The AC-5

[pmulcahy11b]

For some reason, I just remembered something from a book I read at one point where the good guys were saved by a C-5 Galaxy kitted out as a gunship. Is this even possible? Does anyone know the book I'm talking about? Is it worth statting out?

[kato13]

I found a reference to the following book series

http://jayfort.hubpages.com/hub/TheWingman

using a AC-5.

I can't resist a Google-fu challenge.

[Canadian Army]

Found this using my Google-fu

http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/ac-5-gunship.125640/

[Panther Al]

Yep - the wingman series.


A not very good series of pulp mil-fiction that isn't very good, nor very plausible, but it does kill time when you can't do anything else.

Yes, I read them as I kid, but... yeah. :)

Very Very 70's mil fiction - lots of drugs and sex, that fuels everything.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

The CADS series was like that. I was ... 15? I think? when the books first came out; dad bought one at K-Mart (he'd head straight for the book wall and park himself there while mom shopped for clothes!) and brought it home. I blew through it in a single Friday night. Pretty terrible: lots of sex and violence. :)

[raketenjagdpanzer]

By the way there was a real AH-47; "Guns-A-Go-Go" I believe it was called. Buncha mini guns, rocket pods, .50 cals. Scary stuff.

[Raellus]

I find the idea of an AC-5 "Gun Galaxy" highly implausible. Compared to your RL AC-130, a C-5 is huge target, a real gas guzzler, and needs a relatively long, well-maintained conventional runway in order to operate. In a T2K setting these traits were become major weaknesses.

When I was a teenager living in Quito, Ecuador c.1988, American C-130s, C-141s, and C-5s would routinely land at the airport. My kid brother could identify any aircraft, civilian and/or military, coming in to land just by the sound of its engines. It was uncanny and quite impressive. The C-5 was by far the loudest of all them (even louder than the occasional 747 that would visit Quito) and could be heard well earlier too- even I could tell when it was coming. In a war zone, the red force could hear it coming from miles away, giving them time to ready their MANPADs and AAA. In such a hostile environment, a huge, loud, slow-moving AC-5 wouldn't last long.

[pmulcahy11b]

You know, one I've always thought would make a good gunship conversion: the G.222 (Alenia, IIRC).

[pmulcahy11b]

I find the idea of an AC-5 "Gun Galaxy" highly implausible. Compared to your RL AC-130, a C-5 is huge target, a real gas guzzler, and needs a relatively long, well-maintained conventional runway in order to operate. In a T2K setting these traits were become major weaknesses.


Oh, I know the size and noise of the C-5. They're overhead all the time -- one tip that something is going on in the world is that the military transport comings and goings ramp up dramatically.

The first time a C-5 went over (at an illegally-low altitude, my guess would be), my then-puppy Shadow was in the backyard absolutely hugged the ground!

[pmulcahy11b]

Found this using my Google-fu

http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/ac-5-gunship.125640/

Boy, those guys really had their propellers on their beanie hats spinning!

[Tegyrius]

You know, one I've always thought would make a good gunship conversion: the G.222 (Alenia, IIRC).

I think AFSOC briefly looked at that under the AC-27J designation.

- C.

[JHart]

My Wingman books are packed away at the moment, but I recall that there were two versions of the AC-5. Everything that follows is from memory and may not be correct.

They had the nicknames of "Nozo" and "Bozo". One was armed with 21 GAU-8s, the same gun mounted on A-10s. The other had a mix of guns, ranging from 20mm to 120mm M1 tank guns.

There is of course so many things wrong it is hard to know where to start.


In the computer game Command and Conquer Generals, there is an air support ability that has a jet powered gunship that appeared to be related to a C-17

[Raellus]

Were they crewed by little people from the magical land of Oz?

IIRC, firing the GAU-8 reduces the airspeed of the A-10. Imagine what firing 21 of them, sideways, would do, even to a big bird like the C-5.

[Olefin]

like to know what the heck they were going up against that they needed 21 GAU-8's in a gunship!

[cavtroop]

Were they crewed by little people from the magical land of Oz?

IIRC, firing the GAU-8 reduces the airspeed of the A-10. Imagine what firing 21 of them, sideways, would do, even to a big bird like the C-5.

No, this is just a rumor, the mass that they're firing out of the gun (couple hundred KG, maybe, in a few seconds) is nothing compared to the mass and velocity of the A10, so it doesn't slow down at all (maybe on the microsecond level, but nothing measurable by normal means :) )

http://www.stripes.com/blogs/the-rumor-doctor/the-rumor-doctor-1.104348/does-the-a-10-s-gun-slow-the-plane-when-fired-1.152557

Now, a big gun, say the 105 mounted on an AC130, may skew the plane sideways a bit, but wouldn't affect it's forward velocity either I imagine.

[boogiedowndonovan]

Flight of the Old Dog anyone?

this sounds like a knock off of Dale Brown's B-52 Megafortress, which was a tricked out B-52 with AAMs, ASMs, ECM.

Paul, you got stats for the B-52 Megafortress on your site?

[stormlion1]

Funny part about the Old Dog was that plane was a test bed for B-1 upgrades that was eventually used to upgrade the entire B-52 fleet. At least from what I remember from the book series I read a decade ago.
What I want to know is what effect all those guns firing in tandem would have on a C-5's airframe.

[mpipes]

There is now way that the US would ever do this. C-5s are considered strategic assets and are vitally important as strategic airlift. They carry one of the highest priorities for repair in the event of a break down, and they are the only aircraft capable of carrying many cargo loads. There have never been enough airframes as far as many logistic expert believe.

[stormlion1]

There are currently 126 C-5A/B aircraft in service, but they are retiring a number of the C-5A's aircraft, so they can't be that in demand. Probably replacing them with C-17's. Maybe a retired C-5 can be modified into a AC-5?

[Sanjuro]

AFAIK the C5As are being retired because the airframes are approaching the end of their fatigue life- giving them a new role which had a higher level of airframe abuse would be problematic.
As one of the calmer posts on spacebattles said, the advantage of a bigger airframe for gunship use would be in longer loiter time, carrying more ammunition and more fuel. Weapons on both sides would mean that 50% of the weapons would be completely wasted in each engagement, not to mention the extra crew training time required.

[copeab]

As one of the calmer posts on spacebattles said, the advantage of a bigger airframe for gunship use would be in longer loiter time, carrying more ammunition and more fuel. Weapons on both sides would mean that 50% of the weapons would be completely wasted in each engagement, not to mention the extra crew training time required.

What about flying a figure eight pattern centered on the target? You'd fire from the the port on one loop and starboard on the other.

(ineffecient, yes)