A rocket-assisted Boeing B-47B takes off on April 15, 1954. The rather massive Jet Assisted Take Off (JATO) package was a great help in getting the aircraft off the ground a lot quicker than with just the 6 wing mounted jet engines.

Though the airplane was fast, with a cruising speed of about 550mph (885kph), the jet engine technology of the time didn’t make good thrust at slow speeds. JATO was a good solution to this issue at the time.