The Douglas AC-47 ("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 .

Spooky -- the first operational Air Force gunship -- was based on the World War II-era Douglas C-47 cargo aircraft. Armed with three side-firing 7.62mm miniguns, Spooky gunships dropped flares and stopped enemy ground attacks against airfields, bases and villages.

2015年8月7日 · The AC-47 gunship, commonly referred to as Spooky, packed a trio of miniguns in the cargo hold of a WWII transport and could churn out 6,000 rounds per minute, with spent brass streaming out the...

The AC-47 made one pass, firing at the hostile combatants below. On its second pass, the plane took enemy fire, which blew off the right engine. Within seconds the other engine was also knocked out, and the plane crashed on the slope of a nearby mountain.

2022年1月18日 · By the end of 1964, the modified C-47s undergoing combat tests in Vietnam had flown 16 night combat missions, firing nearly 180,000 rounds to defend RVN outposts in and around the delta. Combat tests continued throughout the spring of 1965 and, in May, the Air Force adopted the C-47 gunship variant as its first fixed-wing gunship.

2024年10月25日 · A time lapse image of a night air assault by an AC-47 filling the dark skies with thousands of tracer rounds, demonstrating the firepower this aircraft could bring to bear against a large enemy...

2023年10月20日 · The AC-47 was designed for use in defense of Special Forces Camps and hamlets where it could provide close air support against enemy invaders and assist in counterinsurgency by dropping flares and breaking up Viet Cong attacks.

2018年5月12日 · Although the AC-47D “Spooky”, commonly referred to as “Puff” (as in “Puff the Magic Dragon”), was an effective attack system, it was also vulnerable to enemy fire. Fifteen aircraft were lost between December 1965 and September 1969.

2024年2月10日 · Will Dabbs, a former U.S. Army aviator, examines the Douglas AC-47 Spooky. The first in a series of fixed wing planes developed by the U.S. Air Force to be used as gunships, the aircraft brought a lot of firepower to Americans with an urgent need in the Vietnam War.

Armament: Three SUU-11A 7.62 mm "miniguns" firing at up to 6,000 rounds per minute. The AC-47D typically carried about 16,500 rounds of ammunition. Note: Three aircraft initially equipped with 8 or 10 .30-cal. machine guns and others had just two SUU-11A miniguns (due to lack of availability from the manufacturer).