Lockheed AC-130: The Angel of Death
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- čas přidán 13. 06. 2021
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I was "danger close" when the Spooky done some of its work in Al Amarah when I was in the British Army. It is a sight to behold with its Howitzers, pulled us out of the shit. Even the pilots designated call sign was Devil Rider. Bloody Yanks. 😂😂😂 Amazing airframe.
Iraq with the US Army when I was pulled out of the shit by one. I've never been so happy, and awestruck at the same time. I heard a brit point out only we'd be crazy enough to shove a howitzer in a plane 😂😂😂😂
that's what the plane is built for; peace through superior firepower.
Obviously enough for the killstreak, duh
@Halwad Islam that's a 30 killstreak if I recall
@Halwad Islam yeah it's KD is great so far
I was in Viet Nam and while it was called Spooky, its nickname by a lot of grunts was Puff, short for Puff the Magic Dragon. At night you couldn't actually see the plane, what you could see was Puff raining streams of fire on the ground. Only every fifth round was a tracer but the gats fired so many rounds so quickly, the stream looked solid. We loved Puff and the VC really hated it.
My father was an E5 weapon specialist in Viet Nam he helped make puff the magic dragon majestic. Still have bw picture of him next to her in an album at mom's house.
Spooky was a AC-47 (aka DC-3) with three 7.62mm Vulcan mini- gun's!. There was another C-47 named Gabby (aka the Bullshit bomber!, Had a loud speaker! (Had a South Vietnamese talking about the virtue's of changing side's and if they didn't they would feel the wrath of the Dragon!, Because Spooky would be right behind Gabby!) .
Now they go by specter & spooky.
My father was 1st seat flying these between 70-72 spent eighteen months fly in the 18 SOS “Vengenance By Night”. 300 feet circling while while aiming and controlling the guns because the captain used a little joystick to control gun fire. Flew B-52 out of Loring AFB before that.
I have friends who were ground troops in Afghanistan who told me when an AC-130 wasn't available they would just send in a regular C-130. At the sound of the planes engines, enemy fighters would break contact and head for cover because they knew certain death was coming for them.
Yes, you absolutely felt more safe when you would hear the AC/C130 hovering above you. The enemy would never have the balls to start stuff or continue when you could hear the ominous engines roaring above you. Good times
they didnt hear the engines they heard ENEMY AC-130 ABOVE lol
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Hearing that manacing sound must have been such a good feeling for allied troops. And for the enemy, it must have felt like a dragon was prowling above. Looking for it's next meal.
in 1995, I was a newly-minted 2Lt Maintenance Officer assigned to the 16th Special Operations Squadron with the AC-130H Spectres at Hurlburt Field. After a few months getting my feet wet, it came time for me to take an orientation flight on a training mission. Now, if a full colonel or general officer is going flying, maintenance will put a placard in the kick window indicating the VIP's rank - an eagle for a colonel, one star for a Brigadier General, etc. As I approached the aircraft for my orientation flight, I saw that my troops made a placard just for me - they had airbrushed a picture of a melting stick of butter.....I love those guys!
Whats the meaning of the butter?
@@the_retag Second Lieutenants are called "Butter Bars" due to the coloring of their rank insignia.
@@andrewphillips6563 Ensigns in the Navy
@@braddblk nobody cares
@@argonhammer9352 I'm glad you can speak for the world must be incredible.
I flew on EC-130s. The C-130 airship generally deserves to be placed in the "Best Purpose Built Aircraft Ever" list with the A-10 and SR-71. The A-10 was ground attack and survivability. The SR-71 was speed and recon. And the C-130 was DO EVERYTHING. Even with a decent load it could take off, fly to it's destination and land with just two engines running. It has four. An excellent example of over engineering. Add to that a JATO (jet assisted take off) ability and it could fly with tremendously heavy payloads. Truly they are marvels of flight engineering.
It was also designed to haul 92 passenger but it was able to haul 452 on one flight.
@@karlstreed3698 How fucking amazing is that?!!! I am in awe of the people that came before us at times.
Why are you using the past tense? The Herk is still around in its new-ish J version.
And it will be for many more years
I’ve flown both the H and the J, and the J is like a 5-engined H.
Amazing
Oh, and it can fly at FL 360, to the amusement of Madrid ATC, who thought we’d made a mistake in the “type of aircraft” field in our flight plan...
@@soffici1 Yes. I know it's still in service. Sorry about my tense mistake. You're being a little nit picky aren't you?
What tail numbers??? We had 62-1819 62-1822 and 62-1828...
*"Enemy AC-130 above!"*
Exactly my thoughts
Copy that .......taking cover....
The last thing you'll ever say
*leaves game*
Captain Price was the best announcer.
Knew a guy who served in either Afganistan or Iraq, he managed to see one of these in action once. Said it was one of the most terrifying things to witness. When the call came down saying that the thing was on its way, he said he'd never before so frantically checked and rechecked his IR strobe gear to make sure the plane could see the friendlies.
It's a Miqo'te
On many nights in Vietnam, I watched in awe as the steady stream of fire came raining down from the AC-47. When trying to describe it to my family the only thing similar I could think of was 'like water from a fire hose.' And the sound was like a huge piece of canvas ripping. That was 1966 and I can still close my eyes and see it now.
I always tell this story... I grew up on Hurlburt Field, my Step Dad was on the ground crew that helped load the A/C-130's (he didn't fly in them just helped load them with ammo as ground crew). When i was about 11 years old they had a Family "Night" for the A/C-130 families and crews up at Duke Field which isn't far and is part of the greater Eglin AFB area which also has a huge target range (they tested the MOAB there, I felt it when they dropped it, it even blew out windows of a local restaurant). Its about 930pm or 10pm and over the loud speaker I heard the announcer tell everyone to look at a certain point in the sky. Now picture this.. You're 11 years old, you grew up on Air Force bases and have a love the military, air planes and daily drive by the Hurlburt field Airport and Vietnam era stuff they have on display so this is just pure bliss for me. I look up and see the sky light up like a dragon is breathing fire out of the sky. We were far away but you could still feel the concussion blasts of the 105 as pumps in your chest ( I still remember the bump, bump, bump, RAHHHHHHHHHHHH, bump bump bump). I can still see in my head that amazing site and just being an 11 year old going "wow...this is the coolest thing ever"
As a 35 year old I'd still be going "wow...this is the coolest thing ever" lol
great story! thanks for sharing
@@TheVillainInGlasses I'm 38 and trust me its still one of the coolest moments of my life.
Hurlburt field is the most underrated base.
I was in Navy Primary flight training at Whiting when that first MOAB went off. We heard and felt is as well :)
Ground Control: “See that building?”
AC130: “Yes.”
Ground Control: “We don’t want to see it anymore.”
AC130: “Roger that.”
Or as The Chieftain would say, "That building offends me, remove it."
@@crowttubebot3075 hear hear
Later, opps, it was hospital
@@tanvirapu885 then I'd respond "who the hell put a hospital among terrorists? They knew better." 😂
Drive me closer! I want to hit them with my sword!
To the ac 130 that saved my team and me, thanks. I've never seen something so beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
Growing up with a father who was part of the 129th Rescue Wing, the only rescue group of the Air National Guard on the West Coast, I always view the C-130 as a sign of hope and survival as many lost at sea owe their lives to the C-130’s of the 129th successfully finding them…
This is why I served 20 years in the Air Force. The C 130 was my favorite aircraft. God bless all who served and are serving.
I have no love for the military, but you probably don't need to hear something snide to know this shit with China is gonna be whack.
Dont ya love being a military contractor pawn?
I just retired a couple years ago after 21 years. I was aircraft maint. I worked a lot of heavies, but the 130 was my favorite. At Hurlburt we had Talons and Gunships.
As a former AC-130U avionics tech, I have to applaud you guys for your informational accuracy. I've seen a lot of other channels get things wrong, but you guys did a superb job analyzing this beast of an aircraft. Thank you 👍
I live on the edge of the Eglin afb test range, so nearly every night I get to see, and hear!, the ac130 in action. My home is maybe 4 miles from the bombing range but even that far away it is an awesome experience. After so many years I barely notice or wake up when they open up with all guns and cannons firing or when they fly over me just above tree top level. But I still stop to just watch when I am walking my dog late at night and it is just awe inspiring! Some people around here complain about the noise, but to be completely honest, I love it. I love standing out at night watching the ac130s just fly in a large circle while bringing down hell to the pivot point of that several mile flight circle. I love watching and seeing the big bombs. Some nights when there is low cloud cover I can even see the light from the bomb blast reflected on the clouds seconds before hearing the report. God bless the crews of those planes and God bless the men on the ground that they support.
We were on a foot patrol at night near Al Karmah Iraq and one of these lit us up with it's IR spotlight. Absolutely terrifying; we flashed IR back at it, and it moved on.
When a humble cargo plane becomes an offensive powerhouse.
Anything can have guns if you’re American enough: cargo planes, schools, all of that
naw, the AC-130 is the God of War
@@randomotter6346 not too long until Americans start arming the bald eagles with a JDAM
When the mailman goes postal
@@F14thunderhawk I mean, god of ground support against insurgents maybe, but this thing wouldn’t last long in a legit conventional war.
also useful for hunting down Decepticons in the live-action Transformers movie universe.
I loved the 1st movie
Bring the rain!
"They call themselves Deceptions. Does that not raise any red flags?"
You are amazing for saying this.
That is the coolest scene in that film
On a mission to locate a cache in a palm grove in Iraq, a message came over the radios. An AC-130 was in the area and available for CAS. This was followed by a call from the pair of Kiowas in the area to make sure we copied them on any such requests so they could, and I quote, "vacate the airspace".
This and the A10 are the peak if CAS operations, it cannot be overstated how powerful of an impact these two craft have had.
Both of this planes are virtually useless against anything but terrorists.
Pretty much a seal cubber who can't lose.
True heroes.
@@lord_flashheartIf Russia is using some attack choppers (Mi-24) against Ukraine (losing a lot of them, but still), it seems like the bigger, better equipped, faster and more resilient alternatives could find their way too. Don't you think?
By the way, if I'm not mistaken they're studying a way to put the new (gigantic) laser anti-missile defense on the AC-130. I'd say it has the cargo capacity; if it can fit a howitzer it certainly can fit a pack of batteries and some particle accelerators.
As a Marine, this bird coupled with the A10 has definitely earned my respect after saving my ass several times.
UK ex forces here. Have to agree. Love those hogs man.
You may have travelled in and out of Manas AB on my ItAf C-130J if you were there during the summer of 2003...
@I OFFER YOU THIS It's not just "one hospital". They may have used that flying war crime occasionally to save their own troops. Considering it's basically built to maximize collateral damage i wonder when all those "oopsie, so this was a hospital?!"-runs come to light. But it's impressive no doubt.
@I OFFER YOU THIS well of course its wrong the plane has saved many lives and ended even more the majority of the time the plane has saved the asses of many soldiers can't they at least respect the pilots and gunners that saved them because odds are those wasn't the same pilots that destroyed a hospital or blew up a town
@I OFFER YOU THIS its definitely wrong and unfortunately Intel isn't always the best. It sucks but it happens.
For someone who has worked on AC-130H for 8 years, thank you for doing this
Mechanics/techs are the unsung heros of the USAF. Without them nothing gets off the ground. FWIW the oldest C-130 I flew in was made in 1962. It was younger than me by a ways. LOL Some aircraft are not remembered, some are remembered and some become legends. The 130 well up in the legend class.
@ConfusedOilPainter just because you look back on you life and you are sad , doesn't mean to project your sadness onto others
Are they really as dangerous health hazards to be in as they are made out to be?
Littlerock AFB?
@@Rubix003 Hurlburt Feild and Cannon
Simon, when I was enlisted in the Marine Corps, I had the the opportunity to work on the AC-130. The Air Force had to land at my base...MCAS Cherry Point, and we helped them get their bird up and running again. I also had the privilege of working on "Fat Albert." The Navy Blue Angels C-130. It is an "H" model and all of its electrical schematics are hand-drawn. My squadron had the p privilege of having a 42nd birthday party for aircraft tail number 246.
...back in several service schools in the '80's, when I was more limber and all dressed in green, the AC130 and variants held a special place in our patter. If an exercise had gone on too long, and we needed to move along to the next exercise, there was a phrase which superceded the "cavalry rides to the rescue" which until then had meant "wipe the slate clean and start the next dance". This held true in Special Forces and Ranger Schools and on the teams and squads formed from their graduates. The phrase: "We call in Spectre." It meant that any mistakes, and un-killed bad guys and any loose ends were miraculously erased. That says it all.
This is who the A-10 calls when someone picks on him.
But the A-10 is pretty thick skinned and can take a pretty major beating. I pity the fool who is dumb enough to hang around after picking on him though.
@Robert Seasrs Ain`t no party like a CAS party!
AC-130 and A-10 Warthog are my favorite aircraft. 🇺🇸😎
Lol
Ummm.......no juan picks on the A-10 after BRRRRRRT!!. 😂😂😂
Nooooo!!! You can’t fire an artillery piece out the side of a plane!!!
AC-130: *Hehe, 105 shells go boom*
it go boom boom
General looks a c-130 and then looks at howitzer I want that in that. 🤣
"Use 105shells bring the rain"
Good friend of mine, Army Ranger, gave me one of the empty 105 cases AND a full clip of the empty 40 mm Bofors rounds. Prized possessions.
German Focke wulf 190: Haha, 210 mm rocket launchers go WOOSH!
I particularly enjoyed the non biased, objective and logically fact based this analysis was. Clear and concise is very nice. You have my subscription.
My mate who served in Afghanistan often spoke about the times his unit had back up from these “Monsters!”. Maybe it’s one reason he got home in 1 piece. Great video as always & very interesting. As I’ve subscribed to your other channels I’ve subscribed to this one as well. 👍
Enemy: “Is that an AC-130 AND an A-10?!?!?
Spooky and Warthog: *chuckles* You’re in danger!
Tunguska: *chuckles* their in danger :P
Let me sing you the song of my people: BRRRRRTTTTT!
"Spooky 3 2 use 105 shells bring the rain" - Epps
@@2nd_a_dad4791 gawd damn, this made me laugh harder then expected 😄 all planes havin a party & the A10 starts projectile vomiting xD
@@mho... literally projectile vomiting! XD
Panama story - At one end of the Bridge of the Americas, the sole roadway between the North and South American sides of the Canal, sat the Panamanian Police Station in Balboa, next to the street that any traffic crossing had to go by to go over the bridge. Operation Just Cause, the take down of Noriega, took place in December, the Christmas season. Out in front of the Balboa PNP station, they'd erected a Nativity scene, that included live animals. The Panamanian Cops had taken to sniping at any US vehicles that passed by, so the decision was made to call in the Gunship. They Balboa Police Station was absolutely leveled. But during and after the strike by the AC, none of the animals were harmed, even though they were less than 100 yards from the building.
A second memorable Gunship Mission that was called for was when Panamanian irregulars made their way into transefer storage areas on Albrook AFB, a primarily Military Housing area on the South American side of the Canal, and began taking potshots at the few remaining Military dependents (wives and kids) left in the Country at the time. The AC rolled in, and leveled the temp storage facility the irregulars were hiding in. And in the process utterly destroyed all of the Household goods of families in the process of transferring in or out of assignments to Panama at the time. The damage claims were rather epic, and processed with payments made with very few questions asked.
Yeah I was there, free hamburger
btw, if you would like to see another flavor of C-130 use, Google the term SENIOR SCOUT.
Thank you for sharing. 🙏🖖
I was an Engineer working on the AC130U design at the time. The Air Force briefed us on the Panama mission. They used the 40mm to hammer at the buildings producing a Swiss cheese effect.
I remember the Balboa Yacht Club 🍹.
Those Bofors Cannons have been in service since WW2. A very impressive career.
Great vid mate.
I’m a recent subscriber in the US. I’ve got say, in just the past couple of days, I’ve digested about 8 of your vids and All…All have been fantastic. Videos on subjects that I am familiar with and those that I am not. In either case, I’ve come away with information that I didn’t have before and or a new understanding of something the I “knew” fairly well.
Great work.
Keep it up, by all means.
Thanks for your efforts!
G'day Simon, I was posted to the RAAF's C-130 Maintenance Squadron, (486 Sqn, now disbanded), and swiftly fell in love with the Hercules. It's big, it's noisy and over its long career saved many, many more lives than all the AC-130s ever took. Although, it's correct to say that the gunship variant did save large numbers of 'friendly' soldiers.
The Hercs can land on just about any surface, basically it just needs to be flat, well, nearly.
Speaking of 'flat', back in October/November of 1963, two US Navy aviators, Lt. (later Rear Admiral) James H. Flatley III and his USN co-pilot made 21 unarrested landings and unassisted take-offs on the aircraft carrier, USS Forrestal, plus 29 'touch and goes'.
(An airborne refuelling variant of the C-130 was used so that cargo weights could be quickly and precisely increased over the test period).
The last flight brought on-deck the equivalent of 13 tons of stores.
Flatley, the command pilot was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his role in this experiment.
Even though the tests were highly successful - with the KC-130F coming to a complete stop within 267 feet (81 m) and, at the maximum load, the plane used only 745 feet (227 m) for take-off - the idea was considered too risky for routine Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) operations.
Instead the, smaller, Grumman C-2 Greyhound was developed, and in 1965 began routine flights as a dedicated COD aircraft for the USN.
The Hercules used in the tests is now part of the collection of America's National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola, Florida.
To this day, that C-130 still holds the world's record for the biggest aircraft to ever land and take off on any aircraft carrier. There are short clips of the USS Forrestal/KC-130 tests available on CZcams.
Simon, the long and, at times, tragic life of the USS Forrestal would make an excellent subject for your ‘SideProjects’ channel. Cheers, BH
Still out here waitin for the A-10 Warthog. I know there are some many Videos out there but wanna see Simons :D
Doing a piece on A-10 will BRRRRTen my day
I think he did a video on the warthog already
Warthog, for the win. My local air national guard unit flew A10's, then switched to F16's in the early 90's. Would love Simons' take on Deaths Cross
@@wwhite2958 he did.
@@SkunkApe407 don't think it was mega projects tho just went thru all the vids. Probably one of his other bazillion channels
To put it into perspective, the 105 mm howitzer is an artillery cannon. So they're essentially shooting milk bottle sized artillery shells directly at their target.
More like milk jug
"Now hear me out - what if we took an artillery but used it like a gun"
Always fun and educational to watch your videos! Thanks for making them all
I was a Sensor Operaror on the AC-130U in the Air Force, flew on it almost until it was replaced by the AC-130J. This is the best video on the AC-130 I’ve seen on CZcams, especially the historic part of it, most CZcams videos I’ve seen on the gunship completely miss the mark. There’s just a few things I noticed that aren’t 100% accurate.
The crew complement that was mentioned is only accurate on the AC-130U model and earlier models. The AC-130J doesn’t have two enlisted sensor operators anymore, there is just one enlisted sensor operator and a Weapons Systems Officer (WSO) replacing the Fire Control Officer (FCO) from the U model. As far as I know, these positions just combine the old Sensor positions and FCO role into one role that both the officer and enlisted member do together. There is also no Navigator or Electronic Warfare Officer on the AC-130J, with those tasks being consolidated to a Combat Systems Officer (CSO) role. There is also no flight engineer on any J model C-130. The AC-130W and AC-130J are very similar in all these aspects, the J model basically has all the perks of a J model C-130 that the AC-130W doesn’t have, but the AC-130 specific systems are pretty much identical, including the crew compliment.
The AC-130J has 6 blades on each propeller, not 4.
Early models of the AC-130A and (maybe?) AC-130E were outfitted with 2 40mm Bofors cannons before having the upgrade that gave them the 105mm howitzer, replacing one of the 40mm cannons. The AC-130U is also outfitted with a single 25mm GAU-12 Equalizer instead of two 20mm Vulcans like the models before it.
The “protective gauge” you were referring to on the AC-130 is something I am not familiar with, but if you are talking about the plate that wraps around the 105mm howitzer, that is not what it is for. This was used to retract the 105mm into the aircraft and create a seal around the area the gun was located so that the crew could pressurize while flying at higher altitudes out of combat without needing to wear oxygen masks.
The AN/APQ-180 Radar system was only ever equipped on the AC-130U. Unfortunately, a lot of the information about the radar is classified, but I do know it was refitted for the U model off of old F-15E Strike Eagle radars. The newer AC-130’s don’t have a strike radar (but they do have the same radar equipped on all C-130 models, whatever that is) because they have other, newer onboard systems that supplement what the radar was used for before on the U model.
This was a great video, I hope you find my comment insightful. You also never mentioned the AC-119, which was a gunship model that served to supplement the lack of AC-130s able to be produced during the Vietnam War.
Thanks that was a great update. I was one of the Engineers that worked on the AC130U design and I thought I noticed a couple miscues. I last saw a AC130U when the prototype was being assembled in Pamdale. I mostly worked on the Fire Control System and the Mission Management system.
BTW The AN 180 RADAR is a derivative of the RADAR on the F15E. We had Hughes add a few more ground modes and of course the Antenna swivels more to be side looking.
As a Sensor operator you can appreciate that during prototyping we mounted the sensors and RADAR to the roof of a building and tracked slow moving aircraft etc. Of course we did not mount the guns..
I remember being in training and I made a comment about how the onboard computers for fire control and navigation were all old junkers by today’s standards and I think the instructors were insulted by that. What I was really trying to get across though was they do a good job of what they’re designed to do despite the hardware being very limited. I guess you are one of the guys to thank for that lmao. If I’m not mistaken an AC-130U costs somewhere around $253 million to produce and most of that costs was for the (at the time) advanced avionics and computers on the aircraft. The AC-130J is way more advanced than those were, but costs significantly less because of modern manufacturing processes.
@@birdie8644 $193M was the number we always used on our performance reports haha
@@birdie8644 Strange. The AC130U was a fixed price contract for $150 million for the design and delivery of the prototype. That is quite low for an Air Force project and what you probably saw was recycling of available technology and at $253 mill sounds like the vendor trying to recoup our R&D. Contracts are complicated and I suspect the AC130J was structured differently. History is full of Military Industrial complex trying to reduce costs that backfire.
BTW Personally I interfaced with FCOs and some pilots ( HUD ) during the design and they tended to like the old school man in the loop interface. Almost reminded me of my fathers description of Navy contracts under Adm Rickover where he wanted every function to be capable of manual override.
Lastly, I suspect deleteing the special RADAR was the real savings. It was damn expensive.
Your crew compliment info is already outdated haha. That's okay, it seems to change every other week!
this guy has more channels than anyone else ive ever seen on youtube.
Boy you said... he is just wondering that sweet sweet watch time since CZcams's algorithm is just all greedy
Right?! When the hell does he sleep? All great stuff too!
Don't forget his podcasts too... Convinced he's a bot programmed by Google/CZcams and is somehow subliminal messaging us to worship the algorithm bots... But that's just my theory
I'm guessing he has a team of writers and producers. He often says "we" when talking about channels
@@WKRP187 i had no idea he had podcasts...
Hey Simon. Amazing video. Simon, thank you for slowing down a bit. Your older videos you spoke so quickly that it was hard to follow. It was like you were trying to cram 20 mins of "crap in a 5 minute box".
Amazing info, amazing video. My American ear absorbed everything you dropped on the table. Please keep doing your videos
I worked on the F-106 from 76-80. In Nam, they pulled many of us MA-1's out of the field to work on the ac-130 gunships due to our training on IR and electronic backgrounds. (this is way, way before my time). Thanks for another great video!
Fun (Non-)Fact: All the "Ghostriders" have a picture of Nicholas Cage somewhere in the cockpit.
Studies have shown that this increases the efficacy of this variant by about 27% on average.
A bucket of bees might also help ;)
@@peterpain6625 ROFL! Totally.
Probably the only actor I despise.
@@randycastillo4530 Then you can imagine what America's enemies feel like with this bearing down on them.
@@randycastillo4530 Nah. Hate on Kevin Spacey i get. On Cage ... well ... He's a better actor than Tommy Wiesau will ever be ;)
Angel of Death. What a badass name.
The only right name ☺️😂
@Halwad Islam a cowards savior yeah alright. Coming from the one who’s people use children as tools for death and send them out to die for them while they stay inside hiding
@Halwad Islam yo dont u guys plant bombs on civillian bridges and blow them up?
@Halwad Islam But nobody straps bombs on their children better than jihadists, amirite?😏
@Halwad Islam hey, you're welcome for the chance to bitch about us on the internet we created.
A very well done and in depth review of this flying tank. Thorough as always. Please keep them coming.
ive worked around c130s during my time with AMARG. i also worked the same line with the A10's... i love military aircraft... ive defended both the A10 and the C130 for those people who thought they should be retired... the day the ac130 came about was a beautiful idea... ive seen one of these as a kid at Lackland AFB.... most beautiful and intimidating aircraft ive ever seen.
Just reminds me of my favorite Yiddish quote "the angel of death does not care whether here nor there" same applies to the AC-130.
I always think of the bloodhound gang quote "I am the angel of death with my rhymes against humanity, teeter tottering between brilliance and insanity".
You're incorrect, AC-130s care very much. They can't be used in any defended airspace. You simply need some MANPADS. Spooky gunships were taken down by NVA AAA fire. The Colombian airforce has gunships and you can see videos of one battle with a French journalist who ended up getting captured and see how the FARC learned to counter gunships by hugging their enemies. Problem with CZcams is you get all the 12 year old kids. Real life is nothing like CZcams videos.
@@zeitgeistx5239 Weird response, but true I guess, all manmade weapons have limits, but given most environments this gunship is king, would have made a big difference in black hawk down.
Dress shirts go to human stores to shop for Simons.
There may be many Simon but there is only one Blaze Boi
That was terrible! You are grounded from the internet for six hours. Now go away and think about what you've done!
@@thanksfernuthin 😂 😂
@@tayzonday hee hee!
Pure genius
I worked on AC130A & H's for 12 years. I will say this about the recoil, The support rib in the left flap well, we were finding cracks that the engineers said was due to the 105 gun usage.
Proud to say I have significant "Time on Type" with the Herc and imho, it's one of the most versatile and amazing ac ever. Although I sometimes missed my ToT on fighters, in the SAR role we had good reason to hold our heads up proud with the Herc. It not only can spew death but save lives as well. Love that bird.
The name of the projects that created the AC-130 has one of those “yeah, we know it's going to work” type of names.
😂😂😂😂
I was an Engineer on the AC130U design but I got to know some of earlier designers we hired as consultants. The first versions were in house designs by U.S. Air Force personel so no big Aerospace naming convention.
Before the AC-47 their was a proof of concept by Col Ron Terry shooting out the side of a small plane with rifle as the plane circled. Some of the early designers had wild stories of completing the AC130A while in Southeast Asia during the war.
When calling the AC-47 rudimentary, remember - if it's stupid and it works, it's not stupid!
Great selection of videos!
Spot on and thorough in every detail.... Thank you
C-130s, even "standard" Hercules versions can provide incredible ground support, as witnessed by my brother, who was USAF Security Forces during Operation "Freedom." My brother shared his experiences of when he would be assigned as a security officer aboard C-130s that were given the critical and dangerous tasks of providing essential supplies/equipment to ground forces near (and possibly even over) enemy lines. Because the C-130 is a prop aircraft, it is capable of landing on terrain with significant natural debris, i.e. dirt and/or vegetation, and needing much less runway for takeoffs and landings. Add, of course, the C-130's carrying ability, and you have a supply plane from, for and into Hell.
Ive had one of those overhead as air support before, although never got to see it shoot. The cone of IR light coming from the thing is pretty awesome to see though. Its like the finger of god or something.
I came here to learn about this awesome plane, how simple yet devastating it can be! Wonderful video.
Jeremiah Johnson, you got class bro! I love your reporting , the way you share keeps me interested. Thank you for your time and hard work!
I'd like to see a video about the C-130 itself with an emphasis upon the astonishing variety of uses to which it has been put. In addition to airlift and gunship missions, there have been versions modified to serve in medevac, firefighter, electronic warfare, aerial tanker, search and rescue roles and more. There's even a version equipped with skis instead of wheels for operating from ice runways.
And a weather variant "Snoopy"
if i'm not mistaken chile uses it to fly stuff to its antarctic bases
@@agustinvenegas5238 we do that in Canada, with the ski variant. We have a number of uh, cold-weather opérations, you might even say extreme cold.
The C130H had a devise on The nose it would open up li!e a sideways clam. On the ground a guy could inflate a big balloon let it go it would go to 400 feet and have a cable attached. The C130 would open the clam like doors fly toward the balloon and catch the balloon and whatever was attached went straight up for 150 feet and the be winched into the plane via the cargo ramp.
@@markgranger9150 I've seen that done to snatch cargo off the ground. Supposedly it has been done with people as well but I've never seen it. It's possible the C-130 has been put to more various uses than any other aircraft.
I used to live minutes away from Hurlburt Field and by extension the Eglin Range. My house was close enough that you could see the AC-130’s orbiting over a target as well as hear the 105 every time they fired it.
I can sometimes feel it at VPS( i refuel commercial planes) and yeah i can feel the gun firing and see them take off quite often love to see it
My dad was in Vietnam in 1968 serving in the Australian army. He was present at the “Battle of Firebase Coral when they called in the “ Spooky” gunships . It was an awesome display of fire power which saved his and in affect my life
My cousin was an AC-130 pilot. They were part of the "Ghostriders" unit, and what's more interesting is that my other cousin, brother to the other in this post, was in the same unit, despite being a helicopter pilot and in a totally different branch (one was army, the other Air force). They retired on the same day together.
Puff the magic dragon
I’m pretty sure that was a McDonald Douglas Dc-3, no?
Lovingly
@@evepayler1461 that's what soldiers call the biggest cannon on the ac130
That was the ac-47
@@davidmoore8741 which was a converted Dc-3
Back in 2000 or maybe 2001 I decided to go urban exploring on a semi closed down RAF base in Wales that was still being used by the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, and was also a relief landing ground for the RAF. The main objective was to complete the challenge that had been set by my co-workers of walking down the full length of the main runway, totally stark bollock naked. As I approached the half way point, I heard engine noises, and decided that it was probably best if I vacated the runway, as getting a Hawk Jet in the face was probably going to be bad for my health. As it turned out, it wasn't a Hawk, it was a USAF AC-130, which flew right down the runway centreline at about 30ft....OMG, it was LOUD! Shortly after I saw a white Transit van heading my way from across the airfield so I decided that running away was probably in my best interests.
If true it would have been a conventional ‘Herc’. AC-130s have never been deployed to the U.K.
@@AtheistOrphan I wasn't Asking if it was an AC130 I was making a statement that it was an AC130. No idea what it was doing in the UK, but there is no doubt whatsoever that it was. It's easy enough to tell the difference between a Herc and an AC130 especially when it was so close.
@@24934637 sounds like a c130 to me
@@thekamakaji His dangly bits were in the wind, and the AC-130's dangly bits were in the wind, it's an easy ID.
Imagine the morale boost as someone one the ground. You’re surrounded, getting shot at and things look dire. Your thinking of how your gonna die when you hear a massive explosion and look up to see a AC-130 laying down hate. A guardian angel to some and the angel of death to everyone else
The AC130 is the most notable of the C130 series/family of aircraft. The full story and history of that ship is amazing. Thanks Simon :)
The angel of death was the weapons release officer from the Spector that supported tiger 1 and 2. The green berets on the ground would transmit her voice during ops as a threat more or less. The Afghanis, who dont respect woman, dubbed her voice the angel of death for obvious reasons.
I wonder if all casualties would be counted if the afghanis make it to even a third of the coleteral damage the usa did. And i don't mean those creative corrections in the reports when "suddenly" everyone on the ground killed was an enemy combatant... Tadaaaa... "But but 10 year olds can hold a gun! Also that 80y old grandma could wield a knife! Also she cooked!".
@@peterpain6625 Interesting fact US military casualties were officially listec at approximately 32 thousand after Vietnam for over a decade and the data was used for public release and public education history in schools until it was corrected to approximately 60 casualties in the 80z. Interesting data discrepancy....
@@peterpain6625 we should never have sent over the regular ARMY. All the trust tiger 1 and 2 built was crushed.
That war was over in 2004. We went ahead and made the same mistake as the Soviets did.
@@ryateo1 Alexander the great couldn't. The mongol empire also didn't really archive anything lasting. The british empire tried 3 times and got the middle finger. So did the soviets. It's kinda poetic the usa thought by swinging the biggest dick (as in military might) they would do any better. What a waste of bodies and money.
@@4FlatTires Bet it's more like double even that. They still do the same by creatively correting a lot of civilian bodies to enemy combatants. They even declare people defending their own homes as terrorists.
I'm currently reading "Spectre Gunner" by M/Sgt David M. Burns. Its incredible and gives a real insight into the original AC-130 operations over Vietnam.
I've been looking for a book like this thanks
In late '57 my mobile training detachment moved from Nouasseur AD to Wheelus AD in Tripoli on a C-130. I still remember the feeling when those four
wound -up turbo-props suddenly changed their pitch and pulled us up at a shocking angle of climb. Loved that plane!
I was an aircraft mechanic in the USAF and I worked on these for six years. Great video.
The "Jet Jocks" and "Bomber Boys" get all the glory, but one must remember that without the Delivery Drivers, everything is on the ground , without fuel, and is just land fill. God Bless Logistics & Supply.
Infantrymen's best friends are Supply and Cooks!!
@@dilanbrinkley3587 Hear hear, beans and bullets!
Attack forces win battles. Supply chains win wars.
@@dilanbrinkley3587 truer words have never been spoken.
Probably the most important job in a military/war
All AC130J's I've seen and been on have had 6 bladed props. The first AC130J had a cracked prop after a test, so it's possible they made one with 4 bladed props, but the last few years all J's I know of have 6 blades. Source, I work on C130J's, and we consistently have AC130J's come to my base during hurricane season and I got to stare at those beauties during that time.
Another great presentation! Thanks for Your very informative show and do love Your Wit or sarcasm which ever makes You smile!
I live in Colorado Springs about 1 mile away from Peterson AFB and we are in the flight path to see every C-130 fly over on either take-off or landing. It's really amazing to me that they can get that much weight off the ground and flying like they do!!
Closest I've ever come to seeing what this beast of a plane could do was in the very first CoD:MW back in the mid 2000's and I can still remember thinking at the time, "Goddamn I'd hate to see the carnage this thing would give out IRL"
Alone those lines i remember deploying them in C&C Generals and having a similar thought
We together brother. Death from.Above
In Vietnam the Spooky was also referred to as Puff the Magic Dragon ship, mostly from the ARVN troops calling it the dragon due to the rain of tracers that poured (almost literally) from it at night. That great red rain was a horrific sight to behold, especially when it was first implemented.
6:24 I love the choice of music there for the intro clip for firepower, sounds so ironic, but ironic is the new iconic
Great video!
Fantastic.
Never cared for riding in one but it’s like watching an Old Testament scene when that comes on station.
A full c130 video might be worth a look. If not for the one time it landed on an aircraft carrier.
Or the A10. Just to see how big the gun is.
The A-10 was basically someone looking at the GAU-8 Avenger and saying "We need to make this gun fly" lol
@@TheVillainInGlasses (waiting for Red Bull to claim credit for the idea...)
It was always a comforting feeling knowing you had an AC-130 assigned to cover us on our missions. Even more than their firepower, the optics and sensors vastly increased our situational awareness and provided invaluable intelligence on enemy movement before they could engage us.
As a 1A9 on the AC-130 this video gives me crazy motivation. Love hearing the history!
I love your shows!
I saw an interview with an anonymous ac-130 gunner who was involved in an operation with civilian casualties. It seriously messed with him and he got a medical discharge for PTSD or something.
One of the things he said I found interesting was that there is a lot of stuff in the air on a gunship that is very bad for you and most gunners end up with serious health issues.
I think some of the shells they fire contain depleted uranium so it wouldn't surprise me.
I read this too, or at least watched an interview very similar.
The shells on the 105 are made of depleted uranium, i cant remember if it’s lead or not. But all the guns put out a toxic metal debris cloud that causes the crew to have severe migraines, seizures, cancer, etc regarding neurological problems.
I’m sure they worked on it for the new j model, but it apparently is a common thing in the gunship community for the ac-130
I wanted a guy on CZcams who does VR Chat interviews. The CZcamsr is called Syrmor or something like that and he had an AC-130 gunner on one of his videos.
@@WanderingMiqo I think that’s what I watched? Their avatars were animals I believe lol, like a penguin and bear lol
A slight correction to the technical specifications: The propellers fitted to the turboprop engines are not reversible - the engines themselves are not capable of changing the direction of rotation. Like any other constant speed propeller, they have variable pitch blades - these can be tilted enough to cause the direction of thrust to be reversed without needing to change either engine speed or direction of rotation. This can be done to all 4 engines very quickly, such that all the engines can start producing maximum reverse thrust almost the instant the wheels touch down. This enables the AC-130 to land on runways much shorter than any other plane of similar size, and even allowed it to land on an aircraft carrier on a few occasions.
Correction to your correction.
Reversible propellers are those where the pitch can be set to negative values.
Yes its unintuitive but its correct nomenclature. Should it be changes, probably yes but like many many things in the english language it won't and will continue sit in a position of failing to accurately convey information unless you already know the answer.
Also only a modified C-130 with improved landing gear strength was capable of landing on an aircraft carrier, not the AC-130 itself.
Everything else is correct as far as I know.
A modern AC-130 has never landed on a carrier. You forget that while it's the same size as other C-130s, it's MUCH heavier, thus extending the landing distance required. Saying that it is able to land on much shorter runways is a fallacy.
Another great program my friend. Be well.
Spectre's motto is, "You can run, but you'll just DIE tired".
I was at Duke Field when the 919th took the "First Lady" (#53-3129) on her last operational flight before being retired. It's an amazing story as tail #53-3129 wasn't only the first AC-130A in the USAF inventory, it was also the first production C-130 that ever rolled off the line.
I still have the spent 40mm casing from that flight. Wouldn't trade that little piece of history for the world.
I did a major revision on the AC-130 Aircraft technical manual back in the late 1990s. It is an awesome aircraft.
Thanks for sharing ☠️
"DO NOT fire directly on the church"
Best mission in Call of Duty
Being in a C130 is one of my favorite parts of COD4
They had to remove that mission or something didn't they because the US military had a cry about how it portrayed it (accurately)?
@@shinkicker404 quite possibly, I did not know that
@@guillermoelnino All Ghillied Up: "Am I a joke to you?"
A Decepticon buried itself in the sand in terror... Nuff said
Yeah
Former US paratrooper from the 173rd. Loved to jump from these things! The prop blast was quite the experience. Grateful they were on our side as Simon so eloquently pointed out.
Proud to have been an aircraft electrician on the first AC 130 gunships at Warner Robins AFB .
I remember this thing from (silly) Command & Conquer: Generals Zero Hour... where it was a kind of special ability for the US Air Force commander (think the orbital death ray was still the superweapon for him) and it was a great way of getting rid of valuable enemy building or buildings if they were placed close together, since it would do the circling attack run and you could aim at whatever was within the zone... wasn't so good if anything could fire back at it however...
The Chinese gatling tank can obliterate anything that flies within its range
Silly? SILLY? ;D
Nothing warms my heart more than seeing the Spectre gunship demolish those GLA buggies and scorpions. Maybe followed by a MOAB if they're really persistent.
"How we doing sir?" "Keeping them in line down there"
The same principle, but the one in Zero Hour was a swept wing, rocket powered thing. Still, it was fun to use!! The particle cannon was the superweapon for all the USA generals too. LOVED General Alexander's purple ones.
My father flew in these out of Ubon, Thailand during the Vietnam war. He was one of the infrared camera operators. His gunship was one of the Spectre types.
My dad flew out of Ubon in 1972. He was a gunner on the AC-130A and AC-130E "Spectre" gunship. His pilot's last name was Hudson, I believe. My dad passed away unexpectedly earlier this year.
Simon, how can you keep up with so many different channels? I love the content by the way
Thanks Simon.
We need the BRRRRRRT Video. The best CAS plane to have ever entered service.
You just watched a video about the best CAS asset. You can run...
Excellent history lesson. Black Crow designation was ASD-5. AC-130J has 6 bladed prop. Only the AC-130U had APQ-180 strike radar which was based on F-15's strike radar.
You do good work.
4 Fans of Freedom! Also, the new J model is a 6 blade prop, not a 4 blade.
4 fan trash can for slick models
Civies only care about it flying and guns go boom.
Boots on the ground love this little big bird!
Freedom? We end democracies if it means we’ll be ensured more of a country’s natural resources. We’re the world’s empire, that’s it. Once upon a time it was “for freedom”, now they’re fodder for our late stage economy
C-130 nicknames I am aware of, besides _"Four Fans of Freedom:"_
_"BLEEDAIR BLIMPS"_ {My fave.}
_"FOUR CESSNAS & A DUMP TRUCK"_
_"FOUR CESSNAS & A DUMPSTER"_
{I sort-of coins that one myself when I could not quite remember the _DUMP TRUCK_ version...😊}
_"HERKY BIRD"_
_"TRASH HAULER"_
Yeah I worked slicks, HC-130P Combat Kings, and the EC’s
Thank you Simon! You just keep rolling out awesome engaging content. You are what History/Discovery used to be before they became reality television networks.