USAir DC-9-30 N978VJ

[mstrmoe]

I saw that one of USAir's experimental DC-9s was painted but I did not see this one that I just discovered, N978VJ. Here's a photo: Attachment Deleted


Thanks so much for your work!

[hornit - HJG]

You absolutely sure this is not a photoshop of a proposed livery? Looks 'fishy" to me and I never saw anything like this anywhere real world either.

[Tony Madge - HJG]

www.airlinehobby.com/listings/details/index.cfm?itemnum=755853179&referer=/newindex.cfm

Never seen it before, but a quick search on the internet revealed the same picture a few times.

[mstrmoe]

I don't believe it was; here's the photo on another site airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/keyword/dc931/i-Sqpp6DS/A
I've been asking around and so far all think it's real, as well

[Deleted]

I remember JCA doing a livery of this jet for their DC-9-30.
This was one of the experimental liveries when they were looking for a 1990's replacement.

[mstrmoe]

I found confirmation that it's real! Read this online post from four years ago
"
I cannot find the topic, but someone on here was asking about a USAir DC-9 painted in an odd paint scheme sometime around the PSA merger. Well, I found my photo. During the late Spring, early Summer of 1988, USAir experimented with paint schemes. There were a few PSA BAe 146's, a 737-300 and a DC-9 painted up in the scheme that was discussed with the bare metal and orange and gray stripes. But there was one DC-9, N978VJ, that was painted up in a scheme that was different. The idea was dropped almost immediately.

The bad news is my scanner isn't hooked up. This DC-9 is bare metal overall. Starting at the forward door, under the window-line is a narrow, orange stripe, outlined on both sides by a dark gray. The stripe goes all the way back to the tail and gets gradually wider all the way back. It never gets very wide though.

The tail: Starting just aft (maybe a foot) of the base of the vertical fin to an area just under the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer is a gray field (the same gray that outlines the orange stripe). Inside the gray field are three tall, narrow orange triangles that lean toward the aft section of the tail. (Like they are being blown over....they invoke speed. Just behind them is an obtuse triangle (same orange) that covers the bottom of the rudder. It isn't even the same shape as the other triangles and doesn't quite look right. The word USAir is in dark gray and the "A" is hollow with the three orange triangles coming out of it starting wide at the bottom and getting narrow at the top.....the same triangles on the tail.

The nose is composite gray.

Engines are bare metal.

In my opinion this looks bad."

He can't scan his photo, but it's clear he's describing our aircraft perfectly, same registration and all. It was the only USA a/c in this scheme, and so there are probably no other photos of it.