This Fiscal Year 1979 F/A-18B (Block 4) was delivered to the US Navy on 9 March 1981. It first served VFA-125 (NJ-521 and later NJ-501) and was then transferred as XF-27 with VX-4 in mid-1983. It was temporary assigned to NAWC-AD at Warminster before the jet was moved to NASA Dryden. It arrived there in mid-1995 and received 852 as a code on 7 September 1996. It assigned theoretical registration N852NA was not seen on the aircraft when it participated in the Edwards airshow.