Douglas AC-47 Spooky
attack aircraft series by Douglas
The Douglas AC-47 Spooky (also nicknamed "Puff, the Magic Dragon") was the first in a series of fixed-wing gunships developed by the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War. It was designed to provide more firepower than light and medium ground-attack aircraft in certain situations when ground forces called for close air support.
Design and development
The AC-47 was a United States Air Force (USAF) C-47 (the military version of the DC-3) that had been modified by mounting three 7.62 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, to provide close air support for ground troops. 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. The guns to be active for firing would be selected by an aerial gunner on a control panel on the right side of the cargo bay. Normally, two aerial gunners would be part of a normal crew. They would load the guns, clear malfunctions, and do inflight repair as well as select which gun(s) were online for the pilot to fire. It could orbit the target for hours, providing suppressing fire over an elliptical area about 52 yd (47.5 m) in diameter, placing a round every 2.4 yd (2.2 m) during a three-second burst. The aircraft also carried MK-24 Mod 3 parachute flares it could drop to illuminate the battleground.
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