#ac-47

[nocternalrandomness]

7.62mm General Electric GAU-2/M134 miniguns in the AC-47 "Spooky" Gunship

[usafphantom2]

Douglas AC-47 Spooky. First in a series of fixed-wing gunships developed by the USAF during Vietnam War. Designed to provide more firepower than light and medium ground-attack aircraft in certain situations when ground forces called for close air support.

@ron_eisele via X

[ashenangelart]

Vietnam War Humanized OC Drabble

"Lewis? What are you doing holed up over here?" Her soft, warm but worried smile was a gentle ray of sun in the dark jungle. He stared at her in quiet reverence. Dark brown curls carefully tamed into a professional woman's bun, plain blue eyes fierce with intelligence. She was too good to be running around in the mud with the rest of them.

Stone faced as he swirled the beer around in the bottle like it would stir up an answer that wouldn't make him feel any crazier, he brings the bottle back and downs it. Clearly, this did not impress her. Nor did the clink of the bottle getting tossed off into the bushes, clinking and shattering in the remains of the five others that had fallen before it.

"Your boys were looking for you after you stormed out of the medical tent." She drawled, words hanging heavy. "Didn't know where you took off to, so they came running to me." She sits down beside him on the log. "Told 'em I wasn't some rat, but I'd come get you when it was time for chow."

He let out a bitter puff of a laugh. "Cabbie almost bought it today." The words came sharp, a quiet fury stirring in his voice.

"That why you got your wrist all wrapped up and Cabbie didn't have a scratch on him?" She asks with a little tilt of her head, gaze lingering on the bandage.

"Yeah." He puffed out a sigh. "He was supposed to run lead, I took his spot. Armor ain't as good on the AC-119's, a good shake for me would have knocked his ass out of the air."

"They fixed that, though. After..." She grimaced, changing tactics as she saw the pinched expression starting to bloom on him face. "The brass learned. And your boys did too. He's a lot safer in his ride than you are in yours."

"Right." He scrubs his face, trying to shed the numbness that those beers brought about. "Chow time?"

"Yeah, chow time. Got your wounds licked?" She asks, lightly bumping shoulders with him before she gets up. She offers him a hand up, which he takes with a little wry smirk. "Gang's gonna be all over you, Spooky."

He nods, a comfortable silence settling between them as they walked back towards the mess tent. He could hear the clatter of his boys inside, and his broad wolfish grin slides on like a mask.

"Now what's this I hear about you boys harassing my dear lady Luck?"

[thestonecuttersguild]

Spooky, Oshkosh 2023

[c-130hercules]

Evolution of the Air Force's AC-130 Gunship

Based on Lockheed’s four-engine turboprop transport and weaponized by Boeing, the deadly AC-130 “aerial battleship” had humble beginnings.

Douglas FC-47D tail no. 0-48579—the original “Puff the Magic Dragon”—carried three 7.62mm GE miniguns in makeshift mounts. (U.S. Air Force)

An AC-47’s miniguns, each firing at a rate of 6,000 rounds per minute, unleash on Viet Cong positions. (U.S. Air Force)

With its armament of twin 40mm cannons and a pair of 20mm rotary guns, this Spectre awaits its next mission in a revetment at Thailand’s Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base. (U.S. Air Force)

4th Special Operations Squadron crewmen operate an AC-130U’s 105mm gun. (U.S. Air Force)

To supplement the AC-130 in Vietnam, the Fairchild AC-119G and K were developed. (U.S. Air Force)

An AC-130H from the 16th Special Operations Squadron heads out on another mission. (U.S. Air Force)

[floridaboiler]

the ultimate form of the armed cargo aircraft. The Gunship!

 The Gunship concept started with the Douglas AC-47 Spooky I which is a C-47 Skytrain, which is the military version of the famed Douglas DC-3 airliner from the 1930's. During the Vietnam War, the USAF armed the C-47 with side firing Vulcan cannon in the fuselage. The aircraft made full use of it's hauling capacity to literally carry masses of ammunition to the fight where they rained down bullets on the enemy on the ground. As the weapons are side mounted on the left, the aircraft is flown in a banking pylon turn in order to bring it's weapons onto the right bearing.

The basic concept proved so successful, that it was expended onto the Fairchild AC-119G Shadow and AC-119K Stinger.

When the Lockheed C-130 Hercules entered service, the Gunship concept shifted again to the new platform where over time, it had developed into a number of successive versions with the main difference between them being the weapons loadout and sensors. The basic operational doctrine remains the same however, a gunship has it's weapons mounted internally and firing out the port/left side of the aircraft. The aircraft is flown in the now well established pylon turn to bring it's weapons to bear on the target.

The here is a AC-130U Spooky II. Note how all of it's weapons and targeting sensors are mounted on the port/left side. Credits in pic.

[coldwarairforce]

The U.S. Air Force AC-47 Dragon aircraft flies missions over South Vietnam in support of allied outposts. 1967.

[nocternalrandomness]

"Spooky"