Douglas AC - 47 Spooky The Douglas AC - 47 Spooky ( also nicknamed " Puff , the Magic Dragon " ) was the first in a series of gunship s developed by the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War . More firepower than could be provided by Light and medium ground - attack aircraft was thought to be needed in some situations when ground forces called for close air support . Design and development . The AC - 47 was a United States Air Force C - 47 , ( the military version of the DC - 3 ) that had been modified by mounting three 7 . 62mm General Electric minigun s to fire through two rear window openings and the side cargo door , all on the left ( pilot ' s ) side of the aircraft , and the modified craft ' s primary function was close air support for ground troops . Other armament configurations could also be found on similar C - 47 based aircraft around the world . The guns were actuated by a control on the pilot ' s yoke whereby he could control the guns either individually or together , although gunners were also among the crew to assist with gun failures and similar issues . It could orbit the target for hours providing suppressing fire over an elliptical area approximately 52 yd ( 47 . 5 m ) in diameter , placing a round every 2 . 4 yd ( 2 . 2 m ) during a 3 - second burst . The aircraft also carried flares that it could drop to illuminate the battleground . The AC - 47 had no previous design to gauge how successful it would be because it was the first of its kind . The USAF found itself in a precarious situation when requests for additional gunships began to come in because simply lacked miniguns to fit additional aircraft after the first two conversions . The next four aircraft were equipped with 10 . 30 caliber AN / M2 machine gun s . However , these weapons , using World War II and Korean War ammunition stocks , were quickly discovered to jam easily , produce large amounts of gases from firing , and , even in 10 - gun groups , only provide the density of fire of a single minigun . All four of these aircraft were retrofitted to the standard armament configuration when additional miniguns arrived . The AC - 47 initially used SUU - 11 / A gun pod s that were installed on locally fabricated mounts for the gunship application . Emerson Electric eventually developed the MXU - 470 / A to replace the gun pods , which were also used on subsequent gunships . Operational history . United States Air Force . In August 1964 , years of fixed wing gunship experimentation reached a new peak with " Project Tailchaser " under the direction of Capt . John C . Simons . This test involved the conversion of a single Convair C - 131B to be capable of firing a single GAU - 2 / A Minigun at a downward angle out of the left side of the aircraft . Even crude grease pencil crosshairs were quickly discovered to enable a pilot flying in a pylon turn to hit a stationary area target with relative accuracy and ease . The Armament Development and Test Center ( ADTC ) tested the craft at Eglin Air Force Base , Florida , but lack of funding soon suspended the tests . In 1964 Capt . Ron W . Terry returned from temporary duty in Vietnam as part of an Air Force Systems Command team reviewing all aspects of air operations in counter - insurgency warfare , where he had noted the usefulness of C - 47s and C - 123s orbiting as flare ships during night attacks on fortified hamlets . He received permission to conduct a live - fire test using the C - 131 and revived the side - firing gunship program . By October , Capt . Terry ' s team under " Project Gunship " provided a C - 47D , which was converted to a similar standard as the Project Tailchaser aircraft and armed with three Minigun s , which were initially mounted on locally fabricated mounts — essentially strapped gun pod s intended for fixed wing aircraft ( SUU - 11 / A ) - - onto a mount allowing them to be fired remotely out the port side . Captain Terry and a testing team arrived at Bien Hoa Air Base , South Vietnam , on 2 December 1964 , with equipment needed to modify two C - 47s . The first test aircraft ( 43 - 48579 , a C - 47B - 5 - DK mail courier converted to C - 47D standard by removal of its superchargers ) was ready by 11 December , the second by 15 December , and both were allocated to the 1st Air Commando Squadron for combat testing . The newly dubbed " FC - 47 " often operated under the radio call sign " Puff " . Its primary mission involved protecting villages , hamlets and personnel from mass attacks by VC guerrilla units . Puff ' s first significant success occurred on the night of 23 – 24 December 1964 . An FC - 47 arrived over the Special Forces outpost at Tranh Yend in the Mekong Delta just 37 minutes after an air support request , fired 4 , 500 rounds of ammunition , and broke the Viet Cong attack . The FC - 47 was then called to support a second outpost at Trung Hung , about 20 miles away . The aircraft again blunted the VC attack and forced a retreat . Between 15 and 26 December , all the FC - 47s 16 combat sorties were successful . On 8 February 1965 , an FC - 47 flying over the Bong Son area of Vietnam ’ s Central Highlands demonstrated its capabilities in the process of blunting a Vietcong offensive . For over four hours , it fired 20 , 500 rounds into a Viet Cong hilltop position , killing an estimated 300 Vietcong troops . The early gunship trials were so successful that the second aircraft was returned to the United States early in 1965 to provide crew training . In July 1965 , Headquarters USAF ordered TAC to establish an AC - 47 squadron . By November 1965 , a total of five aircraft were operating with the 4th Air Commando Squadron , activated in August as the first operational unit , and by the end of 1965 , a total of 26 had been converted . Training Detachment 8 , 1st Air Commando Wing , was subsequently established at Forbes AFB , Kansas . In Operation Big Shoot , the 4th ACS in Vietnam grew to 20 AC - 47s ( 16 aircraft plus four reserves for attrition ) . The 4th ACS deployed to Tan Son Nhut Air Base , Vietnam , on 14 November 1965 . Now using the call sign " Spooky , " each of its three 7 . 62 mm miniguns could selectively fire either 50 or 100 rounds per second . Cruising in an overhead left - hand orbit at 120 knots air speed at an altitude of 3 , 000 ft , the gunship could put a bullet or glowing red tracer ( every fifth round ) bullet into every square yard of a football field - sized target in potentially less than 10 seconds . And , as long as its 45 - flare and 24 , 000 - round basic load of ammunition held out , it could do this intermittently while loitering over the target for hours . In May 1966 , the squadron moved north to Nha Trang Air Base to join the newly activated 14th Air Commando Wing . The 3rd Air Commando Squadron was activated at Nha Trang on 5 April 1968 as a second AC - 47 squadron , with both squadrons redesignated " Special Operations Squadron " s on 1 August 1968 . Flights of both squadrons were stationed at bases throughout South Vietnam , and one flight of the 4th SOS served at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base with the 432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing . The superb work of the two AC - 47 squadrons , each with 16 AC - 47s flown by aircrews younger than the aircraft they flew , was undoubtedly a key contributor to the award of the Presidential Unit Citation to the 14th Air Commando Wing in June 1968 . One of the most publicized battles of the Vietnam War was the siege of Khe Sanh in early 1968 , known as " Operation Niagara . " More than 24 , 000 tactical and 2700 B - 52 strikes dropped 110 , 000 tons of ordnance in attacks that averaged over 300 sorties per day . During the two and a half months of combat in that tiny area , fighters were in the air day and night . At night , AC - 47 gunships kept up a constant chatter of fire against enemy troops . During darkness , AC - 47 gunships provided illumination against enemy troops . The AC - 47D gunship should not be confused with a small number of C - 47s which were fitted with electronic equipment in the 1950s . Prior to 1962 , these aircraft were designated AC - 47D . When a new designation system was adopted in 1962 , these became EC - 47 Ds . The original gunships had been designated FC - 47D by the United States Air Force , but with protests from fighter pilots , this designation was changed to AC - 47D during 1965 . Of the 53 aircraft converted to AC - 47 configuration , 41 served in Vietnam and 19 were lost to all causes , 12 in combat . Combat reports indicate that no village or hamlet under Spooky Squadron protection was ever lost , and there are a plethora of reports from civilians and military personnel about AC - 47s coming to the rescue and saving their lives . As the United States began Project Gunship II and Project Gunship III , many of the remaining AC - 47Ds were transferred to the Vietnam Air Force ( VNAF ) , the Royal Lao Air Force ( RLAF ) , and to Cambodia , after Prince Sihanouk was deposed in a coup by General Lon Nol . A1C John L . Levitow , an AC - 47 loadmaster with the 3rd SOS , received the Medal of Honor for saving his aircraft , " Spooky 71 " , from destruction on 24 February 1969 during a fire support mission at Long Binh . The aircraft was struck by an 82 mm mortar round that inflicted 3 , 500 shrapnel holes , wounding Levitow 40 times , but he used his body to jettison an armed magnesium flare , which ignited shortly after Levitow ejected it from the aircraft , allowing the AC - 47 to return to base . Other air forces . In 2006 , Colombia started operating retrofitted AC - 47s , where they are known by civilians as " Avion fantasma " ( ghost planes ) . They are successfully operated by the Colombian Air Force in counter - insurgency operations in conjunction with AH - 60 Arpia helicopters ( an armed variant of the UH - 60 ) and Cessna A - 37 Dragonfly s against local illegal armed groups . These are five Basler BT - 67 s purchased by Colombia with . 50 in ( 12 . 7 mm ) GAU - 19 / A machine guns slaved to a Forward Looking Infrared ( or FLIR ) system . They also have the ability to carry bombs . At least one has been seen fitted with one GAU - 19 / A and a 20 mm cannon , most likely a French made M621 . The BT - 67 is a variant of the C - 47 / DC - 3 modified by the Basler Corporation of Oshkosh , Wisconsin . In 1970 , the Indonesian Air Force converted a formerly civilian DC - 3 . The converted aircraft was armed with three . 50 caliber machine guns . During 1975 the Indonesian Air Force used its " AC - 47 " in the Indonesian invasion of East Timor to attack the city of Dili . Later , the aircraft was used in Indonesian military CAS ( Close Air Support ) missions in East Timor . A retirement date is unknown . In late 1984 – 85 , the United States supplied two AC - 47 gunships to the El Salvador Air Force ( FAS ) and trained aircrews to operate the system . The AC - 47 gunship carried three . 50 - caliber machine guns and could loiter and provide heavy firepower for army operations . As the FAS had long operated C - 47s , it was easy for the United States to train pilots and crew to operate the aircraft as a weapons platform . By all accounts , the AC - 47 soon became probably the most effective weapon in the FAS arsenal . Variants of the AC - 47 based on various iterations of the airframe including the BT - 67 , have been used by Laos , Cambodia , South Africa , El Salvador and Rhodesia , to name just a few , and with a variety of weapons configurations including Gatling guns of numerous types , various medium and heavy machine guns , and larger autocannon ( South African " Dragon Daks " were known to fit 20 mm cannons ) . The Republic of China Air Force ( Taiwanese Air Force ) also converted some of its C - 47 to gunships . These machines were armed with M2 machine guns . In popular culture . German Thrash metal band Sodom ' s 1989 album Agent Orange , revolving largely around Vietnam War themes , features a track named " Magic Dragon " . The album ' s cover art drawing also depicts the gunner of an AC - 47 in action . The development and early deployment of the AC - 47 is the subject of " The Gooney Bird " by William C . Anderson . Anderson went to Vietnam to research this novel , which features a fiction story written around a number of historical facts . In the film " The Green Berets , " an AC - 47 strike enables the American and South Vietnamese forces to retake their firebase , after losing it in an all - night battle . AC - 47 also appears in the first - person shooter " Battlefield Vietnam " .