JATO, is a type of assisted take-off for helping overloaded aircraft into the air by providing additional thrust in the form of small rockets. The term JATO is used interchangeably for rocket-assisted take-off. Early experiments using rockets to boost gliders into the air were conducted in Germany in the 1920s, both the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe introduced such systems in World War II; the British system used large solid fuel rockets to shoot planes off a small ramp fitted to the fronts of merchant ships, known in service as Catapult armed merchantmen, in order to provide some cover against German maritime patrol planes. After firing, the rocket was released from the back of the plane to sink; the task done, the pilot would fly to friendly territory if possible or parachute from the plane to be picked up by one of the escort vessels. Over two years the system was only employed nine times to attack German aircraft with eight kills recorded for the loss of a single pilot; the Luftwaffe used the technique with both liquid-fueled units made by the Walter firm and BMW – and solid fuel, themselves made both by the Schmidding and WASAG firms – as both attached and jettisonable rocket motors, to get airborne more and with shorter takeoff runs.

These were used to boost the takeoff performance of their medium bombers, the enormous 55-meter wingspan Gigant, Messerschmitt Me 321 glider, conceived in 1940 for the invasion of Britain, used to supply the Russian front. The enormous Me 321s had air tow assistance from up to three Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters in a so-called Troika-Schlepp arrangement into the air with loads that would have made the takeoff run too long otherwise, but with much attendant risk of aerial collision from the trio of vee-formation Bf 110s involved in a simultaneous towplane function, meant to be eased with the substitution of the trio of Bf 110s with a single example of the unusual, twin-fuselage Heinkel He 111Z purpose-designed five-engined towplane; the use of reaction-assisted takeoff methods became important late in the war when the lengths of usable runways were curtailed due to the results of Allied bombing. Their system used jettisonable, self-contained Walter HWK 109-500 Starthilfe known as "Rauchgerät" - smoke generator, unitized liquid-fuel monopropellant rocket booster units whose engines driven by chemical decomposition of "T-Stoff" almost pure hydrogen peroxide, with a Z-Stoff catalytic compound.

A parachute pack at the blunt-contour front of the motor's exterior housing was used to slow its fall after being released from the plane, so the system could be re-used. First experiments were held in 1937 on a Heinkel He 111, piloted by test-pilot Erich Warsitz at Neuhardenberg, a large field about 70 kilometres east of Berlin, listed as a reserve airfield in the event of war. Other German experiments with JATO were aimed at assisting the launch of interceptor aircraft such as the Messerschmitt Me 262C, as the Heimatschützer special versions fitted with either a version of the Walter HWK 109-509 liquid fuelled rocket engine from the Me 163 Komet program either in the extreme rear of the fuselage or semi-"podded" beneath it just behind the wing's trailing edge, to assist its Junkers Jumo 004 turbojets, or a pair of specially rocket-boosted BMW 003R combination jet-rocket powerplants in place of the Jumo 004s, so that the Me 262C Heimatschützer interceptors could reach enemy bomber formations sooner.

Two prototypes of the Heimatschützer versions of the Me 262 were built and test flown, of the three designs proposed. In contrast to the wide variety of aircraft types that the HWK-designed Starthilfe modular liquid monopropellant booster designs were tested with, seeing some degree of front-line use; the experimental, HWK 109-501 Starthilfe RATO system used a similar bi-propellant "hot" motor to that on the Me 163B Komet rocket fighter, adding a 20 kg mass of a combination of B-stoff hydrazine, mixed with "Br-stoff" for a main "fuel" to the T-Stoff monopropellant still destabilized with the Z-Stoff permanganate for ignition as the oxidizer, tripling the 109-500's thrust figure of 4.95 kN with a burn of 30 second duration. Due to the "hot" system's similar risks demanding similar special fueling and handling procedures to that of the Komet's 509A rocket motor, the 109-501 seems to have remained a experimental design, only being used for the test flights of the Junkers Ju 287 V1 prototype jet bomber.

In early 1939, the National Academy of Sciences in the United States provided $1,000 to Theodore von Kármán and the Rocket Research Group at the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology to research rocket-assisted take-off of aircraft. This JATO research was the first rocket research to receive financial assistance from the U. S. government since World War I when Robert H. Goddard had an Army contract to develop solid fuel rocket weapons. In late 1941 von Kármán and his team attached several 50-pound thrust, solid fuel Aerojet JATOs to a li

Louisiana Highway 142 is a state highway located in Morehouse Parish, Louisiana. It runs 8.75 miles in a north–south direction from U. S. Highway 425 north of Bastrop through Beekman to the Arkansas state line. LA 142 traverses a rural and thickly wooded area in the northeastern portion of the state; the route connects Bastrop, the parish seat and largest city in Morehouse Parish, with Crossett, a city in Ashley County, Arkansas. While LA 142 heads northwest toward Crossett, US 425 travels in a northeastern trajectory to the smaller city of Hamburg. Though the route performs a north–south function, signage for LA 142 does not carry directional banners. LA 142 is known locally as Crossett Road. From the south, LA 142 begins at an intersection with US 425 near Chemin-A-Haut State Park north of Bastrop, it proceeds northwest for just under 2.0 miles before curving to the west and passing through a sparsely populated area along the Arkansas and Mississippi Railroad known as Beekman. LA 142 crosses the AL&M line at grade resumes a northwestern course.

3.8 miles LA 142 intersects LA 543, which heads southwest through a point known as Vaughn. Shortly afterward, the highway curves more to the north and continues for 2.4 miles before reaching the Arkansas state line. The route proceeds northward into Ashley County as Arkansas Highway 133 toward the city of Crossett; the route is classified as a rural minor arterial by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development with an average daily traffic volume in 2013 of 3,400 vehicles. LA 142 is an two-lane highway for its entire length with a posted speed limit of 55 mph. In the original Louisiana Highway system in use between 1921 and 1955, the modern LA 142 was designated as State Route C-1490. Like all state highways created after 1930, Route C-1490 was numbered by the state highway department rather than by an act of the state legislature and carried a "C-" prefix; the southern terminus was at that time a junction with State Route 204, which followed the modern route of US 425 between Bastrop and the Arkansas state line.

Apart from the straightening of some curves in the vicinity of Beekman, Route C-1490 remained unchanged until the 1955 Louisiana Highway renumbering. LA 142 was created in 1955 as a direct renumbering of State Route C-1490. La 142—From the Arkansas state line south of Crossett Arkansas through or near Beekman to a junction with La 139 at or near Chemin A Haut; the southern terminus of the route was now a junction with LA 139. In 1989, US 425 was replaced the LA 139 designation north of Bastrop; the route of LA 142 has seen only minor improvements since the 1955 renumbering. Most LA 142 was realigned at its southern terminus to intersect US 425 at a right angle; this was done in conjunction with a project completed in April 2012 that widened US 425 to four lanes between Bastrop and the Arkansas state line. The entire route is in Morehouse Parish. United States portal U. S. Roads portal Maps / GIS Data Homepage, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development

Cobalt Flux was a game controller manufacturer based in the greater Salt Lake City, Utah area of the United States. One notable product from Cobalt Flux was the polycarbonate plastic and metal-based dance platform, used with console dance games such as Dance Dance Revolution; the Cobalt Flux website cobaltflux.org is now a marketplace to buy and sell cobalt flux pads, control boxes, other items. You can find advice and support on pad modification and repair; the Cobalt Flux dance platform is a dance pad made of polycarbonate metal. It is used with console dance games such as Dance Dance Revolution. Fundamentally, the Cobalt Flux dance platform is similar to most dance pad designs. Instead of the typical four arrow plus corners panel layout as is common in soft dance pads, there are nine usable foot panels. Internally, the Cobalt Flux dance platform is unique among typical hard/metal dance pad designs. Official Dance Dance Revolution arcade machine dance pads contain a hollow area beneath each panel with small sensor switches.

The Cobalt Flux design contains no hollow areas. Sensor contact is achieved by the flexing of layers of lexan panels and metal plates on a solid wood base; this therefore increased durability. The Cobalt Flux dance platform itself connects to a "control box", which contains the start and select buttons for the dance controller; the connection to the control box uses a 15-pin serial connector which hangs out of the top of the pad as a dongle. This control box handles the wiring needed for different gaming console connectors, which lead off of the control box; the control box is removable. The Cobalt Flux dance platform is used with shoes, as is common on traditional arcade dance platforms. Cobalt Flux have provided two modification kits/options for their dance platforms. One kit adds raised black textured panels to the corner panels, more mimics the feel of the arcade platforms. Cobalt Flux dance platforms are considered to be among the most reliable according to dance game enthusiasts. A demonstration of reliability is given in the YouTube video, "The Cobalt Flux survives!".

In the video, a Cobalt Flux dance platform being run over by several vehicles. It is carried inside, plugged in and shown as still functioning; the pad is compatible with both DDR style games, Pump It Up simulators. However, official Pump It Up compatibility requires a separate control box, the corner square panels are smaller than their rectangular equivalents in Pump It Up, it is compatible with the existing eight arrow Dance UK gameThe original control box shipped with Cobalt Flux pads was designed to work only with the PlayStation 2. Cobalt Flux has since released a new control box with built-in connectivity for PS2, the PC. There is a special Pump It Up version of the control box that enables the center sensor and properly maps all buttons in order to play Pump It Up without issue; this version connects to PS2 only. The design of the standard dance platform allocates for each panel to be at the same height, with a small gap between each panel. Experienced arcade players dislike the flat feel.

The black panel modification kit that Cobalt Flux produces attempts to simulate arcade-style inset arrow panels. Other concerns on the design include safety; the wood base adds considerable weight and bulk, although it has a slimmer profile and is lighter than arcade dance platforms. However, many buyers of Cobalt Flux dance platforms have set them up permanently; the connection to the control box uses a cable. If one is careless in setting down the pad it may be possible to sever this connector. In 2005, Cobalt Flux began to offer more durable dance platform variations with extended warranties and additional features like monitor mounts; these were installed at schools, fitness centers, other institutions, had identifying decals and black trim to distinguish them from the residential pads. These commercial versions are intended to be fixed in place and have shock absorbing material included to lessen joint strain; the heaviest duty commercial mat has a four-year warranty. School platforms have handles as these tend to be packed away.

It is possible, with knowledge of the dance platform's pinout. This is popular for the Xbox, as a control box built with the electronics from a soft dance pad will be properly recognized as a dance pad, not a controller; the Flux is shipped with the central panel de-activated. This central panel is used in Pump It Up, a procedure in the user manual describes how to activate it, it is possible to adjust the height of unused panels by inserting a piece of cardboard or a shim underneath the panel. In 2009 Cobalt Flux launched a system called Blufit, an eight mat wireless multiplayer system with their own proprietary dance software, Streetfeet. Eight of these would link together into a 64 player system, making it the largest gaming console in the world. Other active or fitnessgames could be played on it using either the dance pad as a controller, or other input peripherals; the last consumer product released by Cobalt Flux was the Dark Ops Wiimote attachment. On October 29, 2011, the website of Cobalt Flux was discovered offline.

In 2011, Bemanistyle confirmed that Cobalt Flux had gone out of business. C