PilotPhotog Podcast

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.com Want even more content? You can subscribe to my free newsletter here: hangarflyingwithtog.com Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @pilotphotog Now you know!

PilotPhotog Podcast is a history podcast hosted by PilotPhotog, with 149 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

PilotPhotog hosts PilotPhotog Podcast, a history show with 149 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  PilotPhotog Podcast

  The Navy’s All-Weather Workhorse

  Aug 10, 202631 minS6

  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: h ttps://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

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  PilotPhotog Podcast

  How The EF-111A Raven Blindfolded Enemy Radar

  Jul 21, 202623 minS6

  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: h ttps://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

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  PilotPhotog Podcast

  Six Aircraft That Guard American Freedom

  Jul 4, 202618 minS6

  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: h ttps://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

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  PilotPhotog Podcast

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

  Jul 1, 202617 min

  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: h ttps://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

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  PilotPhotog Podcast

  The Navy’s Forgotten Spy Jet

  Jun 23, 202625 minS6

  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: h ttps://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

  ListenShow Notes

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.