Built for the Hughes Tool Company in 1959, but never delivered, this Electra was sold instead to the Federal Aviation Administration in 1961 as N111. It was re-registered N97 in 1972. To NASA as N429NA in 1979, it was withdrawn in December 1994 and stored at MASDC. The aircraft was taken out of storage circa 2002 and seen in several salvage yards adjacent to MASDC before registered to Neptune Aviation Services in 2004. It joined Air Spray air tanker fleet in 2006 and is pictured working with the British Columbia Forest Service.

The former NASA 429 has been with Air Spray since 2006. On the nose is the logo of the Forest Service British Columbia - Airtanker Operations and that is indeed where Tanker 482 has been working for a numer of seasons in a row. It was undergoing pre season maintenance here and also sports the "45 years Wild Fire Suppression" badge on the nose wheel door.

Being prepared for its trip to Revelstoke