[Photo] The effect of Florida’s freezing rain on U.S. Air Force AC-130U gunship

January 29, 2014 Military Aviation

David Cenciotti

Florida is experiencing unusually cold temperature. High winds and freezing rain, brought by a winter storm coated aircraft in a layer of ice.

These images, taken on Jan. 29, 2014, say it all.

Since quite unusual freezing rain and cold temperature have layered Hurlburt Field, Florida, in a thin sheet of ice, icicles formed on a U.S. Air Force AC-130U Spooky gunship’s 25 mm Gatling gun.

If you believe that using the rotary guns (facing down and aft along the plane’s left side) in Northern Europe, or Siberia, might not be a good idea, take a look at how these systems work: a few bursts of rounds through those barrels would take care of the icicles (and of the bad guys on the ground).

Flight operations at the base are temporarily suspended because of the bad weather.

Image credit: U.S. Air Force

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About David Cenciotti

David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.