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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.
Limited numbers continued to be operated out of Thailand as late as the fall of 1972, but the AC-119 was phased out shortly after from the US Air Force. The AC-119G and 119K continued to serve with the Republic of Vietnam Air Force until the Fall of Saigon in 1975. During the Vietnam War, only five AC-119 Gunship IIIs were lost to all causes. [3]
One of the first seven AC-130A aircraft deployed to Vietnam was AF serial no. 53–3129, named First Lady in November 1970. This aircraft was a conversion of the first production C-130. On 25 March 1971, it took an anti-aircraft artillery hit in the belly just aft of the nose gear wheel well over the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos. The 37 mm shell ...
They left as first-rate military aircraft headed for combat in Vietnam in a variety of missions. [ Note 1 ] EC-47s were also operated by the Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian Air Forces. [ 14 ] A gunship variation, using three 7.62 mm miniguns, designated AC-47 "Spooky" , often nicknamed " Puff the magic dragon ", also was deployed.
A Chase XG-20 glider, which was later converted to the XC-123A prototype. The XC-123 prototype. The C-123 Provider was designed originally as an assault glider aircraft for the United States Air Force (USAF) by Chase Aircraft as the XCG-20 (Chase designation MS-8 Avitruc) [2] Two powered variants of the XCG-20 were developed during the early 1950s, as the XC-123 and XC-123A.
Over the course of the air war in Vietnam, between 3 April 1965 and 8 January 1973, each side would ultimately claim favorable kill ratios. [117] During the war, U.S. Navy F-4 Phantoms claimed 40 air-to-air victories at a loss of seven Phantoms to enemy aircraft. [73] USMC F-4 pilots claimed three enemy MiGs at the cost of one aircraft in air ...
At 55 the Vietnam War begins and doesn’t end for 20 years. 4 million people perish in that conflict. On your 62nd birthday there is the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War.
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 531 (VMFA-531) was a United States Marine Corps fighter squadron consisting of various types aircraft from its inception culminating with the F/A-18 Hornet. Known as the "Grey Ghosts", the squadron participated in action during World War II and the Vietnam War. They were decommissioned on 27 March 1992.