AC-47 Spooky

The C-47, nicknamed the “Gooney Bird,” was adapted from the DC-3 commercial airliner that appeared in 1936. The first C-47s were ordered in 1940, and by the end of World War II, 9,348 had been procured for the USAAF. They carried personnel and cargo, towed troop-carrying gliders, dropped paratroops into enemy territory, and later participated in the Berlin Airlift, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The aircraft’s development as a gunship grew largely from a pilot’s need to keep guns trained on a site while circling it for long periods and still hitting the target with reasonable accuracy. Flight testing of these gunships was carried out at Eglin AFB, Florida, in 1964 using three 7.62mm SUU-11A Gatling mini-guns. On December 2, 1964, the first AC-47s arrived in Vietnam and were assigned to the 1st Air Commando Squadron. Ground troops affectionately called the AC-47 “Puff – the Magic Dragon,” and it was noted that the Viet Cong, never having seen such an attack from the sky, thought it to be a fire-breathing dragon. “Spooky” became the AC-47’s call sign and the name that endured. The aircraft depicted is a C-47K S/N 44-76486 shown as AC-47 S/N 43-49010, one of the first twenty C-47s converted to AC-47 configuration by Air Interactional at Miami, Florida. AC-47 S/N 43-49010 served with the 4th Special Operations Squadron, 14th Special Operations Wing, at Udorn RTAFB, Thailand, during the Vietnam War from 1969 to 1970.

Florida · United States