Not B727 related ... but on the subject of
JATOs ...
You heard about the alleged guy who strapped a JATO bottle onto his Chev Impala? He and his auto were found embedded in a cliff face, forty feet above the road. He received a
Darwin Award! (But the story may not be true.)
And the USMC who trialed JATO assisted landings in a C130? Didn't work! And they didn't receive a Darwin Award!
Interesting history of JATO development, particularly regarding the Ercoupe experiment!
JATO Chronology