25 February 1965

The first Douglas DC-9, N9DC, ready for takeoff at Long Beach Airport, 25 February 1965. (Douglas Aircraft Company)
The first Douglas DC-9, N9DC, ready for takeoff at Long Beach Airport, 25 February 1965. (Douglas Aircraft Company)

25 February 1965: At 11:26 a.m., Pacific Standard Time, the first Douglas DC-9 twin-engine airliner, serial number 45695, with Federal Aviation Administration registration mark N9DC, took off from Long Beach Airport (LGB), on the coast of Southern California, on its first flight. In the cockpit were Chief Engineering Test Pilot George R. Jansen, DC-9 Program Test Pilot Paul H. Patten, and Flight Test Engineer Duncan Walker.

The duration of the first flight was 2 hours, 13 minutes. N9DC landed at Edwards Air Force Base (EDW) where the test program would continue.

Douglas DC-9 N9DC (Douglas Aircraft Corporation)
Douglas DC-9 N9DC (Douglas Aircraft Corporation)

The Douglas DC-9 is a short-to-medium range twin-engine airliner, operated by a flight crew of two pilots. It was designed to carry up to 109 passengers. The initial production model is retroactively identified as the DC-9-10. This variant is 104 feet, 4¾ inches (31.820 meters) long with a wingspan of 89 feet, 5 inches (27.254 meters) and overall height of 27 feet, 6 inches (8.382 meters). The airliner has an empty weight of 49,020 pounds (22,235 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight of 90,700 pounds (41,141 kilograms).

Douglas DC-9 N9DC photographed by Jon proctor at Los Angeles International Airport, 6 March 1965. (Wikipedia)
Douglas DC-9 N9DC was photographed by Jon Proctor at Los Angeles International Airport, 6 March 1965. (Wikipedia)

The DC-9-10 was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-5 turbofan engines, producing 12,250 pounds of thrust (54.49 kilonewtons), each. The JT8D was a two-spool engine with a 2-stage fan section, 13-stage compressor (6 low- and 7 high-pressure stages), nine combustion chambers and a 4-stage turbine (1 high- and 3 low-pressure stages). The JT8D-5 was 3 feet, 6.5 inches (1.080 meters) in diameter, 10 feet, 3.5 inches (3.137 meters) long, and weighed 3,096 pounds (1,404 kilograms).

The airliner had a cruise speed of 490 knots (564 miles per hour, 907 kilometers per hour) at 25,000 feet (7,620 meters). It has a range of 1,590 nautical miles (1,830 miles, 2,945 kilometers).

Miss Carol Koberlein christens Delta's first Douglas DC-9, N3304L, Delta Prince, with water from 20 rivers in the airline's area of operations. (Delta Digest)
Miss Carol Marie Koberlein christens Delta’s first Douglas DC-9, N3304L, Delta Prince. Miss Koberlein served with Delta Air Lines until she retired, 31 May 2000. (Delta Digest)

Delta Airlines was the lead customer for the Douglas DC-9. Delta’s first DC-9, serial number 45699, F.A.A. registration N3304L, was delivered in a ceremony at the Douglas plant at Long Beach Airport, 7 October 1965. Using a bottle containing water from twenty rivers in Delta’s area of operations, Stewardess Carol Marie Koberlein christened the airplane Delta Prince. Later that day it was flown to Atlanta by Delta’s legendary Captain Thomas Prioleau Ball, the airline’s Director of Flight Operations. The duration of the flight was 4 hours, 19 minutes.

The first DC-9, s/n 45695, was leased to Trans Texas Airways in 1966, registered N1301T. (Ed Coates Collection)
The first DC-9, s/n 45695, was leased to Trans Texas Airways in 1966, registered N1301T. (Ed Coates Collection)

After the flight test and certification program was over, 45695 was leased to Trans Texas Airways and re-registered N1301T. It served with Trans Texas from 1966 to 1982, when the airline merged with Continental Airlines. It retained the same N-number but was named City of Denver.

In 1983 49695 was sold to Sunworld International Airlines, a Las Vegas, Nevada charter company. After five years it was sold to another charter airline, Emerald Airlines of Dallas, Texas. In 1990, Emerald sold the DC-9 to Canafrica Transportes Aereos, based in Madrid, Spain. While operating for that company, 45695 was registered EC-622 and EC-FCQ. Returning to the United States in 1991, it was briefly owned by Viscount Air Service, Tucson, Arizona, registered N914LF.

DC-9 45695 in service with Canafrica Aeros, registered EC-FCQ, circa 1991. (Unattributed)
DC-9 45695 in service with Canafrica Transportes Aereos, registered EC-FCQ, circa 1991. (Unattributed)

Now 25 years old, ownership of the first DC-9 returned to the McDonnell Douglas Corporation. It was placed in storage at North Texas Regional Airport (GYI), Sherman, Texas, in 1992 and was used as a source for parts.

The Douglas DC-9 was produced in five civil variants, the DC-9-10 through DC-9-50. 41 were produced for the U.S. military, designated C-9A, C-9B and VC-9C. Production closed in 1982 after 976 aircraft had been built.

Miss Carol Marie Koberlein, with Delta Air Lines’ first Douglas DC-9, N3304L (Ship 204), October 1965. (Atlanta Journal-Consitution)

© 2017, Bryan R. Swopes

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11 thoughts on “25 February 1965

  1. I’m showing the first DC-9 delivered is serial number 45696 in July of 1966. It was N3301L . I went on to fly that very airplane for Midwest Express Airlines in the late 90’s. I have quite a few photos of it, including it’s data plate. I also have a Delta Airlines post card bragging up their first “Whisper Jet” labeled as N3301L. Love your website! Info here:

    http://rzjets.net/aircraft/?parentid=405&typeid=98&frstatus=3

      1. From your article –

        “Delta Airlines was the lead customer for the Douglas DC-9. Delta’s first DC-9, serial number 45699, F.A.A. registration N3304L, was delivered in a ceremony at the Douglas plant at Long Beach Airport, 7 October 1966.”

        A typo on the date?

    1. Hey Paul, hope you’re well. When I go back and look at manufacture dates of the 1st few aircraft, it appears that Delta may not have taken delivery in the same sequence the planes were made. Might be Douglas used the 1st couple fuselages for flight-testing, and may have taken a while to return them to delivery condition. I have a photo of the test pilots in the cockpit of A/C No. 2 (stenciled on the backs of their seats), which I’m guessing was eventually N3302L, because 3302L has the 2nd earliest manufacture date on that page you posted. It has quite a bit of extra panels, switches, and test instruments installed in the cockpit, along with seats designed to accommodate parachutes. Could be the 4th one made was actually the 1st one delivered to DL, and the earlier manufactured planes were delivered when Douglas was done testing them. I’m guessing I have over 1000 hours in N700ME / N3301L.

    2. Paul, you really sent me down the rabbit hole tonight. I found all this info about N9DC, the actual fuselage No 1 (25695) Delivered to Texas International (Trans Texas), but not until 9/30/1966. It was used by Douglas for testing and PR tours, listed as the DC-9 “prototype.” Apparently, it flew until 1991, so back when we were at YX, being told that N700ME was the oldest DC-9 flying, that wasn’t actually true until 91 when it was apparently retired and destroyed. Appears N3301L/N700ME was indeed fuselage No 2 (25696). Do a Google search for “N9DC” – lots of info and photos. Not 1st delivered, but oldest fuselage. Look at the bottom of this page:

  2. The Douglas logo you have used is cut up from McDonnell Douglas logo, Wikipedia has a correct logo design.

    1. Thank you. I look through old advertisements to search for company logos appropriate to teh aircraft. It’s not always easy to get the right one.

  3. In 1997 Allegiant Air started with a single DC9-21, a short production run in the DC9 family.
    SAS ordered ten -21s for their short field operations. The -21 uses the short fuselage of the original -10 and replaces the non-slatted “hard” wing with the slatted wings and engines of the -30 series. The -30’s wings and higher thrust engines made the airplane a real hot rod and a hoot to fly. https://www.airliners.net/photo/Allegiant-Air/McDonnell-Douglas-DC-9-21/228170/L?qsp=eJwtjEEKwkAMRe%2BStZsqKHSnF9CFFwiTj5bWmSEJ6FB6d%2BPg7vEevJVSyY6P31sFjWRgTU/aUWXll9G40oz2LirBlIf9Kc9RrahfWhhhxzklVIf8/VUF%2Bkuw1EePGA8B0FtnOhzDy2R14f6A87TQtn0BL38ufA%3D%3D

  4. Boeing eventually bought the remains of Douglas (McDonald-Douglas) and built the DC-9 as the B-717.

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