 Three AJ-2s were loaned to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as weightlessness simulators from January 1960 to September 1964. They were eventually destroyed during firefighting training. Three AJ-1s were purchased by AJ Air Tankers, Inc. in early 1960 for use as water bombers. Their turbojets were removed before the delivery flight to California, during which one aircraft crashed. The two surviving aircraft were fully modified for the role after delivery and could carry 2,000 US gallons (7,600 l; 1,700 imp gal) of fire retardant. They first flew missions during the 1961 fire season. Another aircraft crashed on takeoff in September 1967 when an engine failed and the sole survivor only made a few more flights before it was scrapped in 1968 – 69.
