Douglas DC-9 Makes Its First Flight From Long Beach

• Chief Engineering Test Pilot George R. Jansen, program test pilot Paul H. Patten and flight test engineer Duncan Walker flew N9DC (serial 45695) from Long Beach to Edwards Air Force Base in 2 h 13 min, where the test program continued^[1]
• The airplane was the Series 10 aircraft, 104 ft 4.75 in long and 89 ft 5 in in span, built for short, thin routes and carrying up to 109 passengers; Douglas designed the Series 10 without leading-edge slats to keep takeoff and landing distances short^[1][2]
• Delta Air Lines was the lead customer: its first DC-9 (N3304L, "Delta Prince") was delivered at Long Beach on 7 October 1965 and flown to Atlanta that day by Capt. Thomas P. Ball in 4 h 19 min^[1][3]
• After testing, 45695 was leased to Trans Texas Airways in 1966 and flew until 1991 before being returned to McDonnell Douglas and stored as a parts source in 1992^[1]
• Douglas built 976 DC-9s until 1982 across five civil variants, plus 41 military C-9s; the line led to the MD-80, MD-90 and Boeing 717^[1][2]

Notable features

• DC-9-10: length 104 ft 4.75 in (31.82 m), wingspan 89 ft 5 in (27.25 m), height 27 ft 6 in^[1]
• Two rear-mounted Pratt & Whitney JT8D-5 turbofans of 12,250 lbf each; empty weight 49,020 lb; maximum takeoff weight 90,700 lb (41.1 t)^[1]
• Seats: typically 90 in one class (72 in a 12 first plus 60 economy layout), 109 maximum exit limit^[2]
• Cruise 490 kn (907 km/h) at 25,000 ft and range 1,590 nmi (2,945 km)^[1]