EB-66 Photos

The EB-66E performed Electronic Jamming, and carried 3 crewmembers in the cockpit -- Pilot, Navigator & Electronic Warfare Officer. This aircraft had 130 external antennas that radiated electronic jamming signals throughout the full radio & radar spectrum. The big white antenna mounted on the belly of the aircraft was for Communications Jamming.

EB-66B Leading 6 F-105s and F-4s
on Pathfinder Mission over North Vietnam.


During the Vietnam War, doctrine often defined the Air Force’s role as being support
of ground forces. Here, a flight of F-4C Phantoms under radar control of an EB-66
electronic warfare airplane bomb North Vietnamese targets. (USAF photo)
AF Magazine article on AF Doctrine

In the following 3`photographs, show an EB-66B leading a F-105 and a F-4 formation over the target in North Vietnam, with the Navigator/Bombardier in the EB-66B giving a radio signal to the Fighter-Bombers telling them when to release their bombs.

While torrential rains fell in Thailand 6 months of the year, it hardly ever rained over North Vietnam which allowed the F-4 and F-105 Fighter-Bomber Pilots to see their targets and Dive Bomb them. Dive Bombing made it easier to achieve pin-point accuracy compared to Straight and Level Bombing.

Dive Bombing is extremely hazardous, since you are diving straight down at the target -- which provides the enemy anti-aircraft gunners with what amounts to a stationary head-on target to shoot at.

6 months of the year, it never rained in Thailand -- while North Vietnam had continuous thunderstorms and torrential rain for 6 months. During this rainly period of the year when the F-4 and F-105 Fighter-Bomber Pilots couldn't see the ground, the EB-66B lead the bombing raids with the B-66 Navigator/Bombardier counting down on the radio to tell the Fighter-Bomber Pilots when to release their bombs.

The EB-66B was originally a Tactical Nuclear Bomber with K-System Radar Bomb Delivery capability. The EB-6B Pathfinder Mission was conceived by Bill Mahaffey [B-66 Navigator], Charles Schaufler [B-66 Pilot] and Bob Green [F-105 pilot] in which the EB-66B lead the strike force during bad weather and gave the radio count-down for bomb release.

The highly-touted B-52 carried 30 tons of bombs -- versus only 2-3 tons of bombs on the F-4 and F-105 Fighter Bombers. For some strange unjustifiable reason the B-52s were considered indispensable; and, until the last 2 weeks of the war when they were sent to Hanoi, the B-52s had never been more than 15 miles into North Vietnam -- where the EB-66s provided jamming coverage for them, although the B-52 had more jamming power than the B-66.

2-3 tons of bombs is nothing -- compared to the 30 tons the B-52 carried. About all the F-4 and F-105s could do with 2-3 tons of bombs was blow up monkeys and chip the concrete in the runways of the MIG fighter bases in North Vietnam, with such damage quickly repaired and MIGs being launched with little interruption.

During the last 2 weeks of the Vietnam War, the B-52s were sent to Hanoi with their 30 ton bomb loads -- and the F-4 and F-105s were allowed to use Laser Guided Smart Weapons for the first time when President Nixon finally listened and turned the Air Force loose to end the war.
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The following 2 photos are EB-66B Pathfinders leading formation flights
of  F-105 and F-4 Fighter Bombers over targets in North Vietnam.

EB-66 Pathfinder photo taken overhead by an RF-101 Pilot



Photo of EB-66C 54-459 after takeoff
A copy of this photo is available for purchase
as a 12" x 18" print in SEA Camouflage Colors
 Details at:

The EB-66E [photo below] had a Pilot, Navigator & Electronic Warfare Officer [EWO] in the cockpit. The Bomb Bay and every available inch of fuselage space had Electronic Jamming Transmitters, Power Supplies and other ancillary equipment.

The B-66 was designed for a Maximum Takeoff Weight of 65,000 pounds -- but flew at up to 85,000 pounds, which took nearly 2 miles of runway to get airborne.

The Tail Cone housed transmitters to jam the MIG Fighter Airborne Interceptor Radar. The Tail Cone also carried 800# of chaff [tinfoil] that was dropped to create false targets and confusion on Ground and Airborne Interceptor Radars.

The EB-66E had 130 external antennas that radiated electronic jamming signals throughout the Full Radio & Radar Spectrum. The big white antennas mounted on the top and belly of the aircraft are for Communications Jamming.

The Airborne Refueling Probe can be seen protruding from the nose of the aircraft. The Refueling Probe was about 10 feet long and 6" in diameter, with a spring-loaded ball bearing that sealed the Refueling Probe and kept it from leaking fuel during normal flight.

To refuel in the air, the B-66 pilot had to hit the Drogue Basket hard enough to move the ball bearing seal backwards so the fuel could flow from the tanker aircraft to the receiver aircraft.


The EB-66 (photo below) Airborne Refueling Probe can be seen protruding from the nose of the aircraft. The Refueling Probe was about 10 feet long and 6" in diameter, with a spring-loaded ball bearing that sealed the Refueling Probe and kept it from leaking fuel during normal flight.

The B-66 pilot had to plug himself into the basket on the end of the drogue. For other aircraft, the Boom Operator in the KC-135 guided a metal pipe "Flying Boom" into the refueling receptacle on the receiver aircraft, and all the pilot had to do was maintain spacing and keep the aircraft steady.

To refuel in the air, the B-66 pilot had to hit the Drogue Basket hard enough to retract the ball bearing seal backwards so the fuel could flow from the tanker aircraft to the receiver aircraft.

In the early days of the B-66, refueling was done with KB-50 Tankers -- which were powered by 4 propeller engines and 2 jet engines that were only used for take-off and during refueling.

During refueling, the KB-50 cranked-up its 2 jet engines and flew as fast as it could -- which was about as slow as the B-66 could go. To plug the Probe into the Drogue Basket, the B-66 pilot had to come in at a speed just slightly greater than the KB-50 to hit the basket hard enough to lock and seal the probe in the basket so fuel could be transferred without leaking and spraying into the air.

To keep from over running the KB-50 tanker, as soon as the B-66 pilot locked the probe into the basket, he had to reduce power, deploy and immediatedy retract his speed brakes to slow down and stabilize at the same speed as the tanker. The Speed Brakes were each about the size of a house door, and were located on the fuselage just under the tail.

As the B-66 received fuel and became heavier, it had to fly faster and faster to keep from stalling. Since the KB-50 tanker was going as fast as it could, the only way to gain airspeed was to go into a shallow dive. The B-66 pilot would ask the KB-50 pilot to "Toboggan", and on the count to 3 over the radio, the KB-50 pilot would go into a shallow dive with the B-66 doing likewise to gain airspeed and keep from stalling. The refueling was finished in the dive.

In 1961, the KB-50 tankers were retired and the B-66 began refueling from the KC-135 jet powered tanker, which is shown in the following photograph. Since the airspeeds were now compatible, it made Air to Air Refuelings easier, but not without the usual excitement of having to first find the tanker and then get hooked-up and refueled in clouds, bad weather and darkness of night. Some wartime and classified peacetime missions required total radio silence, which made it even more difficult to rendezvous and coordinate the refueling.

[Photo below] EB-66E stabilizied and approaching the Drogue Basket to plug-in the Refueling Probe.



EB-66E during Air to Air Refueling [AAR]
Receiving fuel from a KC-135 Tanker.



KB-50 Refueling (Viewed from B-66 Cockpit)
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Closeup-of-KB-50-Refueling-B66
Photo was submitted by John Hoyle, KB-50 Navigator.

"Although it was nearly 50 years ago, I recall taking this photo, a bit nervously, from
the refueling operator's side blister. As I remember the situation, I had to leave my parachute up in the front section of the plane so that I could fit through the narrow crawling tube leading from front to back over the bomb-bay section of the plane where our JP-4 refueling tanks were located. And the refueling operator's seat belt couldn't be used so that I could lean as far out into the blister as possible to get a clean shot. "


The EB-66E performed Electronic Jamming, and carried 3 crewmembers in the cockpit -- Pilot, Navigator & Electronic Warfare Officer. This aircraft had 130 external antennas that radiated electronic jamming signals throughout the full radio & radar spectrum. The big white antenna mounted on the belly of the aircraft was for Communications Jamming.
AIR WAR VIETNAM 1966:1968
Operation BOLO took place on 2 January 1967. 56 F-4Cs participated, organized in two groups with seven flights of four aircraft each, one group from the 8th TFW and the other from the 366th TFW. The effort also involved 24 F-105D Wild Weasels for defense suppression; four EB-66 jamming aircraft; and a Lockheed EC-121 "Warning Star" radar warning aircraft, a military version of the Lockheed Constellation airliner fitted with a radome. Another hundred aircraft were to perform diversionary strikes.



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