USAF DC-9-80?

[Rob.Courtney]

In the gift shop in the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB, Georgia, USA, tucked into a high corner is a large model, 4 or 5 feet long, of an MD-80 in USAF markings. It's not a C-9A or VC-9C; the proportions are all wrong.



As far as I can determine, the U.S. Defense Department never acquired any MD-80s (or DC-9-80s, if you prefer).

I can't imagine a model of that size and quality was created on a whim. More likely it was part of a formal sales pitch by McDonnell Douglas, but I can't find any evidence to support that.

I've reached out to the museum and the Boeing Archives but haven't received any responses yet.

So in the meantime, anybody got any leads on where this model came from or what purpose it served?

 

[Sentinel Chicken]

I'm not aware of the MD-80 being offered to the USAF formally. It might have been a semi-formal offer as a replacement for the C-9 Nightingale/VC-9 VIP transport but the USAF was satisfied with what they had already.

I'm not sure where this might have appeared- I'm thinking in the early 1980s when the MD-80/Super 80 line was in jeopardy due to slow sales.