![]() ![]() ![]() The ground troops affectionately called the AC-47 “Puff – the Magic Dragon”. On December 2, 1964, the first AC-47s arrived in Vietnam and were assigned to the 1st Air Commando Squadron. The flight testing of these “gun ships” was accomplished here at Eglin AFB, FL in 1964, using three 7.62mm SUU-11A Gatling mini-guns. The development of the “Gooney Bird” as a gunship was largely due to a pilot’s need to train his guns on a site and continue to circle the site for long periods of time, while continually hitting the target with reasonable accuracy. They participated in the Berlin Airlift, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. They carried personnel and cargo, towed troop-carrying gliders and dropped paratroops into enemy territory. The first C-47s were ordered in 1940 and by the end of WW II, 9,348 had been procured for the USAAF. The aircraft was adapted from the DC-3 commercial airliner which appeared in 1936. Few aircraft are as well known or were so widely used for so long as the C-47 or “Gooney Bird” as it was nicknamed.
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