Puff the Magic Dragon

[James A. Landau]

_Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation_ 1993 edition (ISBN 0-517-10316-8) considers
"gunship" to be so well-known a term that it does not bother defining it.

I found in Jane's 4 different airplanes that have gunship versions:

Douglas DC-3 (no nickname given)

Lockheed C-130 Hercules (no specific nickname given for the gunship version)

Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar (no specific nickname given for the gunship
version)

Fairchild C-123 Provider (AC-123K gunship version is called "Spectre")

I was not paying close attention but I think I heard Tom Brokaw refer to an
AC-130 gunship as a "Spectre".

              - Jim Landau

P.S.  Perhaps the most oxymoronic airplane nickname ever is for the
Boeing/Aero Spacelines B377SG:  "Super Guppy".  It had a sister airplane that
was called the "Mini Guppy"