Hello and looking for a little help with a CFS3 project, a "C-47 Gunship"

[TerryJames312]

I'm new here and had an idea about creating a "C-47 Spook", the original incarnation of the (still in use today) Spectre gunship. A rudimentary version was built from a C-47 just as WWII ended but by the time Korea came around the C-47 spook came in to it's own with an assortment or armament like a boffors mount, a recoilless gun and a couple gatling guns... all sticking out of the left side of the aircraft... it would orbit overhead of a target raining down death from above and became to this day one of the most feared weapons in our "arsenal of democracy." Today's Spectre gunship is a C-130 but the original variant was a C-47 nicknamed a Spook.

I could probably muddle my way around and mickey mouse something close but I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who could build one in an evening. I am very new to CFS3 and a can make little mods to the craft but I think actual strucural mods are beyond me (for now.)

Is there anyone out there who could give a hand and school me?

Thanks much - TerryJames312

[hairyspin]

...I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who could build one in an evening...

You're kidding. Unless you have the source files for an existing C-47 model, a month of evenings will not even get close. :isadizzy:

If you want to look at modelling, try Milton's excellent tutorial series at the sticky New links for old above, but you're going to have to get to grips with gmax first before building anything.

[Mathias]

Wonder why nobody of the CFS3 devs ever jumped on the FSX SDK DC-3.
It's one or two evenings of work to convert it to CFS3.

[hairyspin]

It's been done, but never released publicly: don't know why.

[Milton Shupe]

Wonder why nobody of the CFS3 devs ever jumped on the FSX SDK DC-3.
It's one or two evenings of work to convert it to CFS3.

Sounds like a fun diversion project for you Mathias :)

[TerryJames312]

From the little digging I've done, the first attempt at a what would become a fixed wing gunship was done in the Pacific during WWII using an R4D (the Navy variant of the C-47) some Marines had gotten themselves in a jam. A brother Marine rigged some Browning M2 .50s and 1919A .30s out the left side (the pilot's side) of the R4D and with a simple black grease pencil he drew an aim point on the windscreen to his left, had a couple crew mates manning the Brownings in a fixed position and did a few circuits of left hand pylon turns. The measure was good enough to get the gyrenes out of their fix. Nothing was mentioned about ever following up on the concept.

The first use of a gatling gun I found was one canabalized from an F-86 during Korea in a C-47 and stuck out the back door with a few ma deuces out the windows and was very successful as a close support platform.

I found a picture from 1964 where 4 miniguns were mounted out the windows of a C-47 this was the ship that became known as Puff (the magic dragon) or a C-47 Spooky. A C-119 flying boxcar was later used with more armaments bristling from it... the C-119 was called a Stinger gunship and finally the AC130 Spectre was developed.

The Spectres are used by the US to this day and there are a dozen or so countries using C-47 gunships for interdiction including Colombia in their war on drugs.

If I can find a C-47 for CFS3 I think I could create a resonable facsimile of a gunship. I replaced the the waist guns on a B-17 with .50 cal gatling guns and I don't imagine it would be that significant of a deal to configure a C-47 like a gunship if I found one for CFS3.

[Milton Shupe]

I have witnessed many Puff the Magic Dragon performances while in Vietnam in 67-68. Awesome fire power!

Maybe you could work with Mathias to get the gmax source and then you convert it ... ???

[TerryJames312]

I fiugured out why we developed gunships... it was so NASCAR drivers could contribute to the nations defense!:salute: