Retired Delta Captain is a Spooky mission hero

Captain Mike Trahan served as a Delta pilot, instructor, and flight engineer from 1970 to 2002, retiring out of Dallas/Fort Worth after 32 years. Before donning his Delta pilot’s hat, he hung up his Air Force uniform, having flown missions during the Vietnam War.

The “Spooky” missions, conducted from 1964 to 1969, used modified DC-3 aircraft known as AC-47 gunships. These planes provided close air support at night, deploying flares and firing guns capable of shooting 100 rounds per second.

One of those AC-47s has been repaired and is now ready for repainting. This November and December, the Delta TechOps team will restore it to its original Spooky colors. Once complete, it will be flown back to Houston by the Commemorative Air Force, where it will be preserved and showcased in airshows and flyovers to highlight this important chapter of military history.

Captain Trahan’s last Air Force assignment was flying Spooky missions for eight months in 1969. The AC-47 was a revolutionary concept—an aircraft equipped with side-firing guns that could circle a target and provide continuous fire through the night.

Before that assignment, Captain Trahan had been flying the C-141 transport but was eager, as he put it, to “fly something [he] could shoot back with.” The missions were flown only at night, with a seven-man crew: pilot, co-pilot, navigator, flight engineer, two gunners, and a loadmaster.

Their primary mission was to protect remote outposts, responding quickly when enemy positions were identified. The pilot aimed the guns by banking the aircraft, using a sight mounted out the left side window.

“We never lost an outpost that we defended,” Captain Trahan said proudly.

Like many Vietnam veterans, he returned to an unwelcoming homecoming. Public opinion of the war was deeply negative, and many of his Delta coworkers were unaware that he had flown Spooky missions under that call sign. When one colleague remarked in surprise, Trahan replied, “You never asked.” Talking about those missions wasn’t something he often did.

That changed after he was invited to a reunion of former flight engineers, mechanics, and crew members who had served on Spooky missions. There, he found space to share stories again.

“After 10 years of going to these reunions, I finally felt it was OK to wear my Vietnam hat again,” he said. “I started wearing my Spooky hat, and I’ve had more than 1,000 people comment. People would come up and say, ‘You flew Spooky? You saved our bacon one night—let me buy you a beer.’”

Captain Trahan has written three books about his experience in the war, including The Gift: The Air Force Years.