Captain Terry jumped at the opportunity and mounted three miniguns in a C-47 for trials that began in September 1964. The plane conducted firing tests at altitudes from 500-3,000 feet and at a slant range of 1,750-9,000 feet. Terry found that he could fly the required pattern by holding a target between his left prop hub and the top of the engine cowl. The closer he flew to the target, the more bank was used. Then, with a little 'Kentucky windage,' he successfully engaged the target. He also discovered that the guns' recoil pushed the aft of the plane starboard, resulting in a flight path that was more a series of arcs and straight lines than a true circle.

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Convinced of the project's potential, Terry and Sasaki briefed General Curtis E. LeMay, Air Force Chief of Staff, in early November 1964. LeMay approved the idea and sent Terry and company to Vietnam to modify two C47s for tests. The need for more fire support was critical. In late 1964, Communists were taking the offensive in Vietnam with nearly 1,800 attacks per month. In addition, VC forces attacked Bien Hoa Air Base on the night of October 31 and inflicted heavy losses to U.S. and RVN personnel and aircraft.

Terry arrived at Bien Hoa Air Base near Saigon on December l. After the miniguns arrived the following week, he seIected two test crews of six flight members and an interpreter, and two C-47s with relatively low flight time from the 1st Air Commando Squadron. The planes were modified to accept three minigun pods along the port side (two in the last two windows and one in the cargo door); an MK 20 Mod 4 gunsight mounted in the left cockpit window; and a selective trigger placed on the pilot's control to fire one or all the guns. The pilot usually fired only two guns at a time in case of a jam and to conserve the 24,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition stored in the forward cargo compartment. Other onboard equipment included 45 flares that were thrown manually out the open cargo door, and radios to maintain contact with controllers, other aircraft and ground troops.

The conversions were completed on December 11 and 15 and the aircraft designated the FC-47 (fighter/cargo). The 'fighter' designation produced a roar of indignation from the fighter pilots who refused to accept the sluggish cargo plane as any sort of fighter. To soothe feathers, the new conversion became the AC-47 (attack/cargo).

The planes did not have long to wait before being tested in daytime combat. On December 15, the first AC-47 worked with a Forward Air Controller (FAC) and struck sampans, small structures, trails and suspected jungle staging areas. During the afternoon of December 21, FACs called the aircraft to hit a building occupied by VC. The next morning, infantry reported 21 enemy dead in and around the structure they described as a sieve.

Even before Captain Terry returned to the U.S. early in 1965 to join Project Gunship II (the development of the more powerful and sophisticated AC-130 gunship), AC-47s were proving themselves indispensible for outpost and hamlet defense and for interdiction of enemy logistics and troop concentrations. Air Force and Army officials were encouraged by the tests and production of a standard minigun-armed AC-47. There were field modifications that used surplus .30-caliber machine guns as interim armament while production of the scarce miniguns increased.

The new aircraft did not wait for the deployment of full AC-47 squadrons in country before gaining a nickname and a reputation among the VC. During the spring of 1965, Captain Jack Harvey, a member of Terry's original flight crews, flew a night mission to defend a village in the Mekong River Delta. A Stars and Stripes reporter happened to witness the action and described the image of tracers streaming to the ground as dragon's breath amid the roar of the guns echoing from the plane's open door. On reading the depiction, the commanding officer of the 1st Air Command Squadron reportedly declared, 'Well, I'll be damned! Puff, The Magic Dragon!' from the then popular Peter, Paul and Mary song. The name stuck. 'Puff' became the call sign for Harvey's AC-47, then the only gunship in Vietnam, since the second one returned to the States for training. The VC also knew of 'Puff.' Captured documents often referred to the plane and said not to attack the 'dragon' since weapons were useless against it and would only infuriate the monster.

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