The PC-9 program officially started in 1982. Although some aerodynamic elements were tested on a PC-7 during 1982 & 1983, the first flight of the first PC-9 prototype took place on 7 May 1984. A second prototype flew on 20 July of the same year; this prototype had all the standard electronic flight instrumentation and environmental control systems installed and was thus almost fully representative of the production version.