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OP
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I met a man this morning who was a crewman on one of these over in S.E, Asia in 71 and 72 , Lot's of stories from that old guy , Do any of you men who were there have any stories about them? Sounds like hearing from this guy they were a pretty cool aircraft .
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Campfire Tracker
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Dad was a flight engineer on C-119s during Korea and a Reservist through '69. Flew men and material. Had multiple missions in support of the Cuban missile crisis. Never flew with mini-guns to my knowledge.
"A Republic, if you can keep it." ~ B. Franklin
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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IIRC They got pretty limited use, being kind of a gap-filler aircraft between the then too vulnerable AC-47 and the upcoming AC-130s.
Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
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Pretty much what Rocky said. They had heavier armaments than miniguns for rambunctious targets.
I am..........disturbed.
Concerning the difference between man and the jackass: some observers hold that there isn't any. But this wrongs the jackass. -Twain
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Campfire Tracker
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IIRC, dad said one was the Shadow and one was the Stinger. One had the minis and the other had the 20mm gun. Don't remember which is which. I remember him saying how the Fairchild was a flying leaky gas can. More than one blew up in flight. I wish I could ask him more about it, but dementia has taken a pretty firm grip on those memories.
"A Republic, if you can keep it." ~ B. Franklin
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
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Hopefully jnyork will be here before long to clarify.
"A Republic, if you can keep it." ~ B. Franklin
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Campfire Outfitter
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From Air Vectors![[Linked Image]](http://www.airvectors.net/avboxcar_07.jpg) The AC-47 proving successful, the Air Force wanted to field the much more sophisticated and potent "AC-130 Spectre" gunship, based on the C-130 Hercules -- but obtaining enough C-130s proved difficult. There were plenty of C-119s sitting in mothballs, however, and so 26 C-119Gs were pulled out of storage, to be fitted with four side-firing Miniguns, armor planting, a searchlight, flare launcher, and an infrared imager.
The result was the "AC-119G Shadow", which proved successful in combat after introduction to the war theater in 1968. 26 more C-119Gs were then updated to "AC-119K Stinger" configuration, which featured the underwing J85 turbojets of the C-119K, plus twin side-firing 20-millimeter Gatling cannon along with the four Miniguns, as well as more sophisticated combat avionics. Although not the equal of the AC-130, the C-119 gunships were used with good effect in close air support missions in South Vietnam, as well as interdiction missions against trucks and supplies along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. They were handed on to the South Vietnamese in 1973, when US forces pulled out.
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Boots were made for walking
Winds were blowing change
Boys fall in the jungle
As I Came of Age
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OP
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I wish there was a thread dedicated to military aircraft and the guys that flew and crewed them .
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Oh heck, MJones. It would be a huddle of guys doing "There I was..." with their hands, spouting jargon only the other guys in that specialty would understand, and "enlarging" their own roles a tiny bit with stories they've been embellishing for half a century.
In short, a fabulous place.
I could start with the Cessna Sky Pig you see there to the left.
Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2011
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Oh heck, MJones. It would be a huddle of guys doing "There I was..." with their hands, spouting jargon only the other guys in that specialty would understand, and "enlarging" their own roles a tiny bit with stories they've been embellishing for half a century.
In short, a fabulous place.
I could start with the Cessna Sky Pig you see there to the left. Would that story begin with: "There I was, standing on the Long Tieng air strip in 1964 when Vang Pao approached with his 8 wives in tow.....
You didn't use logic or reason to get into this opinion, I cannot use logic or reason to get you out of it.
You cannot over estimate the unimportance of nearly everything. John Maxwell
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Campfire Regular
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The Air Force Brothers at Phan Rang that maintained the AC-119 gunships --- armed with both mini and vulcan 20 mike mike --- were the ones who took us under their wing and set up our mini on our guntruck " Wild Thing " the guntuck crew was given a 50 cent tour of the Gunship. Bank that boxcar, rotate those electric fan motors and say good night ---Good Men at Phan Rang --- Spent many a night there. --------- Web
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OP
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I used to sit around back in the 70's when in grade school and listen to my dad and those old guys like him who were in Korea tell all kinds of stories . I loved that stuff and now he's the only one left of that bunch . Now I read this stuff ! Tell'em while you can guys , we're all ears and eyes .
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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I could start with the Cessna Sky Pig you see there to the left.
After my divorce, I had a few dates with a real estate gal in Ft. Worth who said she would only fly with me if I had a twin engine Cessna, specifically a "sky pig", a.k.a. Skymaster. I actually looked at getting one, not 'cause of her, but just because they're so dang unusual. And kinda cool. I am internet buddies with a guy who used to fly one in the Nam... 
"I'm gonna have to science the schit out of this." Mark Watney, Sol 59, Mars
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Campfire Outfitter
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We probably flew some of the very last in country combat missions via our AC-47's before VNAF inherited them. Stingers and Shadows at this time were few and far between as I remember and flown mainly from bases in Thailand. They had some issues with gun sights especially with 20 mike mike but most of all were way under powered and overloaded most of the time with pucker factor take offs being SOP.. Even still they saved lives with their devastating fire from the sky.. !969-70 PhuCat RSVN... ![[Linked Image]](https://s15.postimg.cc/75prnfggb/download.jpg) ![[Linked Image]](https://s15.postimg.cc/4oe0g6bzf/ac47pc.jpg) ![[Linked Image]](https://s15.postimg.cc/c4da1zmu3/IMG_1613_zpsncbeknet.jpg) picupload
You better be afraid of a ghost!!
"Woody you were baptized in prop wash"..crossfireoops
Woody
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We probably flew some of the very last in country combat missions via our AC-47's before VNAF inherited them. Stingers and Shadows at this time were few and far between as I remember and flown mainly from bases in Thailand. They had some issues with gun sights especially with 20 mike mike but most of all were way under powered and overloaded most of the time with pucker factor take offs being SOP.. Even still they saved lives with their devastating fire from the sky.. !969-70 PhuCat RSVN... picuploadThat old guy this morning said he was flying out of Thailand too ! This is so neat .
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I wish I had asked for his name , I only said Thank You .
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Campfire Greenhorn
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wldthg-- How far north did Wild Thing range from Phan Rang? Hwy 1? When were you there? Sorry for the thread hijack.
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smike308-- Wildthing was with D co. 815th Engineers ---- Based Camp Dillard about 30-40 miles south of Dalat on QL 20 --- we ran our own small convoys. Down to Long Bien or into Cam Ranh Bay and all points in between. ONCE and only once the guntruck got called in out of the central highlands in about May or June of 1971 . We were part of a very very large convoy that was moving equipment up QL1 Some where around Phu Cat. AFB. we turn around and headed back to Cam Ranh--- ------ I was in Natrang unofficially from CRB with it one night Jan71--------- Were you there ?------ Web
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
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Have heard less complimentary names for old Suck'n Blow, yes sir!
I am..........disturbed.
Concerning the difference between man and the jackass: some observers hold that there isn't any. But this wrongs the jackass. -Twain
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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I have no personal experience with these things, except for seeing them on the ramp at various locations in SVN and Thailand. There is an excellent book entitled "Charlie Chasers, History of USAF AC-119 "Shadow" Gunships in the Vietnam War" by Larry Elton Fletcher, published by Helgate Press of Ashland OR. Dont know how many copies are floating around out there , probably a fairly limited edition. Got my copy off ebay a few years ago. A great book for those interested in this sort of thing.
Edit: Book available here: https://www.amazon.com/Charlie-Chasers-History-USAF-AC-119/dp/1555717314/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1531754635&sr=1-1&keywords=charlie+chasers&dpID=41ILdg8RNdL&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
Last edited by jnyork; 07/16/18.
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