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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.
An MH-53 Pave Low helicopter at Hurlburt Field, Florida "From SPOOKY to Spectre" from the USAF Art Collection, artist depiction of an AC-130 Spectre and AC-47 Spooky gunship, both engaging targets. The current unit was organized as the Weapons School Special Operations Forces Division on 15 March 2000 at Hurlburt Field, Florida.
English: A U.S. Air Force Douglas AC-47D Spooky gunship (s/n 43-49010) of the 4th Special Operations Squadron at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, in June 1970. The 4th SOS had the tail code "EN" at Nha Trang Air Base, Vietnam.
The Douglas AC-47 Spooky was the first notable modern gunship. In 1964, during the Vietnam War, [2] the popular Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport was successfully modified into a gunship by the United States Air Force with three side-firing Miniguns for circling attacks. At the time the aircraft was known as a "Dragonship", "Puff, the Magic ...
Douglas AC-47 Spooky: Ground-attack aircraft and close air support gunship: Douglas Aircraft Company: Developed from the Douglas C-47 Skytrain, it itself developed from the acclaimed Douglas DC-3. Succeeded by the Fairchild AC-119 & the Lockheed AC-130. [8] First deployed over Vietnam in 1964. [9] 1964 [10] 1965 53 Bell AH-1 Cobra: Attack ...
AC-47 Gunship. The squadron was reactivated in October 1969 at England Air Force Base, Louisiana as the 548th Special Operations Training Squadron. Its mission was to train Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots and crews on the Douglas AC-47 Spooky gunship, which the United States was transferring to South Vietnamese control in the conflict ...
Although nominally stationed at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam, the squadron was organized at Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas, where it trained as the first gunship unit in the Air Force for the next three months. It flew night combat missions in South Vietnam manning the Douglas AC-47 Spooky gunship beginning in November 1965. By year's ...
He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his acts of heroism while serving on board a Douglas AC-47 Spooky gunship of the 3d Special Operations Squadron USAF on February 24, 1969. An airman first class at the time of his actions, he became the first enlisted serviceman in the Air Force to receive the Medal of Honor, the United States military's ...