I am reading a pretty extensive article on
AC-47D operations in
SE Asia. I came across a story I found to be funny.
Gunships often worked in conjunction other aircraft of the air commando force, such as a C-47B GABBY psywar aircraft. GABBY had a large speaker in the cargo door, and a South Vietnamese talked to the people on the ground, pleading with them to throw down their weapons and come over to the side of the good guys (the Americans). The VC had no appreciation for GABBY and often fired heavy weapons and small arms at the aircraft; however they did not know that a gunship was in the same orbit as GABBY, about 3,000 ft higher and a quarter orbit behind the psywar aircraft. GABBY would inform the VC troops not to fire on it - "Bad things will happen if you do..." When the VC opened fire on GABBY, the pilot of the Spooky (AC-47D) would line up his guns on the area where the fire originated , and sweep the area clean. Whereupon GABBY would announce: "See, I told you so."
And let's get one thing straight. There's a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight. — E. B. Jeppesen