Back in 1965/66 it was realized that there was a real need for anew dedicated Air Evac hospital plane to replace the now aged C-118 that wasused in that capacity. A short list of aircraft was drawn up. Requirements werethat it be based on existing airliners, that it be capable of  somewhatlengthy overwater flights, and that it be able to be procured rather quickly asthe escalating war in Vietnam needed a faster evac aircraft. The Douglas DC-9was chosen and the C-9A was based on the DC-9-32. It was fit with a cargo dooron the left side and an additional fuselage fuel cell to give it the neededextra range.

The first aircraft delivered was 67-22583 and was followedsporadically by a few planes each year until the last one, 71-0882 was deliveredto the 375 Aeromedical Airlift Wing based at Scott AFB in Illinois. There hasalways been one or more on deployment to Yokota and Germany.  Later, threeVC-9Cs were purchased in FY 1973 and the Navy bought 14 of them (as C-9Bs) for anumber of units, later buying and leasing 19 more of them. Of all the militaryC-9s that were bought or leased, only one of them has been lost, that being67-22586 in September of 1971.

Today, those C-9As are still flying missions with the regularityof a scheduled airline. I live in the flight path of Scott AFB and there israrely a day that goes by when I don't see or hear a C-9A as it passes overhead.No replacement is being sought and it is quite possible that they will continueon for at least another 10-20 years. 

Gartex is a divisionof Hasegawa that does only limited run, multi-media kits.  Certainly theyare not inexpensive and are generally not readily available. What makes this kitdifferent from the standard Hasegawa 1/200 DC-9 is the solid resin fuselage.This fuselage has the cargo door and altered fuselage and door pattern peculiarto the C-9A. Those wishing to modify this kit to a Navy C-9B will not find itdifficult to do as they are basically the same aircraft. The big difference isthat the C-9B is basically a commercial airliner with a cargo door, so therewill be windows in the Navy's cargo door. Unlike the USAF version, all the seatsface forward.

Anyway, besides the resin fuselage, one gets most of the partsthat are in the DC-9 kit except for clear bits and, of course, the standardairliner fuselage.  You do get a new decal sheet that will allow you to doany of the C-9As built. The paint scheme offered is the latest version,

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