilots tell us if the use of water-meth is still as used as much in the summer with the STC'd prop ?

- Memories of scrambling to set-up water meth systems (especiially in the -3 days) on an unexpected early, hot spring day.

[square]

check out the rocket herc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw2bAJGg ... re=related

[bob sacamano]

Ah man... I can think of someone who'd be ALL over this.

[DBR]

At PAG as for firing the water... depends on the aircraft.
On the III we bring a shot with us up north anytime the OAT is above say 10 C. Not sure about the II. We're far more restricted with the whole >12.566 lbs thing. It's quite a weight penalty not firing it especially in the summer.

[rigpiggy]

It wouldn't be anywhere near as exciting as "Fat Albert". As I understand "correct me if wrong" this RATO on the Metro is the boost motor out of a "Sidewinder Missile" only about 400# thrust for 20 seconds or so. or about as much thrust as a healthy 172 put's out. better than nothing though.

[oldtimer]

If you look through the USA FAR 23 standards, all airplanes under 12,500 MTOW do not have to demonstrate OEI TAKE-OFF preformance. Only 2 engine take-off and OEI climb performance. To get 19 people in the airplane, a higherr level of safety was desired so the manufactureres were allowed to develop their own procedures to accomplish this performance. Ed Swearingen decided to keep the airplane in ground effect until the gear was retracted and then it becomes a OEI climb. This worked OK in the low countyries and cooler weather so various methods were tried. One was the JATO rocket which supplied 350 lbs of thrust for about 20 seconds, enough to get the gear up, all the while maintaining 8 to 10 feet altitude with the propeller NTSing and the gear retracting. This was not the best so they came up with Emergency Water Methanol injection which increase the power output to 900 hp on the operating engine for 5 minutes except they put in a 2 gallon W/M tank which lasted about 1 minute, enough to get the gear up and start the climb. leter versions had CAWI, continuous A/W injection where the entire take-off was performed with W/M enchancement to both engines from a 16 gallon tank. the best of all was a switch to the -10 engines which were 1000 hp engines derated or flat rated to 840 shp, which negated the requirement for W/M. In the Gulfstream G159, the RR Dart engines were rated at 1910 shp per but W/M not only restored lost power but increased the output to 1990 shp. It was almost like starting a third engine. In the Metro 3 on a hot day, W/M will increase the allowable load to meet net climb performance by up to 1500 lbs.