The Boeing 747SP is the baby of the family, being 14.75 metres shorter than the standard version of the aircraft. SP stands for Special Performance, as it was the ultra-long range version of the 747, with a range of 12,320 kilometres.
Powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT9D or Rolls-Royce RB211-524C2 turbofans, it first flew on 4 July 1975 and entered service with Pan American on 25 April 1976. Due to its long range, it set several distance records during its life.
Boeing 747SP Video
Following on from the video last week on the Fokker F28 Fellowship, this time we will have a look at the Boeing 747SP. Running for just under 15 minutes, this Boeing production looks at flight testing of the aircraft back in 1975.
Overlooking the strange humming sound throughout, the film gives a fascinating look at some of the things they had to do to certify the jet for service. There are some interesting comments from Jack Waddell, the Chief Test Pilot for the programme.
What is interesting in the video are seeing the stall testing, showing the pitch down at the point of the stall. Also, the minimum unstick tests are fascinating to watch. It looks like it is taking off so slowly!
Qantas originally ordered the Boeing 747SP for flights to Wellington in New Zealand as it had such a short runway. That didn’t last long – once Pan Am started non-stop flights from Los Angeles to Sydney, they were redeployed on the long route to compete. In actual fact, the Qantas version had more range due to the Rolls-Royce engines, so the occasional technical stop for fuel that affected Pan Am did not affect the Australian airline.
Overall Thoughts
There were just 45 of the Boeing 747SP produced, which makes it one of the rarest of the jumbo jets. Today, none remain in commercial service, though some still fly as Government transports.
Those wanting more information can check out this web site about the aircraft. It lists all the SPs produced, with some interesting articles worth reading.
Did you ever fly on a Boeing 747SP? What was it like? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Eduard Marmet via Wikimedia Commons.
Australia Asia Airlines flew a pair of these planes before its closure in 1996.
They did indeed!
Yes, I flew the “baby” 747SP once from Athens, Greece to Johannesburg, South Africa via Lisbon, Portugal in June, 1981 on South African Airways.
With the 90 minutes stopover in Lisbon to refuel and pick-up the bulk of passengers who filled the entire economy class cabin, it took 18+ hours to get from ATH to JNB.
At the time, I had been working at a travel agency for several years (an after school job from early teens that continued for more than a decade during semester breaks in college and graduate school!), so the AD75 (or 75% off Agent Discount) allowed me to fly JFK-LHR-MUC-ATH-JNB-ZRH-JFK entirely in 1st Class for under $800 ($793 to be precise!), so my one and only 18+ flight aboard the ‘Baby Queen’ unexpectedly turned out to be a flight like no other when there were just three of us in 1st class: a friend from South Africa who’s family invited me to visit (his father was a senior executive for a US-based multi-national company, hence his 1st class ticket); some sort of “commuter” who knew all of the flight attendants, and who’s occupation was not disclosed beyond the generic “businessman”; and myself.
So, the 3 of us had the entire nose section to ourselves, along with at least 1 flight attendant just for us, with an high value flyer eager to throw a spectacular, nearly nonstop, party (we slept for a few hours in the wee small hours after countless bottles of VIP-grade champagne were emptied…).
Endless champagne. More (and also endless) really good food than one should ever eat in 2 or 3 days, much less an overnight flight.
Then an incredible, made to order breakfast, champagne, mimosas and all at sunrise to top it all off as we crossed over Namibia (then called Southwest Africa) before landing in JNB!
My friend and I literally staggered off the plane from a once in a lifetime flight that to this day remains the BEST. FLIGHT. EVER.
That was my one and only 747SP flight!
I am grinning away massively having read this! That is FANTASTIC! 🙂 Really delighted you shared the story of THAT trip. I can see why you say it was the best flight over! Sounds like a serious party for the entire journey and why the hell not!
Beautiful on every level and for such a good price! I’d say it every minute of that flight was worth being on the flight for. It’s great when the planets align to give you a spectacular experience. Again, thoroughly enjoyed the read and thanks so much for sharing!!
Glad I came back to this post to read the comments. Hubby and I flew United’s SPs to New Zealand & Australia from LA with a stop in Honolulu. On the outbound we sat in the upper deck. Tres Chic! On the way home we were on the main level but behind the right side galley- glad the comments confirmed my remembrance of the layout.
I also remember the water pipes freezing on the return non stop SYD-LAX. It seems like United very seldom got it right. On well, we had a grand trip.
First use of Miles for International and in Business Class to boot! I was Mayor a small city in Iowa named Melbourne and we met with the Lord Mayor of Melbourne AU on this trip, along with hikes near Mt Cook and scuba diving off of Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef.
From First B747 trip to Europe in 1977 to earlier this year on RTW19 1.0 flying HND-FRA-IAD in seat 1K in Lufthansa ‘s B747-8i Intercontinental, I love this plane!
The upper deck of a Boeing 747 is something else! I really enjoy flying upstairs, as it’s just like being on your own private jet. It’s a shame this experience is rapidly dwindling. The water pipes froze? You wouldn’t expect that to happen considering aircraft are designed to operate at altitudes where it’s very cold. Must have been a rare occurrence.
Sounds like some experience you had, travelling from your Melbourne to our Aussie Melbourne! You certain;y did some good touring around.
Awesome that you’ve managed to go on the Boeing 747-8i in 1K! I hear nothing but good things about Lufthansa’s Boeing 747-8i. It’s another one I hope to get on board sometime soon. Luckily they’re not too old, so we still have time to fly the jumbo yet. Thanks very much for the comment, I enjoyed the read!
I had the luck to fly aboard a 747SP twice! Even though not many were made, the engineering was reused. The hump in a 747-200 starts forward of the wing. The hump in a 747SP starts over the wing. This required engineering drawings for the wing box and the fuselage over the wing. This design was re-used in the 747-400, which has a stretched upper deck that ends over the wing.
Lucky you got to fly on board the SP – that’s pretty good! I had heard something similar with regards to the Upper Deck. That’s a smart use of the experience gained there and it was to great success as the Boeing 747-400 did everything it was supposed to and then some. Thanks for the comment!
I flew LAX-PPT-LAX on Corsair’s 747SP. I recall the flight as rather unpleasant, but that was more because the plane was dirty and the crew unpleasant more than any deficiencies of the aircraft. As someone used to flying QF and NZ, it was very disappointing.
Great you got to fly on the SP, but a shame it wasn’t a great flight. I guess Corsair was very different to your usual experience. Sounds memorable for all the wrong reasons. Thanks for the comment!
I flew this numerous times in the 1980’s, most notably twice on Pan Am on the JFK-DHA (the old Dhahran airport). A roughly 14 hour flight and one of the longest at the time. We always flew business class which ran from door 1 along the left side in 2×2 for about 4 rows and then a smaller roughly 5 row cabin of 8 across. The first/business galley ran along the right side of the plane in a rather odd configuration.
The business class seats were nothing to write home about with roughly the same size and pitch as older US 1st class domestic cabins, though the chairs were quite wide and plush. The movies were on the old flip over screens and projectors with the air tube earphones. Terrible really and maybe 3 movies to keep you occupied on a long, boring flight.
First class was not even lie flat in those days, but the cabin was a bit more intimate in the nose of the plane. Never flew first on the SP, just passed thru on the way to business class.
Economy class occupied the back end of the plane with two section of 3/4/3. Never flew that thankfully as it was always full of oil men heading back to their gigs in the Kingdom. They smoked and drank up a storm on the flight until reaching Saudi airspace when alcohol service was stopped.
The flights to Saudi Arabia would leave late in the evening from the Pan Am world port at JFK and land the next evening at the old Dhahran airport. We were always connecting to a Saudia flight to Riyadh so had to go to sterile transit. All the international transfers were put on that plane with customs and immigration formalities being handled in Riyadh.
I can imagine 14 hours would have been a lot more tedious than today, considering you had to watch what you were given and even then the facilities were rudimentary enough. The way that galley is configured on the Pan Am SP is the same as Qantas had theirs between Doors 1 and 2, running along the length of the aircraft. I remember it from an old seating plans book I had from Qantas. It stood out as it was so odd – I wonder if other SPs had it like that too.
Sounds like you had an interesting time flying back and forth with Pan Am to Saudi Arabia. Great that you had the comfort of Clipper Class though! Thanks for the comment, really interesting stuff!
I believe until recently and maybe still Las Vegas Sands/Sheldon Adelson had two I used to see them regularly park at McCarran.
Yes, I read they had a couple there, which I found interesting. I was always wondering why! Thanks for the comment.
I did fly on one of these in the 90s. It was on United in one of their inherited Pan Am aircraft. It was on the LHR-LAX route (I think it was an equipment swap with a 747-200). They downplayed that this was an “SP” and simply referred to it as a 747. The only noticeable difference to a passenger is there were less cabins to walk through when you walked the length of the aircraft. It was a really rough landing as I recall but I don’t know if that had anything to do with the aircraft type.
Yes, I remember that some went to United with the purchase of Pan Am’s Pacific route network. Nice that you got on board one. I remember the Qantas seat map had a long galley between doors one and two, with the seats on the other side. Unusual really! Thanks for the comment!