You may find that it was the Germans who developed rocket assisted take off
especially when it meant getting a fully loaded Me 321s and 323s in the air.
The 6 Gnome-Rhone engines were barely capable of getting the Me 323 aloft.
The earlier glider version was given rocket assist to help the tow plane get
it into the air.
All of this was taking place about 1941 and onward during the war. It may be
assumed that this was another piece of German technology picked by US Army
in 1945.
Gene


"shiver" wrote in message
...
So.... I'm curious as to how the JATO rockets were developed and where
they were first used.

Looking at those famous pix of a HERC using them for takeoff assistance
made me kinda curious.

Now it is a bit of a trick question.... so have at it.