Saigon, South Vietnam

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Recommended Aircraft

Douglas AC-47 Spooky Gunship

Flight Summary

24/2/1969 - 'The Vietnam War'. The Night was approaching as Spooky 71, an AC-47 gunship, took off from Bien Hoa Air Base, a few miles northwest of Saigon. For the next six hours, Spooky 71 would fly a combat air patrol circuit over the Saigon/Tan Son Nhut area, ready to respond wherever its fire support was needed. Before the night was over, Levitow (a Loadmaster) would perform an act of astounding bravery for which he would ultimately be awarded the Medal of Honor.

6h

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Flight Rules: VFR

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John Levitow - Wikipedia

20 Seconds Over Long Binh | Air & Space Forces Magazine (airandspaceforces.com)

AIR FORCE HISTORY: John Levitow and Spooky 71 > Tinker Air Force Base > Article Display (af.mil)

Note:

-The flight plan takes one hour to get around the circuit once. However, the real Mission took six hours as the Crew were flying a Combat Air Patrol Circuit.

-This Crew were on the 18:00-24:00 shift, then another AC-47 was to take over for the 00:00-06:00 shift...)

-They were flying at an altitude of 3,500 feet.

-At about 11p.m., the gunship was diverted from patrol over the village of Lai Kai. The Crew headed to Long Binh... this was where they were hit.

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