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EB-66 #435


Hürtgenwald
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Hürtgenwald

Some of you Vietnam aviation buffs might find this interesting. I found a photo on-line of an EB-66 in mothballs after the war in the Phillipines, then I went through my Dad's photo album and found a picture of the same plane in action over the DMZ in 71.' My Dad was with the 42nd TEWS and his navigator was often Iceal Hambleton of BAT-21 fame.

 

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Hürtgenwald

Here's a couple more photos taken of my Dad at Korat Thailand while he was a pilot of an EB-66. My Dad is at far right.

 

 

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Hürtgenwald

Most of the EB-66 planes were scrapped in 1973-75 as they had many mechanical breakdowns mainly due to underpowered engines.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Hürtgenwald

Now that I am older I realize I'm lucky I had him around and that he wasn't flying #466 (Bat-21) when it was shot down. He flew these planes and did 80 combat sorties in country from April 28th 1971 to Oct 6th 1971:

EB-66E 420, 427, 434, 435, 438, 443, 445, 509, 520, 521, 522, 523, 537, 540

EB-66C 385, 461, 466, 468, 470

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Hürtgenwald

I found two other photos of EB-66Es at Clark AFB Philippines getting ready to be scrapped. #420 was one my Dad flew.

 

 

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LegGrunt71

Did your dad ever write any memoirs? I have read about every Vietnam related aviation memoir I can find, and cannot recall any about EB-66's and their operations.

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Hürtgenwald

Did your dad ever write any memoirs? I have read about every Vietnam related aviation memoir I can find, and cannot recall any about EB-66's and their operations.

My Dad has not written anything about his flying time. I saw a book on Amazon that looked interesting, but I have not read it yet. Here's a link.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Glory-Days-Untold-Story-Destroyer/dp/0764330861

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  • 1 year later...
northcoastaero

Nice photos. Aerofax had a book on the B-66 variants. There is also a book titled Glory Days by Schiffer Publishing about the B-66 in Southeast Asia. I had a B-66C NAV ejection seat at one time also one or two books autographed by Gene Hambleton. The movie and book BAT 21 were based on Hambleton's experiences when he was shot down and survival on the ground. There is also another book titled The Rescue of BAT 21. Hope

this helps.

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I also recreated the photo of my Dad and his crew standing next to the EB-66 above when my son graduated from basic training at Lackland AFB this year. They have one of the few surviving planes at the front gate of this base. My Great Grandfather's unit the 96th Aero Squadron also trained at this base when it was Kelly Air Field.

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