07/31/2011. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "This aircraft was originally built in 1966 as an H.S.748 Srs.2A/227 for the Compañía Panameña de Aviación SA (operating as Copa Airlines) of Panama City, Panama, and was registered HP-432. On May 15, 1978 it was sold to Eastern Provincial Airways (EPA) of Elmsdale, Nova Scotia, Canada and was registered C-GEPI. Following the merger of EPA with CP Air into Canadian Pacific Airlines in 1984, the aircraft was registered to the latter on August 18, 1986. The following year the aircraft was sold to the UK and the registration was cancelled on April 30, 1987.

Santa Rosa, California, USA-based firefighting specialist MacAvia International contracted Cranfield Aeronautical Services (CAS) in the UK to convert the aircraft into a fire-fighter, known as the MacAvia-BAe 748 Turbine Tanker. CAS, the commercial arm of the College of Aeronautics, Cranfield Institute of Technology, was responsible for the design, conversion and certification of the prototype, marketing was done by MacAvia and British Aerospace (BAe).

The aircraft had the passenger, toilet, and galley fittings stripped out, the airframe was strengthened and additional strongpoint's were installed. The design featured a 2,000 gal (7,571 l) eight-dump-door ventral pannier tank which measured 25 x 6 x 2 ft (7.62 x 1.83 x 0.61 m) could deep. It carried 18,000 lb (8,165 kg) of fire retardant or 16,000 lb (7,257 kg) of water and foam. The tank could be removed or refitted within 45 min. The airframe retained normal pressurization, enabling it to be used for commercial freight, or to be reconfigured in a passenger role.

Registered G-BNJK on May 5, 1987, and listed as Tanker number 48, the prototype made its 2 hr 30 min first flight from Cranfield on September 4, crewed by Cranfield Chief Test Pilot Angus McVitie, BAe Woodford Pilot Tim Liles and Cranfield's senior flight test lecturer, Harry Ratcliffe. Carrying full MacAvia International colors and the show number 350, the aircraft was demonstrated at the Paris Air Show in June 1989, however, expected sales did not materialize and the aircraft was stored at Chateauroux-Deols, France by July 1991, and by June 1999 it had been scrapped."