U.S. Air Force Fact Sheet GUNSHIPS On Dec. 15, 1964, an entirely new weapons system was introduced into combat in Vietnam. The first AC-47 gunship took to the air from Bien Hoa Air Base carrying an armament of three 7.62mm General Electric SUU-11A miniguns, each capable of firing 6,000 rounds per minute. The "Spooky" was an instant success in breaking up enemy attacks on hamlets and other defensive positions, and within a year substantial numbers of rehabilitated "Gooney Birds" were in action throughout the combat area.  It soon became apparent that the AC-47 was limited in its capacity for larger more powerful weapons and consequently other aircraft types were adapted to the gunship role. By the end of American combat in Southeast Asia, two models of the C-119 (G and K) and two of the C-130 (A and E) had been successfully converted to gunships and used in combat. In September 1967, the USAF's prototype AC-130A gunship was sent to South Vietnam for combat tests; however, its commercially-built fire control computer failed almost immediately so an urgent telegram was sent to the United States for a replacement. It was needed for installation in the AC-130A at Okinawa within 10 days. Wing Commander T.C. Pinkerton, a British Royal Air Force officer on exchange duty at the Avionics Laboratory at Wright Field, immediately designed a replacement computer, and Mr. Herman Lafferty of the lab took on the priority task of building it. He worked two days to construct it, with Wg. Cmdr. Pinkerton finishing the job on the morning of the third day. The RAF officer then packed and shipped the computer to Okinawa without being able to test it. Upon its arrival in Okinawa, the unit was installed in the AC-130A and it worked perfectly. During the following two years that it was used in Southeast Asia, it was credited with aiding in the destruction of more than 400 enemy supply trucks. The Lockheed AC-130A Spectre gunship is on display in the museum's Cold War Gallery. Click here to return to the Modern Flight Gallery.