Colombia’s ‘Fantasmas’
The Colombian Air Force (Fuerza
Aérea Colombiana, FAC) decided to
upgrade four C-47 Skytrains to AC-47
specification. By 1987 it had dispatched a
trio of machines to the US for conversion,
these being equipped with three
Browning 0.50-caliber machine guns. A
fourth airframe was fitted with the same
equipment at an unspecified date.
The gunships were pressed into action
as soon as they arrived back in Colombia,
and the results were very positive,
sparking fear among the drug cartels
and guerrilla groups when the aircraft
droned overhead. Soon dubbed as the
‘Fantasma’ (Phantom), the AC-47s were asignificant morale-booster to the ground
troops, as they represented a powerful
ally in terms of support for long periods
of time. Sadly, one Fantasma (FAC-1650)
and its crew were lost in 1988 due to
icing conditions in a local storm.
Despite good results in Colombia’s
internal conflict, it became apparent
that the aging Pratt & Whitney R-1830
Twin Wasp 14-cylinder, air-cooled radial
piston engines on the AC-47s were
reaching their operational limits. The
powerplants were struggling in the thin
mountainous air at high altitude, and
the gunships’ high workload had started
to cause unacceptably large numbers of
engine failures.http://www.combataircraft.net // August 2018 47
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