N2805J, a 1944 Spooky, Puff the Magic Dragon. Rev. 1.

The Douglas DC-3 commercial airliner design with at least 24 sub-variants has been used in many wars since first military war use in World War II. Officially called the C-47 and C-117 "Skytrains" then, but affectionally called the "Gooney Bird" by our American troops, the British called their version "Dakota". Russia in WWII built about 2,000 of the Dakota design as the Ilyushin LI-2. Later Russian variant DC-3 designs were the Ilyushin  IL-12 and IL-14 with NATO code names "Coach" and "Crate", respectively. These were powered by two Shvetsov radial engines of 1,775 horsepower and 1,900 horsepower, respectively. Japan also built the aircraft by Nakajima as the L2D, under license after WWII.  The DC-3 transport design has proved to be the pioneering air transport, probably the most important aircraft design in the world in terms of usefulness and longevity. America built nearly 11,000 of the aircraft; and, significantly, our Federal Aviation Administration has conferred an unlimited-hour life on the aircraft's wing spars, they are built so strongly. The prototype Douglas DC-3 design first flew on December 17, 1935 with two 1,000 horsepower Wright R-1820-G2 Cyclone radial engines. The production model DC-3A commencing in 1936 used two Pratt and Whitney R-1830-SC-G Twin Wasps of 1,050 horsepower each, seating 21 passengers. The DC-3C model used more powerful engines of 1,200 horsepower each and a lengthened and strengthened fuselage structure.

Fifty-three Douglas DC-3C aircraft were converted to AC-47D (Attack-Cargo) side-firing gunship aircraft for use in Southeast Asia by the US Air Force during the Vietnam War. N2805J, originally built in 1944 and the subject of this article, was one of the 53 and believed to now be the only one left restored on flight tours to airshows in America. First tested in December, 1964, they were initially called FC-47Ds, for Fighter-Cargo. Their collective call sign was "Spooky", serving from headquarters base in Ton Son Nhut AB and in several forward Vietnam areas. N2805J was an AC-47D "Spooky" gunship that served under the 14th Air Commando Wing in Vietnam. The AC-47Ds were initially equipped with three 7.62 mm SUU-11A Gatling Miniguns; one each in two window ports on the aircraft's port side and one in the port-side open loading door. The SUU-11As were later replaced with 7.62 mm MXU-470A Gatling Miniguns made by General Electric. These guns delivered 6,000 rounds per minute.

Night gunship missions initially used Mk-24 Mod 3 dropped magnesium flares of 750,000 candlepower for target illumination. These were  later  replaced by Mk-24 Mod 6 flares of two million candlepower each. The loadmaster would arm and drop a flare out the aircraft loading door upon a periodic flashing light signal from the aircraft's pilot. Attack missions of typically just 120 knots indicated air speed (138 mph) at low levels left the gunships  vulnerable to ground fire, and 15 "Spookies" were lost to enemy action. Our troops called them "Puff, the Magic Dragon" from the popular Peter, Paul and Mary Trio's 1960s song of the same name. That title had nothing to do with gunship aircraft, referring to, shall we say, an illegal smoked drug? The venerable Douglas DC-3C/USAF AC-47D design received much favorable publicity in this anachronistic gunship role, and was a very effective, low cost attack gunship serving very specific roles perhaps better than more expensive, faster Cambodian-based or aircraft carrier-based attack jets of the era. These "Spooky" roles included close air support in defense of ground positions, pre-planned target strikes, escort and patrol and forward air-control for fighter/attack strikes.

At 1969's year close, the AC-47D "Spookies" were replaced by larger, more capable and far newer Lockheed AC-130A/E/H/U "Spectre/Spooky" gunship aircraft.

N2805J, a true Warbird, was photographed on static display at the 2007 Naval Base Ventura County Airshow at NTD, Point Mugu, California, where I worked before retirement. The aircraft is owned and operated by the American Flight Museum, Inc. of Topeka, Kansas.

Please click on the upper photo to see the N2805J aircraft profile page with more photos. The lower photo of mine shows the Spooky's nose art. Incidentally, the serial number of this aircraft indicates it was built on a 1943 contract, but delivered in 1944. The bottom photo shows more specific information about these gunships. I thank Brad Campbell for permission to use his later fine photo of Spooky N2805J inflight at the very bottom of this article. It is good to see this aircraft still flying and I wanted to share it with the readers!

Specifications                                                  

Model: Douglas DC-3C-R-1830-90C as AC-47D conversion

Power: Two P&W R-1830-90C radials, 1,200 Hp each

Length: 64 ft, 5.5 in. (19.64 m)

Height: 16 ft, 11 in. (5.15 m)

Wingspan: 95 ft. (28.95 m)

Gross weight: 33,000 lbs (14,970 kg) 

Performance 

Max speed: 229 mph (369 km/hr)

High cruise speed: 175 mph (282 km/hr)

Low cruise/working speed: 138 mph (222 km/hr)

Service ceiling: 23,294 ft (7,100 M)

Endurance: 7 hours max (5-6 hours normal) 

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