PilotPhotog Podcast

PilotPhotog
  • 4.9 (15)
  • History
  • Updated Monthly

A podcast all about fighter planes, military aircraft, and aviation history. We will take a look at the pilots, designers, engineers, and maintainers who have flown or worked on some of the most iconic aircraft in history.    Available on all podcast steaming platforms, you can find a full directory here: https://pilotphotog.buzzsprout.comWant even more content? You can subscribe to my free newsletter here:  hangarflyingwithtog.comFollow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @pilotphotogNow you know! 

  1. Aug 10

    The Navy’s All-Weather Workhorse

    Enjoyed this episode or the podcast in general? Send me a text message: One of the most capable strike aircraft the US Navy ever put on a carrier deck was also one of the least glamorous. The Grumman A-6 Intruder was subsonic, broad-nosed, and routinely called names like “Double Ugly” but it could do something rivals struggled to match: find and hit defended targets through clouds and darkness, then bring its crew home. We start with a hair-raising Vietnam War night raid over North Vietnam that shows what “all-weather” meant before GPS, digital maps, and modern displays. From there, we rewind to the Korean War, when bad weather repeatedly shut down visually aimed attacks and forced the Navy to demand a true day-night, almost-any-weather bomber for carrier aviation. We dig into the Intruder’s design choices, from carrier landing innovations to its massive payload and the side-by-side cockpit that made pilot and bombardier-navigator a single team. Then we unpack DIANE, the Digital Integrated Attack Navigation Equipment system, and how radar mapping, inertial navigation, and computerized bombing created a new kind of precision for its era. We also follow the A-6 through Vietnam, its specialized variants, and its long second act in Libya, the Persian Gulf, and Desert Storm, where tactics shifted from low-level penetration to medium-altitude precision strike. Finally, we tackle the controversy: aging airframes, the almost-saved A-6F Intruder II, the failed A-12 Avenger II stealth replacement, shrinking budgets, and the Navy’s move toward multirole aircraft like the F/A-18. Subscribe, share, and leave a review then tell us where you land: should the Navy have modernized the Intruder or was its time always going to end? Support the show To help support this podcast and become a PilotPhotog ProCast member: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1555784/support If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to this podcast, you can find links to most podcast streaming services here:  PilotPhotog Podcast (buzzsprout.com) Sign up for the free weekly newsletter Hangar Flyingwith Tog here:  https://hangarflyingwithtog.com   You can check out my YouTube channel for many videos on fighter planes here: https://youtube.com/c/PilotPhotog   If you’d like to support this podcast via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PilotPhotog   And finally, you can follow me on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/pilotphotog

  2. Jul 21

    How The EF-111A Raven Blindfolded Enemy Radar

    Enjoyed this episode or the podcast in general? Send me a text message: Radar makes modern air defense possible. So what happens when you bring an aircraft whose whole job is to make radar lie, scream, or go blind at exactly the wrong moment? That is the EF-111A Raven, a Mach 2-plus tactical jamming jet with zero weapons on board and a reputation so strong that fighter pilots wanted it on their wing anyway.  We walk through the Cold War problem set that created it: Soviet Ground Control Intercept, massive integrated air defense networks, and the hard realization that you cannot shoot every radar off the map. From the Vietnam-era EB-66 to the Air Force demand for a fast, survivable escort jammer, the story lands on an unlikely hero: the controversial F-111 Aardvark, rebuilt into the EF-111A with the ALQ-99E system, the distinctive canoe radome, and the tail “football” that lets it listen in every direction.  Then we get practical. You will hear how tactical jamming actually works, why broadside geometry matters, how the two-ship “taco pattern” keeps a constant wall of noise on target, and why maintainers and calibration are as important as raw transmitter power. We also track the Raven’s combat record from Libya to Panama to Operation Desert Storm, including the famous air-to-air victory credited without firing a shot, and we close with the uncomfortable question of what the Air Force lost when the Raven retired in 1998.  If you enjoy military aviation history, electronic warfare, and the real mechanics of surviving contested airspace, subscribe, share this with a friend who loves jets, and leave a review. What do you think matters more in the next fight: speed, stealth, or jamming? Support the show To help support this podcast and become a PilotPhotog ProCast member: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1555784/support If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to this podcast, you can find links to most podcast streaming services here:  PilotPhotog Podcast (buzzsprout.com) Sign up for the free weekly newsletter Hangar Flyingwith Tog here:  https://hangarflyingwithtog.com   You can check out my YouTube channel for many videos on fighter planes here: https://youtube.com/c/PilotPhotog   If you’d like to support this podcast via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PilotPhotog   And finally, you can follow me on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/pilotphotog

  3. Jul 4

    Six Aircraft That Guard American Freedom

    Enjoyed this episode or the podcast in general? Send me a text message: 250 years ago, the United States began as a risky idea written on parchment. Today that idea is protected by something you can hear, see, and measure: air power built to deter wars before they start and to win if deterrence fails. We tell that story through six aircraft that form a living bridge between America’s past and its next century, from fighters that own the sky to bombers that reach the unreachable. We begin with the F-22 Raptor, a purpose-built air dominance machine that doesn’t just outfight threats, it denies them the first look and the first shot. Then we shift to the F-35 Lightning II and the reality that modern combat is as much about data as it is about speed: sensor fusion, electronic awareness, and sharing targeting information can decide outcomes without a missile ever leaving the rail. We also confront the messy side people always ask about, including costs, software delays, and the complicated road to Technology Refresh 3 and Block 4. From there, we highlight the Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet as the reliable carrier backbone that keeps showing up, now evolving with Block III upgrades, IRST, and stronger networking while the fleet waits for what comes next. On the long-range strike side, we break down what makes the B-1B Lancer a conventional payload powerhouse, why the B-2 Spirit remains a strategic shadow, and how the B-21 Raider represents a digital-age approach to stealth, open architecture upgrades, and building enough aircraft to matter. If you care about US military aviation, stealth aircraft, fifth-generation fighters, bomber modernization, and the future of deterrence in great power competition, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review with the aircraft you think best defines American air power right now. Support the show To help support this podcast and become a PilotPhotog ProCast member: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1555784/support If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to this podcast, you can find links to most podcast streaming services here:  PilotPhotog Podcast (buzzsprout.com) Sign up for the free weekly newsletter Hangar Flyingwith Tog here:  https://hangarflyingwithtog.com   You can check out my YouTube channel for many videos on fighter planes here: https://youtube.com/c/PilotPhotog   If you’d like to support this podcast via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PilotPhotog   And finally, you can follow me on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/pilotphotog

  4. Jul 1

    How The B-21 Hit Flight Test Milestones In Record Time

    Enjoyed this episode or the podcast in general? Send me a text message: A stealth bomber that moves from concept to prototype to flight faster than expected is already rare. A stealth bomber that then crushes its own developmental flight testing timeline is almost unheard of. We dig into how the B-21 Raider is pulling that off at Edwards Air Force Base and why the real story isn’t just the flying wing shape, it’s the process behind it. When a Combined Test Force can finish a 180-day test plan in 73 days, something fundamental has changed in how the U.S. Air Force and Northrop Grumman are running the program.  We walk through the practical enablers: scaling test capacity early with a second prototype (AF-002), splitting work so one airframe pushes airworthiness while the other tackles mission systems, sensors, and weapons integration, and then hitting public-facing milestones like extended tanker formation work and formal KC-135 aerial refueling trials. We also unpack the decision to put operational test pilots in the cockpit alongside developmental pilots far earlier than the usual handoff, tightening the loop between combat insight and software-defined capability.  Under the hood, the episode follows the digital engineering revolution: surrogate aircraft logging hundreds of hours to validate networks, avionics, and mission software, feeding a digital twin that helps avoid the delays that plague legacy acquisition. From production-ready tooling to propulsion choices built around modified F-135 cores, we connect engineering decisions to strategy, especially the Indo-Pacific “tyranny of distance,” tanker vulnerability, and why extreme fuel efficiency becomes a force multiplier. If you care about the future of stealth bomber development, defense procurement, and model-based systems engineering, this is the blueprint worth studying. Subscribe, share this with a friend who follows military aviation, and leave a review with your take on whether this digital pipeline should become the new standard. Support the show To help support this podcast and become a PilotPhotog ProCast member: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1555784/support If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to this podcast, you can find links to most podcast streaming services here:  PilotPhotog Podcast (buzzsprout.com) Sign up for the free weekly newsletter Hangar Flyingwith Tog here:  https://hangarflyingwithtog.com   You can check out my YouTube channel for many videos on fighter planes here: https://youtube.com/c/PilotPhotog   If you’d like to support this podcast via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PilotPhotog   And finally, you can follow me on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/pilotphotog

  5. Jun 23

    The Navy’s Forgotten Spy Jet

    Enjoyed this episode or the podcast in general? Send me a text message: A carrier strike doesn’t start with bombs, it starts with knowing what’s watching you. Today I’m telling the story of the ES-3A Shadow, one of the Navy’s most unusual aircraft and one of its most valuable: a carrier-based SIGINT and ELINT platform designed to listen, identify, and geolocate enemy radar and communications while orbiting safely outside SAM range. With its spine canoe, bulbous fairings, and more than 60 antennas, the Shadow looked odd on the flight deck, but it could build an electronic order of battle that made every other jet smarter and safer. We break down electronic warfare in practical terms, separating electronic attack from electronic intelligence, and then walk through why the S-3 Viking was such a strong foundation for a long-endurance reconnaissance aircraft. From the Shadow’s Ares II-derived mission suite to the AN/ALR-76 receiver system and APS-137 ISAR imaging, you’ll hear how it could sort dense radio frequency chaos, spot low-probability-of-intercept radar behavior, and even help ID ships at range for over-the-horizon targeting. Then we get into the human side: four crew members working in a cramped, dim cabin, plus maintainers fighting salt air, catapult shocks, and nonstop tempo to keep a tiny fleet of 16 jets mission-ready. Finally, we dig into the most controversial chapter, the 1999 retirement and the budget choices that left carrier air wings without organic SIGINT for years, before comparing the Shadow’s passive persistence to the EA-18G Growler’s networked, kinetic approach and asking what a “Shadow 2” could look like today. If you enjoyed this deep dive into naval aviation history, electronic warfare, and intelligence support to strike operations, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review. What aircraft do you think should have replaced the Shadow? Support the show To help support this podcast and become a PilotPhotog ProCast member: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1555784/support If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to this podcast, you can find links to most podcast streaming services here:  PilotPhotog Podcast (buzzsprout.com) Sign up for the free weekly newsletter Hangar Flyingwith Tog here:  https://hangarflyingwithtog.com   You can check out my YouTube channel for many videos on fighter planes here: https://youtube.com/c/PilotPhotog   If you’d like to support this podcast via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PilotPhotog   And finally, you can follow me on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/pilotphotog

  6. Jun 1

    How A Billion Dollars Turns The F-35 Into An Electronic Warfare Bully

    Enjoyed this episode or the podcast in general? Send me a text message: Stealth isn’t “dead” and it also isn’t enough. What actually decides who lives in contested airspace is who can sense, sort, jam, and adapt faster across the electromagnetic spectrum, and that’s why the F-35 is getting a nearly billion-dollar Barracuda electronic warfare upgrade. We walk through what the AN/ASQ-239 is built to do, why wideband transmitters and smarter receivers matter against modern, networked air defense systems, and how this refresh is meant to turn the jet into a far more aggressive digital threat. We also get real about the bottlenecks nobody memes about: heat, power, and integration. The more the F-35 becomes a flying supercomputer, the more PTMS cooling limits become mission limits. Then we unpack the collaborative side of stealth, from passive detection to MADL networking and time difference of arrival math that can triangulate a radar and cue a focused AESA beam for a fast shot. Next comes the spicy part: TR3 and Block 4. The hardware leap is massive, but the software has been unstable enough to delay deliveries, force truncated builds, and keep upgraded jets in training roles. From there, we look at the hopeful path forward with Project Overwatch and cognitive electronic warfare, where onboard AI can recognize new signals, retrain quickly, and push updates back to the fleet, plus quantum-resistant encryption aimed at the next cyber fight. If you care about the future of electronic warfare, airpower modernization, and what your defense dollars are really buying, hit play, then subscribe, share the show, and leave a review. What do you think matters more now: stealth shaping or spectrum dominance? Support the show To help support this podcast and become a PilotPhotog ProCast member: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1555784/support If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to this podcast, you can find links to most podcast streaming services here:  PilotPhotog Podcast (buzzsprout.com) Sign up for the free weekly newsletter Hangar Flyingwith Tog here:  https://hangarflyingwithtog.com   You can check out my YouTube channel for many videos on fighter planes here: https://youtube.com/c/PilotPhotog   If you’d like to support this podcast via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PilotPhotog   And finally, you can follow me on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/pilotphotog

  7. May 25

    The Super Hornet Endgame

    Enjoyed this episode or the podcast in general? Send me a text message: The Navy’s do-everything fighter is heading toward the end of the production line, and the question behind the headlines is bigger than one airplane: what replaces a carrier workhorse when budgets, engineering capacity, and strategy all collide? We dig into the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet story from the moment the Navy needed a lifeline after the Cold War drawdown, the A-12 “Flying Dorito” fiasco, and an aging flight deck that was burning through airframes and maintenance dollars. We walk through the procurement sleight of hand that got the Rhino approved as a “derivative,” then break down what made it a different beast in practice: more internal fuel, more payload flexibility, and the bring-back performance that saves real money and preserves options on the carrier. We also get into the compromises that come with a jack-of-all-trades Navy fighter, including the canted pylons that fix dangerous weapon separation and the early wing-drop problem that nearly killed the program before software and aerodynamic fixes turned it into a low-speed carrier monster. From there, the focus shifts to electronic warfare and modern upgrades. We revisit the ES-3A Shadow and why it disappears despite strong performance, then explain how the EA-18G Growler evolves the carrier air wing from passive listening to integrated electronic attack. Finally, we look at Block III modernization, DTP-N processing power, open architecture “app-like” upgrades, RST-21 passive counter-stealth sensing, and the AIM-174B’s long reach, all while F/A-XX funding stalls and service life modification programs keep 1990s airframes alive into the 2040s. Subscribe, share this with a friend who follows naval aviation, and leave a review with your take: is the Super Hornet the last manned Navy fighter, or just the bridge to what comes next? Support the show To help support this podcast and become a PilotPhotog ProCast member: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1555784/support If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to this podcast, you can find links to most podcast streaming services here:  PilotPhotog Podcast (buzzsprout.com) Sign up for the free weekly newsletter Hangar Flyingwith Tog here:  https://hangarflyingwithtog.com   You can check out my YouTube channel for many videos on fighter planes here: https://youtube.com/c/PilotPhotog   If you’d like to support this podcast via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PilotPhotog   And finally, you can follow me on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/pilotphotog

  8. May 5

    Why The A-10 Still Wins Over The Strait Of Hormuz

    Enjoyed this episode or the podcast in general? Send me a text message: The A-10 Warthog was supposed to be done. Too slow, too old, and too exposed for modern wars. Then Operation Epic Fury kicks off and suddenly the most advanced stealth jets run into a problem they can’t solve cleanly: small, fast attack boats weaving through commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, plus high-pressure missions that demand hours of persistent overwatch and instant, precise firepower. We walk through how the A-10 Thunderbolt II earns a new nickname, “boat buster,” and why its “weaknesses” become advantages in a medium-threat environment. From AGM-65 Maverick strikes to APKWS rockets and the bone-rattling GAU-8 Avenger cannon, the Warthog’s close air support mindset translates into maritime interdiction. We also dig into the most dramatic moment of the operation, the rescue of Dude 44, where A-10s reprise the “Sandy” mission by suppressing enemy forces and coordinating recovery under fire. From there, we get technical: the titanium bathtub, self-sealing fuel tanks, manual reversion, and the engineering realities of firing a cannon so powerful it can threaten your own engines. We explain the refueling challenge created by the KC-46 transition and the rapid fix that adds probe-and-drogue capability, unlocking agile combat employment with C-130 style tankers and lower-altitude refueling below the radar horizon. Finally, we weigh the looming 2030 retirement and the proposed replacements, including what changes when you compare gun time, cost per flight hour, and situational awareness. Subscribe, share this with the aviation nerd in your life, and leave a review if you want more deep dives like this. After listening, what aircraft should we break down next? Support the show To help support this podcast and become a PilotPhotog ProCast member: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1555784/support If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to this podcast, you can find links to most podcast streaming services here:  PilotPhotog Podcast (buzzsprout.com) Sign up for the free weekly newsletter Hangar Flyingwith Tog here:  https://hangarflyingwithtog.com   You can check out my YouTube channel for many videos on fighter planes here: https://youtube.com/c/PilotPhotog   If you’d like to support this podcast via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PilotPhotog   And finally, you can follow me on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/pilotphotog

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4.9
out of 5
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About

A podcast all about fighter planes, military aircraft, and aviation history. We will take a look at the pilots, designers, engineers, and maintainers who have flown or worked on some of the most iconic aircraft in history.    Available on all podcast steaming platforms, you can find a full directory here: https://pilotphotog.buzzsprout.comWant even more content? You can subscribe to my free newsletter here:  hangarflyingwithtog.comFollow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @pilotphotogNow you know! 

Information

  • Creator
    PilotPhotog
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    149
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 PilotPhotog Podcast
  • Show Website
    PilotPhotog Podcast

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