Warplanes of the USA: Douglas B-66 Destroyer

Douglas B-66 Destroyer

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Douglas B-66B Destroyer (Serial No. 53-505).

The Douglas B-66 Destroyer is a light bomber that was designed and produced by the American aviation manufacturer Douglas Aircraft Company.The B-66 was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) and is derivative of the United States Navy's A-3 Skywarrior, a heavy carrier-based attack aircraft. Officials intended for the aircraft to be a simple development of the earlier A-3, taking advantage of being strictly land-based to dispense with unnecessary naval features. Due to the USAF producing extensive and substantially divergent requirements, it became necessary to make considerable alterations to the design, leading to a substantial proportion of the B-66 being original.

The B-66 retained the three-man crew arrangement of the US Navy's A-3; differences included the incorporation of ejection seats, which the A-3 had lacked. Performing its maiden flight on 28 June 1954, the aircraft was introduced to USAF service during 1956. The standard model, designated B-66, was a bomber model that was procured to replace the aging Douglas A-26 Invader; in parallel, a photo reconnaissance model, the RB-66, was also produced alongside. Further variants of the type were developed, leading to the aircraft's use in signals intelligence, electronic countermeasures, radio relay, and weather reconnaissance operations.

Aircraft were commonly forward deployed to bases in Europe, where they could more easily approach the airspace of the Soviet Union. Multiple variants were deployed around Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis. They flew in the Vietnam War, typically operating as support aircraft for other aircraft that were active over the skies of North Vietnam and Laos, as well as missions to map SAM and AAA sites in both countries. The last examples of the type were withdrawn during 1975. (Wikipedia)

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Douglas B-66B Destroyer (Serial No. 53-505).

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Douglas NRB-66B Destroyer (Serial No. 52-2828).

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Douglas NRB-66B Destroyer (Serial No. 52-2830).

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Douglas RB-66B Destroyer (Serial No. 53-415).

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Douglas RB-66B Destroyer (Serial No. 53-422).

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Douglas RB-66B Destroyer (Serial No. 53-452).

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Douglas RB-66B Destroyer (Serial No. 53-481).

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Douglas RB-66B Destroyer (Serial No. 53-410).

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Douglas RB-66B Destroyer (Serial No. 53-415).

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Douglas B-66B Destroyer (Serial No. 53-482).

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Douglas RB-66B Destroyer (Serial No. 53-427).

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Flying under radar control with a Douglas B-66 Destroyer, USAF F-105 Thunderchief pilots bomb a military target through low clouds over the southern panhandle of North Viet Nam, 14 June 1966.

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Douglas EB-66E Destroyer of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, 41st or 42nd TEWS based at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base over Southeast Asia on 30 March 1970.

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Douglas EB-66E Destroyer (Serial No. 54-531) of the 39th TEWS, 52nd TFW at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany in August 1972. Originally an RB-66B.

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Douglas EB-66E Destroyer (Serial No. 54-431). Originally an RB-66B of the 42nd Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron (TEWS), 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, taken at Clark AB, Philippines on 25 January 1974, just after unit deactivation at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base.

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Douglas EB-66E Destroyer (Serial No. 54-420). Originally an RB-66B of the 42nd Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron (TEWS), 388th Tactical Fighter Wing.

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Douglas EB-66E Destroyer (Serial No. 54-506), of the 39th TEWS, 363rd TFW Shaw AFB.

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Douglas EB-66 Destroyer from the 41st Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron, 1960.

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Douglas EB-66E Destroyer (Serial No. 54-440) of the 42nd TEWS, 355th TFW Takhli RTAFB taken 25 Dec 1968. Originally Douglas RB-66B-DL Destroyer.

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Douglas RB-66B Destroyer in flight, two aircraft formation (Serial Nos. 53-426 and 53-432)

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Douglas RB-66B Destroyer(Serial No. 53-452) in flight refueling with Boeing KB-50J (Serial No. 48-109).

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Douglas WB-66D Destroyer (Serial No. 55-391).

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Douglas WB-66D Destroyer (Serial No. 55-396).

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A U.S. Air Force 363rd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing Douglas RB-66B-DL Destroyer (s/n 53-0418) and its three-man crew on the flight line at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Republic of Vietnam, 1965. A small number of RB-66Bs flew reconnaissance missions in Southeast Asia from 1965-1966.