Air Force One: Gerald Ford

Force One Dept: When the Saskatchewan government dispatched one of its water bombers to the U.S. last month to help fight the deadly and massively destructive wildfires raging across Colorado, the grateful authorities there didn't realize right away a notable piece of American aviation history had temporarily flown home, according to Winnipeg Free Press. handout Tanker 475 ex-Air Force One dumping fire retardant in Canada. POSTMEDIA handout Tanker 475 during the 1970s when it served as Air Force One carrying Nixon and Air Force Two carrying then-U.S. vice-president Gerald Ford . That's because the Saskatchewan environment ministry's custom-refurbished Convair C-131H -- painted in the official provincial colours of green and white and known in this country as Tanker 475, a workhorse that has fought forest fires across Western Canada since it was purchased from a U.S. company in 2008 -- was once identified by the most auspicious call sign in the world: Air Force One. Enlarge Image (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.