#ac47

[archonstl]

Pocket Programming Guide

The Archon 47 Programming Guide, Pocket version is now available for viewing at https://archonstl.org/ac47-pocket-program.pdf

[mattnicholls69]

'Significant casualties likely': Magnitude 6.8 earthquake hits Ecuador - https://www.9news.com.au/world/ecuador-earthquake-strong-68-earthquake-strikes-near-balo/530ef857-d662-4a77-ac47-e81de4ec9874

[admiralnelsoniii]

Puff the Magic Dragon! AC-47 gunship. Vietnam War

[skyfire85]

-A USAF AC-47D in September 1968, after the 4th Air Commando Squadron became the 4th Special Operations Squadron of the 14th Special Operations Wing. This photo was probably taken at Nha Trang, South Vietnam. | Photo: USAF

FLIGHTLINE: 120 - DOUGLAS AC-47 SPOOKY/PUFF

The USAF modified a number of WWII-era C-47 transports to provide fire support to troops in Vietnam, spawning a line culminating in today's AC-130J.

The term "gunship" originated in the 19th century, and referred to warships designed to shell targets on-shore. The term was later applied to the YB-40 and XB-41, modified B-17s and B-24s armed with numerous Browning machine guns designed to act as escorts for bomber formations. "Gunship" was also applied to variants of the B-25 armed with a 75mm cannon or 18 fifty cal machine guns, 14 of which were forward-firing.

CHASING THE DRAGON'S TAIL.

The gunship idea languished for a few decades, but in the early '60s the USAF opened Project TAILCHASER, under which a C-131B be modified to determine the feasibility of mounting weapons laterally in a transport-type airplane, which would then circle a target point, providing more firepower than could be achieved with a strafing run. The first phase of the program would see the C-131 fitted with cameras and other test equipment on the left side of the fuselage, followed by time to develop and practice piloting techniques. Phase two first involved replacing the cameras with General Electric SUU-11/A gunpods, firing 7.62mm blanks, to determine if the mounts and aircraft could withstand the recoil. After this, the blanks would be replaced by live ammo, and the aircraft would then fly a series of pylon turns at various altitudes, airspeeds and distances, firing at targets both on land and on water. On Eglin AFB's water range a one-second firing burst scored twenty-five hits on a minimum ten-foot-square raft and seventy-five hits on a maximum fifty-foot-square one. A similar test on the land range saw twenty-five manikins scattered in different positions over three-quarters of an acre. A three-second firing run on this area target hit nineteen manikins, ten of them considered "killed." The tests exceeded Air Force expectations, and a follow-up program to install miniguns in a C-47 soon followed, with similar results.

-A photo of the test mount fabricated for the TAILCHASER C-131 in 1963. | Photo: USAF

♫PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON...♫

By 11 December 1964, a WW-II veteran C-47B mail courier (s/n: 43-48579) was modified at Bien Hua Air Base with the addition of three miniguns fixed to locally fabricated mounts. Four days later a second C-47 was similarly equipped and readied for combat testing. The two craft, redesignated FC-47, organized under the 4th Air Commando Squadron. and operating under the radio call sign "Puff" were protecting local villages and US personnel from VC attack. The type's first notable action occurred on 23 December, when one of the Puffs responded to a Special Forces request for air support, firing 4,500 rounds and breaking a Viet-Cong attack. A second attack some 20 miles away was also spoiled by the same FC-47. During the second half of December 1964, the FC-47s flew 16 combat sorties, all successful. The following February, a Puff responding to a VC attack orbited their hilltop position for four hours, raining down some twenty thousand five hundred rounds and killing an estimated 300 VC.

-Typical mounting of the M134 Miniguns on an FC-47. | Photo: USAF

SPOOPY BIG SHOTS

Recognizing the outstanding success of the gunship concept, the USAF ordered the second FC-47 returned to the US to train more crews, as well as establishing a squadron of similarly modified aircraft. By December 1965 a total of 26 C-47 had been converted and Training Detachment 8 of the 1st Air Commando Wing was established at Forbes AFB in Kansas. In Vietnam, the 4th ACS was expanded under Operation BIG SHOT to twenty aircraft, 16 operational and 4 spares. The aircraft, now designated AC-47 and operating under the call sign "Spooky", were redeployed to Tan Son Nhut Air Base, were now equipped with upgraded guns which could be selected to fire either 50rpm or 100rpm. The Spookies could carry up to 24,000 rounds of ammunition, along with forty-five flares for illumination of targets at night. Experienced pilots could put those rounds into every square yard of an area of approximately one and a third acres in under ten seconds.

-Time-lapse photo of an AC-47 attack on targets outside Saigon. Photo: USAF

In 1966, the 4th ACS moved north to to join the newly activated 14th Air Commando Wing at Nha Trang Air Base. By 1968, the 4th had been joined by the newly activated 3rd ACS, with both redesignated Special Operations Squadrons on 1 August. Elements of both squadrons were stationed around South Vietnam to provide quick reaction, and a flight from the 4th SOS was stationed at Udom RTAFB with the 432nd Tactical Recon Wing.

-Interior view of an AC-47, showing the somewhat ad-hoc mounting of the early SUU-11/A pods. | Photo: Fotios Rouch

-The later MXU-470A Minigun mounts were more substantial. | Photo: USAF

Of 53 aircraft converted to AC-47 standard, 41 saw service in the SEA theatre, with 19 being lost in total, 12 to combat. In June 1968, the 14th ACW received the Presidential Unit Citation. The AC-47's crews fought valiantly at the Battle of Khe Sanh, providing nightly fire support and launching uncountable numbers of flares to provide illumination.

-An AC-47 inside a revetment at an unknown air base. | Photo: USAF

-An AC-47 at Udon RTAFB in June 1970. After its USAF service ended, this aircraft had been passed through the Royal Loatian Air Force, the Cambodian Royal Khmer Air Force and the RTAF before being placed on display in Thailand.

OLD WARBIRDS NEVER DIE, THEY JUST FLY SOUTH...

Despite their many accomplishments, the USAF recognized that the AC-47s were slow and vulnerable, and so began developing a replacement. A number of C-130s were modified under Project GUNSHIP II, but the type was in short supply as Lockheed was concentrating on the transport version, so GUNSHIP III was opened to modify the more plentiful Fairchild C-119. With the arrival of the newer planes, the Spookies were transferred to the South Vietnamese Air Force, and the North Vietnamese captured a number of them in 1975.

In the mid-80s, the USAF supplied a pair of AC-47s to the El Salvador Air Force, and in 2006 Columbia acquired five Basler BT-67s (DC-3s lengthened, strengthened and re-engined with P&W Canada turboprops) armed with updated Miniguns slaved to a FLIR ball. Several other nations, including South Africa, Taiwan and Indonesia, have built their own version of the AC-47, using retired DC-3s or C-47s and various guns.

-An AC-47T Fantasma ("Ghost Plane") of the Fuerza Aérea Colombiana in 2015. | Photo: Johan S. Gomez

[usafphantom2]

AC-47 Spooky 👻, “Puff the Magic Dragon 🐉 “

[sentinelchicken]

Yeah, I know the Day 14 theme is “Fighter” in the Aviation Photo Challenge, but hear me out as to why I’m submitting an AC-47 Spooky as a fighter. Trust me, it’s a great historical side note in the history of Air Force gunships. ⠀ ⠀ The Douglas AC-47 Spooky gunship was the grand-daddy of a whole unique class of combat aircraft that came into existence in Vietnam. The first AC-47 gunships were converted at Bien Hoa AB in-theater with conversion kits created by the Air Force’s Aeronautical Systems Division. ⠀ ⠀ Two aircraft were converted as a proof of concept with three 7.62mm Miniguns, a Mark 20 Mod 4 gunsight from A-1 Skyraider mounted on the pilot’s left cockpit window, VHF, UHF, and FM radios, TACAN equipment for navigation, IFF gear, 45 flares, each producing 20,000 candlepower of illumination and over 24,000 rounds of ammunition for the Miniguns.⠀ The new gunships were designated FC-47 (FC for “Fighter, Cargo). Aeronautical Systems Division crews flew the first two FC-47s on 54 combat missions where they were decisive in breaking Viet Cong night assaults. ⠀ ⠀ Not long after those first two prototype FC-47s were flying combat missions, the fighter pilots on the command staff of Seventh Air Force and the Pacific Air Forces which were in command of USAF assets in Southeast Asia, heard about the FC-47 designation and nearly lost their minds over transport aircraft that were built during World War II with “F” for fighter designators. In the interests of keeping the peace and avoiding an internecine fight within the United States Air Force, the FC-47 was redesignated the AC-47, spawning an entire new class of combat aircraft.⠀ ⠀ November Aviation Photo Challenge | @kjdphoto1971 | #1119planes | “Fighter” | Day 14⠀ ⠀ #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KAFW #AFW #AllianceAirport #FWAAS2017 #AllianceAirShow2017 #airport #planespotting #Douglas #DC3 #AC47 #Spooky #USAF #instagramaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvGeeksAero #AvGeekNation #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge (at Fort Worth Alliance Airport) https://www.instagram.com/p/B43ebtTBUQR/?igshid=8wmue5xdou6d

[vietnamwarera]

Douglas AC-47 Spooky gunships at Da Nang Air Force Base, circa 1966-1967.

[politiciandirect]

Florida Dem admits lying about treating Pulse shooting victims: 'I just made it up'

Florida Dem admits lying about treating Pulse shooting victims: ‘I just made it up’

A Florida Democrat who ended her run for a seat in the state’s House of Representatives late last month admitted to authorities that her claim of being a medical doctor who treated Pulse nightclub shooting victims in Orlando wasn’t true, according to a charging affidavit released this week.

“I lied,” Elizabeth McCarthy told state investigators, Florida Politics reported. “It is a false statement.”

[destinationsante-yahoopartner]

Menus-Santé : le poivre et ses grains de saveurs !

Krasula/shutterstock.com

Moulu ou en grains, doux ou corsé, noir ou blanc… le poivre est un inconditionnel de la cuisine relevée. Comment apprécier au mieux la saveur de ce condiment ? Quelles sont les vertus de cette baie anciennement appelée « plaisir de Vénus » ? Rendez-vous cette semaine sur www.ma-cuisine-ma-santé.fr pour trouver des recettes poivrées !

Originaire de la côte ouest de l’Inde (côte de Malabar), le poivre est le fruit du poivrier. De la famille des pipéracées, il existe en différentes couleurs : le noir, le blanc mais aussi le vert et le rouge. Toutes ces couleurs appartiennent à la même espèce, le Piper nigrum. La teinte dépend du stade de maturité à laquelle le fruit est récolté.

Voici quelques conseils pour bien choisir votre poivre : achetez-le en grains entiers et moulinez minute, afin de conserver les saveurs et les propriétés. La majorité des préparations moulues est confectionnée à partir de baies abîmées ou non entières. Pour trouver l’arôme parfait, adaptez chaque poivre en fonction des genres de plats cuisinés : une viande rouge, un poisson blanc, les crustacés, les vinaigrettes, les légumes…

Des exemples ? Choisissez plutôt un poivre vert pour un magret de canard, du gibier, de la volaille, une terrine ou une sauce. Mais aussi des tartares et des marinades. Le poivre blanc, lui, convient mieux pour relever les poissons blancs, les fromages type chèvre sec et les vinaigrettes. Le poivre noir est l’ami des viandes rouges et des poissons gras. Les viandes blanches, elles, préfèrent le poivre rouge.

Le poivre est l’allié des plats salés, mais il peut aussi se décliner en dessert. Un exemple ? Une salade de fraises ou de mangues simplement relevée au poivre, rouge de préférence ! Privilégiez le poivre noir pour un dessert au chocolat.

Trucs et astuces

Conservez-le dans un endroit sec, dans des bocaux hermétiques et si possible à l’abri de la lumière. Achetez-le en petites quantités : les graines perdent vite leur parfum. Et aux fourneaux, (...)

Lire la suite de l'article sur DestinationSante.com

[admiralnelsoniii]

AC-47 Gunship. Puff the "Magic Dragon"

[otachi13]

AC47 Avión Fantasma #ac47 #avionfantasma #fuerzaaereacolombiana #colombianairforce #aviacioncolombiana #aviaciónmilitar #fair2019 #feriaaeronautica2019 https://www.instagram.com/p/B0BDvSbhTwf/?igshid=11eimcih9xtyu

[20dollarlolita]

This is going to be the only time I am going to ask any of my followers to sign a petition, any petition.

Petition here: https://www.change.org/p/joann-s-fabric-and-craft-stores-joann-s-close-your-stores-and-pay-employees-during-covid-19?recruiter=806860252&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_abi&recruited_by_id=c6b0f1f0-ac47-11e7-95b9-f96d911a1d29

For you who aren’t in California, the state has issued a Stay At Home order, where non-necessary stores are to be closed. Joann Fabric and Crafts has declared themselves necessary by using a loophole of “providing items to work from home.”

That’s not the intent of the order. It might be legal, but it’s not ethical, and it’s not helping the community in the way the order was intended. It’s putting lots of people at risk, and especially putting at risk the people who are most likely to die from COVID-19.

We need these stores to close. We are in a pandemic and there’s things more important than craft supplies out there.

Here’s the petition. If you have a chance, if you care about the safety of our community, and if you care about the safety of employees and their families, please take a second to let this company know that their actions are completely unethical.

[admiralnelsoniii]