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This Shows the 7.62 mm minigun at work. |
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A picture of the miniguns in the aircraft. |
| The C-47 Skytrain
or Gooney Bird is the military version of the DC-3 airliner, which first flew in 1935.
More than 10,000 DC-3 type airplanes have been manufactured. The Gooney Bird was the
backbone of troop-carrier commands in all theaters of operations during World War II, and
it was used extensively in Korea. Seeing its third war, in Vietnam, the C-47 was used for intratheater airlift by the Air Forces of the United States and South Vietnam. A modified version was employed for psychological warfare, including leaflet drops and loudspeaker broadcasts. In November 1965, a new model was interduced in Vietnam. The venerable Gooney Bird became a tactical attack aircraft, the AC-47 Dragonship. Christened originally as "Puff the Magic Dragon," the AC-47 had three 7.62 milimeter mini-guns jutting from two windows and cargo door. The 6,000 rounds-a-minute mini-guns were fired by the pilot, who aimed through a side window sight while turning the aircraft in a steep, left bank. The Dragonship was used primarily for night airborne alert, dropping flares and providing firepower for outposts or friendly troops under attack by insurgent forces. |
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