McDonnell Douglas C-9

C-9 Skytrain II/Nightingale
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Type	Jet Transport
Manufacturer	McDonnell Douglas
Retired	9/2005
Primary users	United States Air Force, United States Navy,
Developed from	McDonnell Douglas DC-9

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

C-9 Nightingale used for Aeromedical Evacuation

The McDonnell Douglas C-9 is a military version of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9. It was produced as the C-9A Nightingale for the United States Air Force, and the C-9B Skytrain II for the U.S. Naval Reserve and United States Marine Corps. The final active-duty US Air Force flight was in September 2005 [1], and the Boeing C-40 Clipper is replacing the US Navy Reserve's aging C-9B fleet[2][3].

Overview

The C-9 fleet was located throughout the continental United States, Europe, and Asia. The Navy and Marine Corps C-9B aircraft provided cargo and passenger transportation as well as forward deployed air logistics support. The Air Force C-9A Nightingales were used for medical evacuation (MedEvac), passenger transportation, and special missions. A C-9B was chosen by NASA to replace the aging KC-135 Stratotanker Vomit Comet.

Many of the Navy's C-9B types have a higher (114,000 lb or 52,000 kg) maximum gross take-off weight and are fitted with auxiliary fuel tanks installed in the lower cargo hold to augment the aircraft's range to nearly 2,600 nautical miles (4,200 km) for overseas missions along with tail mounted infra-red (IR) scramblers to counter heat seeking missile threats in hostile environments.

Variants

• C-9A Nightingale - 20 aeromedical evacuation aircraft for the United States Air Force.
• C-9B Skytrain II - 21 transport aircraft for the United States Navy and Marine Corps.
• VC-9C - 3 executive transport aircraft for the United States Air Force. Three aircraft (73-1681, 73-1682, 73-1683) were delivered to the US Air Force in late 1976.
• C-9K - 2 aircraft for the Kuwait Air Force.

Operators

• Kuwait
  • Kuwait Air Force
• United States
  • United States Air Force
  • United States Marine Corps
  • United States Navy
  • NASA (only civilian agency to use the C-9)

Specifications

General characteristics

• Crew: 8
• Length: 119 ft 3 in (36.34 m)
• Wingspan: 93 ft 3 in (28.42 m)
• Height: 27 ft 5 in (8.36 m)
• Wing area: ft² (m²)
• Empty weight: lb (kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 110,000 lb (50,000 kg)
• Powerplant: 2× Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9A turbofans, 14,500 lbf (62 kN) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 350 knots (403 mph, 648 km/h)
• Service ceiling: 37,000 ft (11,000 m)

External links

• C-9 Nightingale article on fas.org
• C-9 article on globalsecurity.org
• "Goodbye to an era" article at deploymentlink.osd.mil
• C-9 Nightingale/Skytrain USAF Air War College

Related content

Related development

• McDonnell Douglas DC-9

Designation sequence

• C-6 - C-7 - C-8 - C-9 - KC-10 - C-11 - C-12

Related lists

• List of active United States military aircraft
• List of military aircraft of the United States
• List of military transport aircraft

See also

McDonnell and McDonnell Douglas military aircraft

Fighters: XP-67 · FH · F2H · XF-85 · XF-88 · F3H · F-101 · F-110 · F-4 · F-15 · F/A-18 · CF-188 · YF-23 · F/A-18E/F

Attack: AH · AV-8 · F-15E · A-12 - Trainers: T-45

Transports: C-9 · KC-10 · YC-15 · C-17

Helicopters: XHJH · XH-20 · XHCH · XHRH · AH-64

Drones: TD2D · KDH - Experimental: XV-1 · X-36 · Bird of Prey - Spacecraft: Mercury · Gemini