PilotPhotog

08/27/2026

Guess the aircraft with a twist: WRONG answers only. The wrongest answer gets a no-prize

08/20/2026

First, it was a Navy attack plane. Until it wasn't. Then it was an Air Force bomber. Until it wasn't. Then it was a recon aircraft, weather jet, and even a flying testbed for laminar flow control studies. But the Douglas A3D/B-66 found success as the EB-66.

An airframe with many identities, the Douglas jet medium bomber today is mostly remembered as the Navy's Whale (the heaviest aircraft to operate off of a carrier - a record which I believe still stands) and as the EB-66.

In the EB-66 role, the USAF removed the bomb bay and replaced it with a crew compartment for ECM personnel or EWOs to operate in. Still retaining the "Destroyer" nickname, EB-66s became valuable assets in the Vietnam War.

They would either orbit from a distance, jamming radar emissions, flooding enemy scopes with noise, and even making voice comms between enemy ground controllers and pilots intelligible.

Jamming voice comms was huge, the Noth Vietnamese, like the Soviets at the time, use ground directed commands to their pilots, virtually everything was controlled from the ground in what is know as Ground Control Intercept or GCI.

Naturally, EB-66 aircraft and crews with highly classified info became top targets for the North Vietnamese, and when one was shot down, it kicked off the biggest rescue of the war (Bat 21)

I'm working on a video (and newsletter post) about this now mostly forgotten aircraft, and the more I learn about it, the more amazed I am. The picture at the top of this thread is a still from the video, thanks for reading and I'll post here when I have a solid release date. Now you know!

08/18/2026

EB-66 Destroyer Fun Fact: Some EB-66s actually went back to “bombing”—sort of.

During bad weather over Vietnam, EB-66 crews could use their radar bombsight to act as pathfinders, telling accompanying strike aircraft exactly when to release their bombs when the targets below were hidden by clouds.

So the Destroyer went from bomber… to electronic warrior… and occasionally back to helping bombers find their targets. 🇺🇸 Now you know!

08/17/2026

The YF-17 "Cobra" famously lost out to YF-16 in the USAF's LFW competition. The Navy, however saw potential in the design (which itself was an F-5 derivative) and made it a carrier worthy jet in the form of the F/A-18 Hornet. Then the Hornet became the Super Hornet and here we are. Basically, always be willing to pivot and adapt.

08/14/2026

All animations made by humans. A sign (literally) of the times we are living in. I’m going to start placing these mini-disclaimers on my videos moving forward, my channel has always featured animations that I make for my videos - show don’t tell right? With the advent of AI the default assumption is that “it must be AI” when watching videos these days. I’m not doing this for cool points or “prestige” but just to let viewers know that these models and animations were made by people. Currently I’m working on the SA-2 Guideline/S-75 Divina system for my upcoming B-66 video. Thanks for reading and now you know!

08/13/2026

All three dead. This was the very unofficial nickname given to the Navy’s A3D Skywarrior, which was one of the heaviest aircraft to ever operate from a US Navy carrier. It was also known as the whale for this reason.

To save weight, designers made a controversial choice: they built it without ejection seats for the crew of three. The result of this missing safety feature? Navy flight crews used their dark sense of humor to give it its grim nickname. Stories like these are uncovered as I research an airframe for my next video. The interesting thing is the video will be about the B-66 Destroyer, which the Air Force built on top of the A3D airframe. The USAF thought they were getting a readymade jet, but then their insistence on using a different engine and other adjustments turned it into quite the project, which I will discuss in the video. Thanks for reading!

08/12/2026

In case you missed it, here is the link to the intruder video: This 'Ugly' Jet Could Strike in Any Weather – And Nothing Could Replace It

When bad weather grounded every sleek fighter on the carrier deck, ...

08/11/2026

It's time for another deep dive. Up next on the channel is the EB-66 Destroyer: A project plane that the Air Force "borrowed" from the Navy's A3D. The USAF thought they were getting a quick fix with this jet, but changing the engines, landing gear, and mission set said otherwise. It didn't have much success as a bomber but found new life as an ECM platform and became one of the most valuable tactical assets in the air war over North Vietnam. I'm doing the research and starting to render out the scenes, stay tuned!

08/07/2026

Devil Dogs: The A-6 Intruder is usually remembered as a US Navy carrier icon, but the Marine Corps flew it just as hard. From operating out of muddy airfields in Vietnam to flying strike missions in Desert Storm, USMC Intruder squadrons were a vital attack force in the sky. 🇺🇸

08/07/2026

What a way to go: some retired A-6 Intruders have quite the tale. In the mid-1990s, the US Navy deliberately sank over 40 stripped airframes off the coast of Florida to create a massive artificial marine habitat. Today, the dive spot is officially known as "Intruder Reef”