C-47 Transport by claudialee
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Description
Few aircraft are as well known or were so widely used for so long as the Douglas C-47 or "Gooney Bird" as it was affectionately nicknamed.
In Vietnam, the C-47 served again as a transport, but it was also used in a variety of other ways which included flying ground attack (gunship), reconnaissance, and psychological warfare missions.
Douglas AC-47 Spooky
An AC-47 on the ground.
Type Fixed-wing gunship
Manufacturer Douglas Aircraft Company
Introduced 1965
The Douglas AC-47 Spooky was the first in a series of gunships developed by the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War. It was felt that more firepower than could be provided by light and medium attack aircraft was needed in some situations when ground forces called for close support.
The AC-47 was a United States Air Force C-47 Skytrain that had been modified by mounting three 7.62 mm General Electric miniguns to fire through two rear window openings and the side cargo door, all on the left (pilot's) side of the aircraft. (However, first prototypes had a group of up to ten Browning .50 machine guns instead.) The guns were actuated by a control on the pilot's yoke, where he could control the guns either individually or together. Its primary function was for close air support for ground troops, both U.S. and South Vietnamese. Once called into action, it could loiter, orbiting the designated target, sometimes for hours, providing suppressing fire. A three second burst from all guns, according to Air Force reports, would put one round in every square foot of a football field sized target. As it carried over 24,000 rounds of ammunition, it was highly unpopular with those on the receiving end of its fire and extremely popular with the troops it flew in support of who gave it the nickname of Puff the Magic Dragon. In addition to the miniguns, it also carried flares, which it could drop at will to light up the battleground.
Thank You very much for taking your time to view this photo and/or comment.
I hope that this will be a very good week for each of you. HUGS!!!!
Comments (12)
Zacko
"Few aircraft are as well known or were so widely used for so long as the Douglas C-47 or "Gooney Bird" as it was affectionately nicknamed"....and yet i have never heard of them until now, LOL. Might be because im not so much into aircrafts. I did enjoy your notes very much though, fascinating reading. And a really beautiful photo. Wonderful colors....i really like that red tree peeking in on the right side. Have a wonderful day Claudia. #:o)
Valerie-Ducom
wowwwwww fantastic nshot and excellent composition in this one my lady dear... thank you for sharing this one!!! Good day and hugs
teoratiu
ready to take off
goodoleboy
Good nostalgic shot there, ClaudiaLee! As an amateur aviation buff, I remember this good old workhorse of the US Army, used both in Vietnam and World War II. Depending on its purpose, the C-47 was also known as the Dakota (when used by the British), the C-53 Skytrooper (for troop transport), and the R4D (radar countermeasures). The C-47 is the military adaptation of the famous and dependable Douglas DC-3 civilian transport, which first flew way back in December 17, 1935, which makes it older than most of the people reading this message. HUGS back to you!
Loloe
Nice capture and very interesting comment! Bravo claudia!!! Have a wonderful day!!! Big hugs
Cosme..D..Churruca
Splendid capture !
marybelgium
interesting and great find !
rainbows
Super shot, sweet Claudia.. Tip top :-) Splendid info too!! Hugs Di.
weesel
Excellent photo and description. IIRC, the AC-47 has been superseded by the AC-130 which mounts a few more gatlings and an automatic 105mm... as one advertisement said: When you care to send the very best. Nasty thing to be on the wrong end of, but then... a few folks have earned that 'right.'
Buffalo1
Great photo of a great plane, Claudia. Thanks for the Spooky history, too. The U.S. Military flew C-47 types until the early 1970s. Gotta love this one even more for being in D-Day invasion stripes.
danob
Yeah the old Dakota here in the UK was more or less out of service in my RAF days but I spent more hours than I care to remember in the C-130 and have the marks on my bum to prove it!! Lovely nostagic shot of a bygone era
Richardphotos
as a child I saw many of these flying over as there is a Douglas plant in my home town and we was in the flight path.early mornings one could hear them testing jet engines although we was about 10 miles away.these were used in theaters all over the world and some are still in use in small countries.they carried so many passengers as the DC3 configuration.exzcellent capture