# Aircraft Identification question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-identification-question/685016>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 31, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-identification-question/685016 "2014-03-31T20:19:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-identification-question/685016/1 "2014-03-31T20:19:52Z")

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Here’s a [photo](http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--feAIU692--/c_fit,fl_progressive,w_636/um5pyx9bcnrskwqc8bfa.jpg) of an airplane taking off using rockets to assist. And [here’s an article with some context](http://space.io9.com/the-insane-history-of-rockets-at-jpl-1554125227/@laurendavis?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_twitter&utm_source=io9_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow).

My question is: What kind of aircraft is that? It looks to me like it might be an [Ercoupe](https://www.google.ca/search?q=ercoupe&client=firefox-a&hs=RfP&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=Ts05U8SSLOri2AWQloHICg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1680&bih=946), but I’m not sure.

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**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-identification-question/685016/2 "2014-03-31T20:28:02Z")

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Yep, that’s what it is. Commonly referred to as a “Burpcup.”

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**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-identification-question/685016/3 "2014-03-31T20:42:53Z")

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I thought those would have been RATO, not JATO units.

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**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-identification-question/685016/4 "2014-03-31T20:45:04Z")

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Damn, I knew that was an Ercoupe but missed being the first reply.

wolfstu, that exact picture is featured on the [Wikipedia page on the Ercoupe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ERCO_Ercoupe).

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**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-identification-question/685016/5 "2014-03-31T21:30:37Z")

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> [@CurtC](#):
>
> wolfstu, that exact picture is featured on the [Wikipedia page on the Ercoupe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ERCO_Ercoupe).

Whoops. Should have looked around a little harder myself, I guess 🙂

Thanks, both.