The Douglas AC-47 ("Puff, the Magic Dragon") was the first in a series of fixed-wing gunships developed by the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War.

It was designed to provide more firepower than light and medium ground-attack aircraft in certain situations when ground forces called for close air support.

The AC-47 was a United States Air Force (USAF) C-47 (the military version of the DC-3) that had been modified by mounting three 7.62 mm General Electric miniguns to fire through two rear window openings and the side cargo door, all on the left (pilot's) side of the aircraft, to provide close air support for ground troops.

The guns to be active for firing would be selected by an aerial gunner on a control panel on the right side of the cargo bay.

In August 1964, years of fixed-wing gunship experimentation reached a new peak with Project Tailchaser under the direction of Captain John C. Simons.

Even crude grease pencil crosshairs were quickly discovered to enable a pilot flying in a pylon turn to hit a stationary area target with relative accuracy and ease.

In 1964, Captain Ron W. Terry returned from temporary duty in South Vietnam as part of an Air Force Systems Command team reviewing all aspects of air operations in counter-insurgency warfare, where he had noted the usefulness of C-47s and C-123s orbiting as flare ships during night attacks on fortified hamlets.

By October, Terry's team under Project Gunship provided a C-47D, which was converted to a similar standard as the Project Tailchaser aircraft and armed with three miniguns, which were initially mounted on locally fabricated mounts—essentially strapped gun pods intended for fixed-wing aircraft (SUU-11/A) onto a mount allowing them to be fired remotely out the port side.

Terry and a testing team arrived at Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam, on 2 December 1964, with equipment needed to modify two C-47s.

Its primary mission involved protecting villages, hamlets, and personnel from mass attacks by Vietcong (VC) guerrilla units.

An FC-47 arrived over the Special Forces outpost at Tranh Yend in the Mekong Delta just 37 minutes after an air support request, fired 4,500 rounds of ammunition, and broke the VC attack.

The work of the two AC-47 squadrons, each with 16 AC-47s flown by aircrews younger than the aircraft they flew, was undoubtedly a key contributor to the award of the Presidential Unit Citation to the 14th Air Commando Wing in June 1968.

Airman First Class John L. Levitow, an AC-47 loadmaster with the 3rd SOS, received the Medal of Honor for saving his aircraft, Spooky 71, from destruction on 24 February 1969 during a fire-support mission at Long Binh.

[6] In December 1984 and January 1985, the United States supplied two AC-47D gunships to the El Salvador Air Force (FAS) and trained aircrews to operate the system.

[11] South Africa converted some C-47s to gunships by installing gun mounts on a rotating platform on the rear of the aircraft and used them similarly to a helicopter gunner.

South African "Dragon Daks" were known to fit 20 mm cannons[12] Between 1980 and 1981 Uruguay converted C-47 T-508 into a gunship for COIN missions by installing three .50 cal machine guns to the last two rear windows.

Data from [citation needed]General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

On their 1989 album "Agent Orange", Thrash metal band Sodom made a song about the AC-47 called "Magic Dragon".