Sorry my friend, but the “Puff” call sign was never used by the AC-130. It was used by its immediate predecessor, the AC-47.
There was only one time that an AC-130 might have been confused with “Puff” (also called “Spooky”) – that was during its secret combat eval circa 1967.
I volunteered for AC-130 duty during Vietnam and couldn’t get into the program until 1975. Proudly flew the unfriendly skies with Specter until 1990 and still work with that platform today doing test and development.
That's awesome! Its an honor to share this thread with you. Were you the one pounding Noriaga's bunkers with the AC130?
Without violating the "loose lips sink ships" pledge, what is new on these bad boys?
I had a Navy friend who flew AP-3s out of "Naked Fanny" in the late 60s. He boasted that he was a Navy pilot flying an anti-submarine warfare aircraft a thousand miles from the ocean on attack missions in support of ground troops.