The Boeing 747SP is a widebody commercial airliner. It is a highly modified version of its predecessor, the Boeing 747-100 with SP standing for "special performance". Known during development as the short-body 747SB, the weight saved by the shortened fuselage permits longer range and increased speed relative to other 747 configurations.
The idea for the 747SP came from a request by Pan Am for a 747 variant capable of carrying a full payload non-s...
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The Boeing 747SP is a widebody commercial airliner. It is a highly modified version of its predecessor, the Boeing 747-100 with SP standing for "special performance". Known during development as the short-body 747SB, the weight saved by the shortened fuselage permits longer range and increased speed relative to other 747 configurations.
The idea for the 747SP came from a request by Pan Am for a 747 variant capable of carrying a full payload non-stop on its longest route between New York and Tokyo. Joined with Pan Am's request was Iran Air; their joint interest was for a high capacity airliner capable of covering Pan Am's New York-Middle Eastern routes and Iran Air's planned Tehran-New York Route which, when launched at the time, was the longest nonstop commercial flight in the world. The aircraft was launched with Pan Am's first order in 1973, and the first example delivered in 1976. A shorter derivative of the 747-100, the SP was developed to target two market requirements. The first...
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