AC130 Gunship Cam

[BGBMAW]

ok..what was makn the bigascs explosions..the 105??

[mjolnir]

The huge explosions have to be the 105mm Howitzer.  And that's a fun toy.  On the other hand, the 40mm fires so quickly, and with so much muzzle velocity, that the pilots actually have to correct for the adverse yaw.  The recoil pushes the nose of the plane to the right.

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

There is a former AC-130 gunner here in Aces High, he is a veteran of the Gulf war and the Panama campaign, and also a Vietnam veteran. He still flies with the Guard in Florida, and has been deployed a couple of times since 9/11 to the middle east. He is now in the refueling unit, the group of C-130s that does in flight refueling for the choppers. Great guy, he comes to see me here in Tennessee when his unit trains with the 101st Airborne, based in Fort Campbell KY/Clarksville TN. He can tell you anything you want to know about the AC-130 Spectre. He's got some of the best AARs of any flier I know, and I know a few good sticks.

By the way, the AC-130 flies at night because of SAMs. The only AC-130 lost in combat recently was lost in the 1991 Gulf war, because the pilot stayed on station until sunrise supporting a ground unit taking fire. He had been ordered to RTB 5 times, but chose to stay on station. Just after sunrise, his bird took a strike from a SAM on the outer wing near the fuel pod. When they rolled out of their fire cone orbit, the wing snapped, the spar must have broken due to damage. The plane spun in, there were no survivors.

So the next time you see a guy with the GameID of PILES, he flies Rooks for the 327th Steel Talons, give him a big << S >>, he's been flying for your safety and freedom for damned near 40 years. I count myself truly blessed to know him.

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

Are indeed the 105 Howitzer artillery piece. The best of the gun crews can actually have as many as FIVE rounds of artillery in the air at one time. That's right, five rounds. The fifth is fired before the first hits the ground. Actually, the SOP is to fire a white phosphorous marker round from the twin mount 40mm Bofurs to make sure they are on target, then they open up and fire for effect. The Bofurs is basicly the same piece you've seen used as AAA onboard Navy ships.  Word has it the two 20mm Vulcans can place a round in every square foot of a football field in mere seconds.

[AWMac]

<~~~~~Tangled with an AC-130......ONCE.    AcccccccccK

[BGBMAW]

Cpt Hilts....


How how are Ac-130s usally when firing?

And what kinds of different shells do a 105 use??

HE-AP-Phosphurus?


I LOVE AC-130's!!!!!

Closest thing to a B-17 stillflying:)


Where are good places to read/see ac-130 footage/text?


Salute
BiGB

[Ammo]

Captain Virgil Hilts

If your friend was/is a gunner in the past 23 years, I will know him.

The AC-130 we lost during the Gulf War was "Sprirt 03" and I was on "Sprirt 02." I lost my boss and friends on that night. We also lost a plane supporting another operation. My web page dedicated to them.
Sprirt 03 & Jockey 14

[Ammo]

Can't comment on that.. sorry

[anonymous]

Originally posted by Ammo
The AC-130 we lost during the Gulf War was "Sprirt 03"

i was on the ground involved in the party they were supporting. did they ever figured out what hit them? i know they stayed way later than usual because they didnt want to leave the guys on the ground in a bad way.

[anonymous]

Originally posted by GScholz
It that the film of the "wedding party"

no that movie is not the wedding party that was hit in afghanistan.

[Ammo]

SA14

[Twist]

Hey Ammo, I was stationed at Eglin with a tactical control squadron at aux fld 3 back in 83/84/85. 919th SOW was our neighbor.

I was fortunate on several occasions to be near a range where the Spectre's were practicing, simply awesome to watch.

Also watched a couple of A10's on that same range one time but I couldn't see much for the trees. They would pop up, turn, dive then 'BRRRRRRRRRRR' and do it again.

I remember our commander briefing us one morning about the gunship going down, followed by a very long moment of silence.