Nightingale flies to final destination

  • Published
  • By Leigh Greer
  • 932nd Airlift Wing
Dover AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  After 37 years of honorable service, the first C-9A Nightingale to enter service for the Air Force flew its final mission into Dover Air Force Base, and history, Aug. 30. According to Mike Leister, director of the Air Mobility Command Museum, Dover received this plane because it’s the home of the only official museum in the command. 

“We are the only museum in the country whose mission is to preserve airlift and air refueling aircraft,” said Mr. Leister. 

After rolling off the production line in August 1968, this particular plane was delivered to Military Airlift Command to be used for medivac missions. For over 25 years of its 37-year life span, this plane’s home was at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. It was also stationed at Rhein Mein AB, Germany; Yokota AB, Japan; and Clark AB, Philippines. 

The C-9A, tail number 584, arrived at Dover on a stormy afternoon, adding to its sad final flight. With a wet landing and a few brief words, the plane was handed over to the museum. “It’s pretty sad looking back at the log book,” said Maj. Scott Pattison, a co-pilot from the 932nd Airlift Wing at Scott AFB. “I first flew it 10 years ago, and as I looked through the log book it brought back a lot of personal memories.” 

For others though, the plane’s arrival brought other memories. “To love what you do, and feel that it matters, how can anything else be more fun?” said Ron Love, a former C-9 pilot and retired lieutenant colonel. “It was just a fun mission.” 

The C-9 was used to replace older propeller-driven aircraft. “Rather than going out and designing an airplane specifically for what the Air Force wanted to be done, we went out and bought off the shelf because they already had the DC-9 commercial airline in service, which is what the C-9 is modeled after,” said Mr. Leister 

For the past three years, the C-9A has been used primarily to transport dignitaries throughout the Air Force. “Rather than having a plane strictly for medivac purposes, nowadays we just configure one of our regular cargo airplanes to do the medivac missions,” added Mr. Leister. “When the air plane comes in today it will not have a red cross on it,” said Mr. Leister. “In the last several years, when they were using it almost exclusively just to haul people around, they took the red cross off because the (Geneva Conventions) say that you cannot run an airplane around as an air ambulance unless it is actually doing that mission. Once it retires here, we will paint the red cross back on the tail because generations of Air Force people will recognize a C-9 with the red cross on the tail,” he added. 

The plane should be ready for the public to view in about a month. The restoration crew at the museum does all the preparation except for specialized needs or requirements that have to be done to the plane. The main task that has to be done is to de-fuel and purge the fuel tanks. 

“We are being supported by the maintenance complex here on base because we cannot safe (purge) our own fuel tanks,” Mr. Leister noted. “That has to be done by the specialists who know how to do that for the Air Force.” 

But the restorations are part of what the museum does to get the aircraft ready for display. “Having been associated with the museum ever since 1993, I have seen a lot of airplanes come in,” said Mr. Love. “They do a phenomenal job of preparing and preserving an airplane.”