B-66 Destroyer

Infobox Aircraft
name= B-66 Destroyer
type=Light bomber
manufacturer=Douglas Aircraft Company


caption=
designer=Ed Heinemann
first flight=1954
introduced=1956
retired=1973 (USAF)
status=
primary user=United States Air Force
more users=
produced=
number built=294 [ [http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=323 National Museum of the USAF] ]
unit cost=US$2.55 million (RB-66B)Knaack, Marcelle Size. "Post-World War II bombers, 1945-1973". Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History, 1988. ISBN 0-16-002260-6.]
developed from = A-3 Skywarrior
variants with their own articles =

The Douglas B-66 Destroyer was a Tactical Air Command light bomber based on the United States Navy's A-3 Skywarrior, and was intended to replace the Douglas A-26 Invader. An RB-66 photo-reconnaissance version was ordered simultaneously. The B-66 retained the three-man crew of the A-3 Skywarrior.

Design and development

At first, the USAF thought the conversion would be an easy matter of removing the carrier-specific features, so no prototypes were ordered, just five pre-production RB-66A models (the reconnaissance mission being considered a higher priority). The list of modifications grew, and before long, the easy conversion became a substantially new aircraft. Many of the changes were due to the Air Force's requirement for low-level operations, while the Navy plane was usually a high-altitude bomber. A major difference between the A-3 and the B-66 was that then A-3 has two J-57 jet engines, but the B-66 had two J-71 engines.

The first RB-66A preproduction aircraft flew in 1954, while the first production RB-66B aircraft flew in early 1955.

The B-66 "Destroyer" was produced or modified into an astonishingly-wide variety of versions, including the B-66, EB-66, RB-66, and the WB-66. Likewise, the A-3 Skywarrior was used as the A-3, EA-3, KA-3, and the RA-3. It's basic design was a very versitile one, indeed.

Operational history

Deliveries to the USAF began in 1956 with 145 of this model were produced. RB-66s were used as the major night photo-reconnaissance aircraft of the USAF during this period. 72 of the B-66B bomber version were built, 69 fewer than originally planned. Thirteen B-66B aircraft later were modified into EB-66B electronic countermeasures aircraft for the Vietnam War. Unlike the Navy's A-3 Skywarrior, which performed some bombing missions, the Destroyer was not used as a bomber in Vietnam.

The RB-66C was a specialized electronic reconnaissance and ECM aircraft with an expanded crew of seven, including additional electronics warfare experts. 36 of these aircraft were built with the additional crewmembers housed in what was the camera/bomb bay of other variants. RB-66C aircraft had distinctive wingtip pods and were used in the vcinity of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis and later over Vietnam. In 1966, these were redesignated EB-66C.

The final B-66 variant was the WB-66D weather reconnaissance aircraft, 36 of which were constructed.

The EB-66C/E was removed from USAF service by 1973 and most examples either scrapped in place or placed in storage for eventual scrapping. One RB-66B is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. Other examples on display are located at: Shaw AFB, South Carolina; Lackland AFB, Texas; Robins AFB, Georgia; Dyess AFB, Texas] ; the Chanute Aerospace Museum at the former Chanute AFB in Rantoul, Illinois and the Pima Air and Space Museum at Tucson, Arizona.

Northrop X-21

The Northrop X-21A modified the WB-66D with an unusual wing to conduct Laminar Flow Control studies. Laminar-flow control was thought to potentially reduce drag by as much as 25%. Control would be by removal of a small amount of the boundary-layer air by suction through porous materials, multiple narrow surface slots, or small perforations.

The B-66 fuselage was modified with a large hump on the top of the fuselage, with additional modifications to the wings, engines, laminar flow exhausts, and tail cone. Slots were incorporated in the wing's surface to inject air into the boundary layer. However, rain, dirt, dust and other particulates clogged the slots.

Northrop began flight research in April 1963 at Edwards Air Force Base, but with all of the problems encountered, and money going into the war, the X-21 would be the last experiment involving this concept. [ [http://b66.info/B-66-EXPERIMENTS.htm B-66 Information] ]

B-66 in the media

The shooting down of an EB-66 over North Vietnam became the subject for the book "Bat*21" by William Charles Anderson, and later a film version (1988) starring Gene Hackman and Danny Glover.

The story depicts the controversial rescue of Lieutenant Colonel Iceal Hambleton, USAF, the senior navigator/electronic warfare officer of an EB-66 (call sign "Bat 21"), and only survivor after the aircraft was struck by a surface to air missile on 2 April 1972. Lt Col Hambleton landed in an area containing over 30,000 North Vietnamese forces that were about to be ambushed and attacked by South Vietnamese forces.

As a result, the attack was cancelled while efforts were made to secure the rescue of Lt Col Hambleton. The delay resulted in the loss of an indeterminate but sizeable number of South Vietnamese soldiers as their positions were overrun, before American advisors initiated artillery attacks on the enemy forces in defiance of orders. Lt Col Hambleton was finally rescued by American and South Vietnamese Navy SEALs Thomas R. Norris and Nguyen Van Kiet 11 and a half days later, but not before five aircraft and crews were shot down while attempting to rescue him, including a Bell UH-1H Huey (Blue Ghost 39) shot down on 2 April with the loss of three of five crewmen (and two POWs), an A-1 Skyraider shot down on 4 April with the loss of its crew, a Sikorsky HH-53 "Jolly Green Giant" (Jolly Green 67) that attempted to rescue Lt Col Hambleton and was shot down on 6 April, resulting in the loss of all six crewmen, an OV-10 Bronco (Nail 38) that was lost on 3 April with the pilot captured, and another OV-10 Bronco (Covey 282) shot down on 7 April, resulting in the weapons officer/observer being captured and later executed. Nine additional aircraft and helicopters were badly damaged during the rescue attempts, most never to fly again. The OV-10A weapons officer/observer who was rescued, was General Mark Clark's grandson.

Operators

*USA : United States Air Force

pecifications (B-66)

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=jet

crew=3
length main=75 ft 2 in
length alt= 22.9 m
span main=72 ft 6 in
span alt=22.1 m
height main=23 ft 7 in
height alt=7.2 m
area main=780 ft²
area alt=72.5 m²
empty weight main=42,540 lb
empty weight alt=19,300 kg
loaded weight main=57,800 lb
loaded weight alt=26,200 kg
max takeoff weight main=83,000 lb
max takeoff weight alt=38,000 kg
engine (jet)=Allison J71-A-11 or -13
type of jet=turbojets
number of jets=2
thrust main=10,200 lbf
thrust alt=45 kN
max speed main=631 mph
max speed alt=548 kn, 1,020 km/h
combat radius main=900 mi
combat radius alt=780 NM, 1,500 km
ferry range main=2,470 mi
ferry range alt=2,150 NM, 3,970 km
ceiling main=39,400 ft
ceiling alt=12,000 m
climb rate main=5,000 ft/min
climb rate alt=25 m/s
loading main=74.1 lb/ft²
loading alt=361.4 kg/m²
thrust/weight=0.35
avionics=
* APS-27 and K-5 radars
guns=2× 20 mm (0.787 in) cannon in radar/remotely operated tail turret
bombs=15,000 lb (6,800 kg)

ee also

aircontent
related=
* A-3 Skywarrior
* Northrop X-21
similar aircraft=
* Yakovlev Yak-28
lists=
* List of bomber aircraft
* List of military aircraft of the United States
see also=

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Baugher, Joe. [http://home.att.net/~jbaugher2/b66.html"Douglas B-66 Destroyer".] US Military Aircraft, 2001. Retrieved: 27 July 2006.
* Donald, David and Jon Lake, eds. "Encyclopedia of World Military Aircraft". London: AIRtime Publishing, 1996. ISBN 1-880588-24-2.
* [http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/modern_flight/mf31.htm "Douglas RB-66B 'Destroyer"'.] USAF Museum. Retrieved: 27 July 2006.
* Winchester, Jim, ed. "Douglas A-3 Skywarrior." "Military Aircraft of the Cold War" (The Aviation Factfile). London: Grange Books plc, 2006. ISBN 1-84013-929-3.

External links

* [http://b66.info/ B-66 "Destroyer" Website History of US Tactical Warfare, website by former B-66 crews]