McDonnell Douglas C-9

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C-9 Nightingale/Skytrain II
US Navy 030819-N-6501M-017 A C-9B Skytrain II from the Conquistadors of Fleet Logistics Squadron Fifty Seven (VR-57) flies over the Pacific Ocean.jpg
A C-9B Skytrain II of the US Navy
Role Jet transport
National origin United States
Manufacturer McDonnell Douglas
Introduction 1968
Retired September 2005 (USAF C-9A);
July 2014 (USN C-9B);
April 2017 (USMC C-9B)
Status Retired
Primary users United States Air Force (historical)
United States Navy (historical)
United States Marine Corps (historical)
Kuwait Air Force (historical)
Number built 48
Developed from McDonnell Douglas DC-9

The McDonnell Douglas C-9 was a military version of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 airliner. It was produced as the C-9A Nightingale for the United States Air Force, and the C-9B Skytrain II for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The final flight of the C-9A Nightingale was in September 2005,[1] and the C-9C was retired in September 2011. The U.S. Navy retired its last C-9B in July 2014.[2] The two remaining C-9s in Marine service were retired in April 2017.[3]

Design and development[]

In 1966, the U.S. Air Force identified a need for an aeromedical transport aircraft and ordered C-9A Nightingale aircraft the following year. Deliveries began in 1968.[4] The U.S. Air Force received 21 C-9A aircraft from 1968 to 1969.[5] The C-9As were used for medical evacuation, passenger transportation, and special missions from 1968 to 2005. The C-9A were named for English social reformer Florence Nightingale (1820–1910), the founder of modern nursing.[6]

A C-9B Skytrain II offloading on the ramp at Naval Air Station Brunswick.

After selecting a modified DC-9 for passenger and cargo transport, the U.S. Navy ordered its first five C-9Bs, bureau numbers 159030 thru 159034[7] in April 1972.[4] However, since the Air Force was responsible for moving military personnel from place to place in the early 1970s under the Military Airlift Command, this order was canceled.[citation needed]

The Navy documented to Congress that their people were being given last seating on Air Force flights.[citation needed] Congress authorized the Navy to fly its own passenger/cargo jets shortly thereafter. The Navy ordered eight aircraft, bureau numbers 159113 thru 159120. The first four went to VR-30 at NAS Alameda in California for west coast logistical support while the second four went to VR-1 at Norfolk in Virginia for east coast support. An additional six aircraft, bureau numbers 160046 through 160051[8] were delivered to the Navy and the Marine Corps in 1976 with the first two aircraft being delivered to the Marine Corps at MCAS Cherry Point, the second two delivered to VR-1 at NAS Norfolk and the last two delivered to VR-30 at NAS Alameda. An additional ten more new and ten used DC-9s were purchased and converted to C-9B for the Navy. The last C-9B to fly for the Navy was retired on 28 June 2014.[9]

Many of the Navy's C-9Bs had a higher maximum gross take-off weight of 110,000 lb (50,000 kg). Auxiliary fuel tanks were installed in the lower cargo hold to augment the aircraft's range to nearly 2,600 nautical miles (4,800 km) for overseas missions, along with the addition of tail mounted infrared scramblers to counter heat seeking missile threats in hostile environments.[citation needed]

Operational history[]

NASA 932 reduced-gravity aircraft during parabolic flight

The C-9B aircraft have provided cargo and passenger transportation as well as forward deployed air logistics support for the Navy and Marine Corps. (The original "Skytrain" was the World War II era C-47 developed from the civilian DC-3.) A C-9B was also chosen by NASA for reduced gravity research,[10] replacing the aging KC-135 Vomit Comet.[11]

The C-9B squadron (VR) were located throughout the continental U.S., with detachments operated in Europe, and Asia.[12]

Variants[]

  • C-9A Nightingale - 21 aeromedical evacuation aircraft based on the DC-9-32CF for U.S. Air Force delivered during 1968–69.[5] One was converted for executive transport and stationed at Chievres, Belgium; a second aircraft was converted for VIP transport by the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein Air Base.[citation needed]
  • C-9B Skytrain II - 24 convertible passenger/transport versions of the DC-9-32CF for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps delivered from 1973 to 1976. Five more C-9s were converted from passenger configured DC-9s.[13]
  • VC-9C - 3 executive transport aircraft for the U.S. Air Force; these were delivered in 1976[13] and served until 2011.[citation needed]
  • C-9K - 2 aircraft for the Kuwait Air Force.[13]

Operators[]

A US Air Force McDonnell Douglas VC-9C (DC-9-32), used often as Air Force Two or to transport first ladies
 Kuwait
 United States

United States Air Force[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]

C-9A

75th Airlift Squadron
2d Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron  1993-94
86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron  1994-2003
  • 374th Tactical Airlift Wing – Clark Air Base, Philippines  1974-89
20th Operations Squadron  1974-75
20th Aeromedical Airlift Squadron  1975-89
9th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron
  • 374th Tactical Airlift Wing/Airlift Wing – Yokota Air Base, Japan  1989-2004
20th Aeromedical Airlift Squadron/Airlift Squadron  1989-93
30th Airlift Squadron  1993-2004
9th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron  1989-94
374th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron  1994-2004
  • 375th Aeromedical Airlift Wing/Airlift Wing – Scott AFB, Illinois  1968-2003
11th Aeromedical Airlift Squadron/Airlift Squadron
57th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron  1973-94
375th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron  1994-2003
  • - Clark AB, Philippines  1972-74
20th Operations Squadron
9th Aeromedical Evacuation Group
10th Aeromedical Evacuation Group
  • 435th Tactical Airlift Wing/Airlift Wing – Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany  1975-93
55th Aeromedical Airlift Squadron/Airlift Squadron 
2d Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron
  • 932d Aeromedical Airlift Group/Aeromedical Airlift Wing/Airlift Wing - Scott AFB, Illinois  1969-2005
73d Aeromedical Airlift Squadron/Airlift Squadron
73d Aeromedical  Evacuation Squadron  1972-94
932d Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron  1994-2005

VC-9A

 ::76th Airlift Squadron

  • 435 th Tactical Airlift Wing/Airlift Wing  1983-95
Detachment 1 (Chievres AB, Belgium)

VC-9C

  • 89th Military Airlift Wing/Airlift Wing – Andrews AFB, Maryland  1975-2005
1st Military Airlift Squadron/Airlift Squadron  1977-88
98th Military Airlift Squadron  1975-77
99th Military Airlift Squadron/Airlift Squadron  1988-2005
  • 932d Airlift Wing - Scott AFB, Illinois  2005-11
73d Airlift Squadron

 C-9B

United States Navy

  • VR-1                 Naval Air Station Norfolk                                  1973-76
  • VR-30               Naval Air Station Alameda                           1973-78 
  • VR-46               Naval Air Station Atlanta                                 1985-2009
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth                    2009-2012

 :::McGuire Air Force Base                                2011-2012

  • VR-55         Naval Air Station Alameda                             1976-1993
  • VR-56          Naval Air Station Norfolk                                   1976-2006
Naval Air Station Oceana                                2006-2011
  • VR-57               Naval Air Station North Island                        1977-2005
  • VR-58               Naval Air Station Jacksonville                        1977-2002 
  • VR-59             Naval Air Station Dallas                                    1982-1998
NAS/JRB Ft Worth                                            1998-2000
  • VR-60                 Naval Air Station Memphis                                1982-1995
  • VR-61               Naval Air Station Whidbey Island                    1982-2014
  • VR-62           Naval Air Facility Detroit                                      1985-1994

United States Marine Corps   

  • Station Operations and Engineering Squadron       Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point        1976-1997
  • VMR-1                                                                 

Specifications (C-9B)[]

The cockpit of a C-9B Skytrain

Data from Encyclopedia of World Air Power[4]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 5 to 8
  • Capacity: up to 76 pax
  • Length: 119 ft 3 in (36.35 m)
  • Wingspan: 93 ft 5 in (28.47 m)
  • Height: 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m)
  • Wing area: 1,001 sq ft (93.0 m2)
  • Airfoil: root: DSMA-433A/-434A; tip: DSMA-435A/-436A[23]
  • Empty weight: 59,700 lb (27,079 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 110,000 lb (49,895 kg)
  • Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9 turbofan engines, 14,500 lbf (64 kN) thrust each

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 500 kn (580 mph, 930 km/h)
  • Maximum speed: Mach 0.84
  • Cruise speed: 485 kn (558 mph, 898 km/h)
  • Range: 2,520 nmi (2,900 mi, 4,670 km)
  • Service ceiling: 37,000 ft (11,000 m)
  • Rate of climb: 3,000 ft/min (15 m/s) +

Avionics

  • Weather radar

Aircraft on display[]

  • C-9A (AF serial number 67-22584) is the first C-9A accepted for the Military Airlift Command, and was additionally the first American jet aircraft specifically designed for medical evacuation. It is on display at the Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware.[24]
  • C-9A (AF serial number 71-0877) is on display at Scott AFB, Illinois
  • C-9A (AF serial number 71-0878) is on display in front of Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center at Lackland AFB, Texas
  • VC-9C (AF serial number 73-1682) is on display at the Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover AFB, Delaware
  • VC-9C (AF serial number 73-1681) is on display at the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California and was used by Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton[25]
  • VC-9C (AF serial number 73-1683) is on display at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon
  • C-9B (Navy 163511), last operated by VR-46 in Marietta, GA, is on display at Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida
  • C-9B (Navy 159120) is on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona
  • C-9B (Navy 164607) is in storage at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona awaiting restoration

See also[]

Related development

  • Boeing 717
  • McDonnell Douglas DC-9
  • McDonnell Douglas MD-80
  • McDonnell Douglas MD-90

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

References[]

  1. ^ "Historic C-9 heads to Andrews for retirement". US Air Force, 24 September 2005.
  2. ^ Rogoway, Tyler. "The US Navy Finally Retires The C-9B Skytrain II After 41 Years".
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-12-16. Retrieved 2018-12-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Gunston, Bill, ed. The Encyclopedia of World Air Power. New York, NY: Crescent Books, 1986. ISBN 0-517-49969-X.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Birtles, Philip. Douglas DC-9, pp. 109, 116–120, Airlife Publishing, 2002. ISBN 1-84037-318-0.
  6. ^ McEntee, Marni (August 5, 2003). "Air Force retiring Nightingale fleet". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  7. ^ "US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos--Third Series (156170 to 160006)". www.joebaugher.com. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  8. ^ "US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos--Third Series (160007 to 163049)". joebaugher.com. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  9. ^ "Navy says farewell to the C-9 Skytrain II aircraft". navair.navy.mil. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  10. ^ The History of C-9B Reduced Gravity Research Program Archived 2009-12-15 at the Wayback Machine. NASA/JSC, March 25, 2008
  11. ^ "Zero-Gravity Plane on Final Flight". Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  12. ^ C-9 Skytrain fact file. US Navy, 15 April 2005.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b c Becher, Thomas. Douglas Twinjets, DC-9, MD-90, MD-90 and Boeing 717, pp. 170–176, Crowood Press, Aviation Series, 2002. ISBN 1-86126-446-1.
  14. ^ "Rhein Main History".
  15. ^ http://www.scott.af.mil/Portals/28/documents/AFD-091103-039.pdf?ver=2016-05-20-093916-813
  16. ^ "375th Airlift Wing [375th AW]".
  17. ^ "C-9 squadrons' history ends with Yokota tribute".
  18. ^ "75 Expeditionary Airlift Squadron (USAFE)".
  19. ^ "Scott AFB 11th Airlift Squadron C-9A Nightingale".
  20. ^ "11 Airlift Squadron".
  21. ^ "Former 'Air Force Two' VC-9C to be Displayed at Dover Air Force Base".
  22. ^ http://www.amc.af.mil/Portals/12/documents/AFD-131018-054.pdf
  23. ^ Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  24. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-02-26. Retrieved 2015-08-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Drummer, Janene L. and Wilcoxson, Kathryn A. "Chronological History of the C-9A Nightingale." March 2001. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  25. ^ "Tour Air Force One". www.castleairmuseum.org. Retrieved 2017-11-24.

External links[]

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