peterg Posted July 22, 2003 Share Posted July 22, 2003 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mb893 Posted July 22, 2003 Share Posted July 22, 2003 Oooohps, more dis-information. This picture does come from the Vietnam war and it's an AC47 during the Tete (?) offensive. I've got a book published in the late 70's with the same picure! You can't trust anyone these days. 4000rpm..... mmmmmmmmmm. JC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterg Posted July 22, 2003 Author Share Posted July 22, 2003 B*gger, so 'spin' wins again eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hilux Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 it's an AC47 The AC47 introduced a new principle to air attack in Vietnam. Troubled by difficulties in conducting nighttime defense, Capt. Ronald Terry of the US Air Force Aeronautical Systems Division recalled reading about missionaries in Latin America who lowered baskets of supplies on a rope from a tightly circling airplane. During the series of pylon turns, the basket remained suspended over a selected point on the ground. Could this principle be applied to fire from automatic weapons? Tests proved it could, and could be extremely successful. The aircraft chosen for this new principle was a version of the Douglas C47. It was dubbed, "Puff the Magic Dragon", after a popular song of the day, because it resembled a dragon overhead with flames billowing from its guns. In operation, Puff's "flare kicker" illuminated the target, then the pilot used a mark on his left window as a gun sight, and circled slowly as three multibarrel machine guns fired 18,000 rounds per minute from the door and the two windows in the port side of the rear compartment. Ground troops welcomed the sight of Puff because of its ability to put a heavy dose of defensive fire in a surgically determined area. AC47 AC47 guns Im not an anorak I am interested in all aspects or warfare as a bit of a hobby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterg Posted July 23, 2003 Author Share Posted July 23, 2003 Puff the Magic Dragon sung by Peter Paul & Mary was the first single I ever bought (I was VERY YOUNG then OK) Peter and Paul were OK but I always wondered about that bloke Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CateringVan Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 FWIW the AC-130 Hercules does exist and is the moden equivalent of the AC47 (although I'm not disputing any of the above) Except that it has a 105mm howitzer, a 40mm cannon and a 25mm gatling gun there is some info here and some photos here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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