“White Lightning” has sold to a private individual in Europe and soon she’ll be flying “over the pond” to live with her new owner.

Bronco 155474 fought hard against the NVA from 68-73.  Her nation called her again in 1991, flying an epic 10,000-mile ferry flight to Kuwait where she attacked Iraqi armor and called in the 16-inch gunfire from the USS Wisconsin. Then in 1999, pulled from retirement and refitted for a new war, the War on Drugs. 474 was a Cocaine Crop Duster carrying a 400-gallon herbicide tank and utilized her armor plating and heavy airframe to battle small arms fire while performing low-level aerial application in the jungles of Colombia.
2018- Fifty years later she is tired. Her bushings worn, wires cut, bullet holes hastily patched, corrosion sets in.  As her paint fades we set out on a journey this year to bring her back into service. As our Vietnam Veterans age too, they deserve to share the story of the close air support on the Mekong Delta. Patrols around The Parrots Beak, assaults on the Plain of Reeds, the heavy-hitting punches of 5″ Zuni Rockets clearing the way for Navy SEALs who are surrounded.
The Bronco in Vietnam was there for downed airmen. Troubled Infantry, reassured by the rapid response Black Ponies. Outgunned riverboats. Helicopter Escorts, and spotting targets for the heavy bombers and fast-moving jets.