It may be hard to believe, but this Neptune is not a spares ship. It is undergoing restoration to flight, after many years of storage and neglect. It made its first post-restoration flight on 6 Dec 2007 and became Tanker 42 (N442NA) a week later. Unfortunately its career would not be long - a bit more than a year later, on 25 Apr 2009, it crashed into high ground in the Oquirrh Mountains near Stockton Pass, UT, during a positioning flight from Missoula, MT to Alamogordo, NM. In this photo it still carries its former US Navy markings, with faded MASDC inventory number PA011 still on the nose.

This Neptune is being restored to flight, after many years of storage and neglect. It made its first flight on 6 December 2007 and became Tanker 42 (N442NA) a week later. Unfortunately its career would not be long - it crashed into high ground in the Oquirrh Mountains near Stockton Pass, UT, during a positioning flight from Missoula, MT to Alamogordo, NM. In this photo it still carries its former US Navy markings, without registration, but still with very faded MASDC inventory number PA011 on the nose and US Navy BuNo 150283 under the tailplane.