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AC-47 Spooky

An AC-47 on the ground at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, June 1970. For the civil use of the facility after January 1976 see Udon Thani International Airport Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base (Udorn RTAFB is a

TypeFixed-wing gunship
ManufacturerDouglas Aircraft Company
Introduced1965
StatusIn service in Colombia
Primary usersUnited States Air Force
Vietnam Air Force
Royal Lao Air Force
Colombian Air Force
Developed fromC-47 Skytrain

The Douglas AC-47 Spooky was the first in a series of gunships developed by the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War. For the game see Gunship (video game The term " gunship " is used in several contexts all sharing the general idea of a light craft armed An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing building testing selling and maintaining Aircraft, Aircraft parts The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American Aerospace manufacturer, based in Long Beach California. Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America. History The VNAF (abbreviation for V iet N am A ir F orce Vietnamese is "Không Quân Việt Nam" started off as a few hand The Royal Lao Air Force was the air force branch of the Military of the Royal Lao Government in the Kingdom of Laos. The Colombian Air Force or FAC (Fuerza Aérea Colombiana is the Air Force of The Republic of Colombia. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American Aerospace manufacturer, based in Long Beach California. For the game see Gunship (video game The term " gunship " is used in several contexts all sharing the general idea of a light craft armed The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia It was felt that more firepower than could be provided by light and medium attack aircraft was needed in some situations when ground forces called for close air support. In Military tactics, close air support ( CAS) is defined as air action by fixed or rotary winged aircraft against hostile targets that are in close proximity to

Contents

Design and development

The AC-47 was a United States Air Force C-47 Skytrain (the military version of the DC-3) that had been modified by mounting three 7. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout 62 mm General Electric miniguns to fire through two rear window openings and the side cargo door, all on the left (pilot's) side of the aircraft. The minigun is a multi-barrel Machine gun with a high rate of fire (several thousand Rounds per minute) employing Gatling -style rotating barrels and an Other armament configurations could also be found on similar C-47 based aircraft around the world. The guns were actuated by a control on the pilot's yoke, where he could control the guns either individually or together, though gunners were also among the crew to assist with gun failures and similar issues. Its primary function was for close air support for ground troops, both U.S. and South Vietnamese. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the "RVN" redirects here RVN is also the former callsign of a TV station in Wagga Wagga New South Wales Australia Once called into action, it could loiter, orbiting the designated target, sometimes for hours, providing suppressing fire. Suppressive fire (also known as covering fire) is a term used in Military science for firing Weapons at or in the direction of enemy forces with the Coverage given by a Spooky was over an elliptical area approximately 52 yards in diameter, placing a projectile within every 2. 4 yards during a 3 second burst. [1]

Moreover, the plane carried 24,000 rounds of ammunition. Its high ammunition supply meant the AC-47 was highly unpopular with those on the receiving end of its fire, and extremely popular with the troops it supported (who nicknamed it Puff the Magic Dragon; there was even penned a version of the popular tune dedicated to the gunship). "Puff the Magic Dragon" is also the nickname of the Douglas AC-47 Spooky gunship an American military plane used during the Vietnam War In addition to the miniguns, it also carried flares, which it could drop at will to light up the battleground.

AC-47
AC-47

Due to the age of its base airframe, the aircraft was very vulnerable to ground fire. Consequently, further gunship designs, the AC-119 gunship and the AC-130 gunship were developed, based around newer cargo airframes. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Lockheed AC-130 Gunship is a heavily-armed ground attack airplane

When the AC-47 was introduced, it was the first of its kind in and there were no preceding designs to gauge how successful the concept would be. When requests for additional gunships began to come in, the USAF found itself in a precarious situation. It simply did not have enough miniguns initially to fit additional aircraft after the first two conversions. The next four aircraft were in fact equipped with 10 AN/M2 . The Browning M1919 is a.30 caliber Medium machine gun family widely used during the 20th century 30 caliber (7. 62 mm) machine guns. For other uses of the phrase see Machine Gun (disambiguation. However, it was quickly found that these weapons, using ammunition stocks from WWII and Korea jammed easily, were extremely dirty in terms of gases produced from firing, and 10 guns could only provide the density of fire of a single minigun. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korean and South Korean regimes with major hostilities lasting from June 25 1950 until the When additional miniguns arrived, all four of these aircraft were retrofitted with to the standard armament configuration.

The mounting hardware initially used on the AC-47 simply used SUU-11/A gun pods that were installed on locally fabricated mounts for the gunship application. The idea of the Gun pod as a concept largely came into its prime during and period following World War II. A gun pod is a detachable pod or pack containing Machine guns or Automatic cannon and ancillaries mounted externally on a Vehicle such as a Military Eventually, Emerson Electric developed the MXU-470/A, a purpose built mount, which replaced the gun pods, and was also used on subsequent gunship aircraft. Emerson Electric Company ( NYSE: EMR is a major Multinational corporation headquartered in St The minigun is a multi-barrel Machine gun with a high rate of fire (several thousand Rounds per minute) employing Gatling -style rotating barrels and an

Operational history

AC-47 at Nha Trang Air Base in South Vietnam
AC-47 at Nha Trang Air Base in South Vietnam

The AC-47D gunship should not be confused with a small number of C-47s were fitted with electronic equipment the 1950s. Nha Trang Air Base (1955-1975 was a Republic of Vietnam Air Force Force (VNAF facility Prior to 1962, these aircraft were designated AC-47D. When a new designation system was adopted in 1962, these became EC-47Ds. On the 18 September 1962, the United States Department of Defense introduced a unified designation system for the aircraft of the United States armed forces WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout In August 1964 years of fixed wing gunship experimentation reached a new peak with the intiation Project Tailchaser. This test involved the conversion of a single Convair C-131B to be able to fire a single GAU-2/A Minigun at downward angle out of the left side of the aircraft. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The minigun is a multi-barrel Machine gun with a high rate of fire (several thousand Rounds per minute) employing Gatling -style rotating barrels and an It was discovered that even using crude grease pencil crosshairs it was very easy for a pilot flying in a pylon turn to hit a stationary area target with relative accuracy. A pylon turn is a flight maneuver in which an aircraft banks into a circular turn around a fixed spot on the ground Testing was conducted at Eglin AFB by ADTC.

By October, a C-47D under Project Gunship was converted to a similar standard as the Project Tailchaser aircraft, but instead with a total of 3 Miniguns. The minigun is a multi-barrel Machine gun with a high rate of fire (several thousand Rounds per minute) employing Gatling -style rotating barrels and an These were initially mounted on locally fabricated mounts, which essentially strapped gun pods intended for fixed wing aircraft (SUU-11/A) onto a mount allowing them to be fired remotely out the port side. A gun pod is a detachable pod or pack containing Machine guns or Automatic cannon and ancillaries mounted externally on a Vehicle such as a Military The idea of the Gun pod as a concept largely came into its prime during and period following World War II. This aircraft was sent for use by the 4th Air Commando in the Republic of Vietnam for operational testing. The 4th Special Operations Squadron ( 4 SOS) is part of the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida. "RVN" redirects here RVN is also the former callsign of a TV station in Wagga Wagga New South Wales Australia By mid-1965, a total of 6 aircraft were operating with the 4th Air Commando, and by fall of 1965, there were 20 more. The original gunships had been designated FC-47D by the United States Air Force, but with protests from fighter pilots, this designation was changed to AC-47D during 1965. Eventually the 4th Air Commando was absorbed into the 14th Special Operations Wing (SOW), and AC-47Ds were assigned to the 3rd and 4th Special Operations Squadrons (SOS), as well as, later to the 432nd Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base. 3d Special Operations Squadron flies MQ-9 Reaper UAV 's and is currently stationed at Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nevada The 4th Special Operations Squadron ( 4 SOS) is part of the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida. For the civil use of the facility after January 1976 see Udon Thani International Airport Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base (Udorn RTAFB is a By war's end, the USAF lost 19 AC-47 Gunship I's, to all causes. [2]

MXU-470/A Minigun modules in an AC-47.
MXU-470/A Minigun modules in an AC-47. The minigun is a multi-barrel Machine gun with a high rate of fire (several thousand Rounds per minute) employing Gatling -style rotating barrels and an

As the United States began Project Gunship II and Project Gunship III, many of the remaining AC-47Ds were transferred to the Vietnam Air Force (VNAF), the Royal Lao Air Force (RLAF), and to Cambodia, after Prince Sihanouk was deposed in a coup by General Lon Nol. The Lockheed AC-130 Gunship is a heavily-armed ground attack airplane WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout History The VNAF (abbreviation for V iet N am A ir F orce Vietnamese is "Không Quân Việt Nam" started off as a few hand The Royal Lao Air Force was the air force branch of the Military of the Royal Lao Government in the Kingdom of Laos. The Kingdom of Cambodia ( formerly known as Kampuchea (, transliterated: Preăh Réachéanachâkr Kâmpŭchea) is a country in South East Names and titles Since his abdication Sihanouk's official Cambodian title (short version the most-widely used is Preah Karuna Preah Bat Sâmdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk Preahmâhaviraksat Lon Nol (​ November 13, 1913 - November 17, 1985) was a Cambodian Politician and Soldier who served as Prime

John L. Levitow was an AC-47 loadmaster on the February 24, 1969 mission that earned him the Medal of Honor. John L Levitow (November 1 1945&ndashNovember 8 2000 was one of two Air Force enlisted men to receive the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. Events 303 - Galerius, Roman Emperor, publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christians in his portion of the Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government.

Retrofitted AC-47s are still in use in Colombia, where they are known by civilians as Avion fantasma (ghost planes). Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America. They are successfully operated by the local airforce in COIN operations in conjunction with AH-60 Arpia helicopters (an armed variant of the UH-60) and A-37 Dragonflys against local illegal armed groups. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout These are mostly likely the five BT-67s purchased by Colombia with 12. 7mm machine guns (of unknown type) slaved to a Forward Looking Infrared (or FLIR) system. For more information see Colombia: Seguridad & Defensa. The BT-67 is a variant of the C-47/DC-3 made by the Basler Corporation of Oshkosh, WI. The Basler BT-67 is a Fixed-wing aircraft produced by Basler Turbo Conversions. These "Turbo Dakotas" feature Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67R turboprops, driving five-bladed Hartzell propellers, along with essentially overhauling the basic airframe. Pratt & Whitney Canada ( PWC) is a Canadian Aircraft engine manufacturer WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout

Variants of the AC-47 based on various iterations of the airframe including the BT-67, have been used by Laos, Cambodia, South Africa, and Rhodesia, to name just a few, and with a variety of weapons configurations including gatling weapons of numerous types, various medium and heavy machine guns, and larger autocannon (South African "Dragon Daks" were known to fit 20 mm cannons). Laos (ˈlɑːoʊs or /ˈlaʊs/ officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a Landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma The Kingdom of Cambodia ( formerly known as Kampuchea (, transliterated: Preăh Réachéanachâkr Kâmpŭchea) is a country in South East The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Rhodesia was the name adopted when the formerly British colony of Southern Rhodesia declared itself independent ( Unilateral Declaration of Independence

Operators

Current Operators

Flag of Colombia Colombia
Flag of El Salvador El Salvador
Flag of Thailand Thailand

Former Operators

Flag of Cambodia Cambodia
Flag of Laos Laos
Flag of Rhodesia Rhodesia
Flag of South Africa South Africa
Flag of South Vietnam South Vietnam
Flag of the United States United States

Specifications (AC-47)

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

References

  1. ^ AC-47D factsheet from the National Museum of the USAF. The Browning M1919 is a.30 caliber Medium machine gun family widely used during the 20th century Each minigun fired at a rate of 6000 rounds per minute. This provided coverage over an elliptical area approximately 52 yards in diameter, placing a projectile within every 2. 4 yards during a 3 second burst.
  2. ^ Hobson, Chris. Vietnam Air Losses, USAF/USN/USMC, Fixed-Wing Aircraft Losses in Southeast Asia 1961-1973. 2001. ISBN 1-85780-1156

External links

See also

Related development

Comparable aircraft

Related lists

A pylon turn is a flight maneuver in which an aircraft banks into a circular turn around a fixed spot on the ground WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Lockheed AC-130 Gunship is a heavily-armed ground attack airplane A list of attack aircraft 1930-40 Northrop A-17 Junkers JU-87 "Stuka" Il-2 Sturmovik This list of military aircraft of the United States includes prototype pre-production and operational types
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