Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Long-haul commercial transport

Power Plant:

Four 49,150 lbst Rolls Royce RB.211-524-B2, later 51,980 lbst RB.211-D2, turbofans

Specifications:

History:

The Boeing 747SP, or Special Performance, variant of the 747 series, was designed primarily to meet the requirements of airlines which had long-range routes where traffic density was insufficient to require the passenger capacity of the larger Boeing 747 series in standard form. Thus the SP was born, with a reduction in overall length of 14.8 m (48 ft 6 in), reducing the capacity to a flight crew of three, and basic accommodation for 28 first-class and 288 economy-class passengers. However, a high-density arrangement of ten-abreast seating permitted a maximum of 360 passengers. In addition, the Model 747SP had taller vertical tail surfaces (increased by 0.6 m / 2 ft), a double-hinged rudder, and new trailing-edge flaps. The slotted flaps were replaced by a simpler single-slot design, and wing-tip extensions were made by adding 1.5 m (5 ft) to the horizontal and vertical stabilisers.

The first SP was completed on 19 May 1975 and made its first flight on 4 July that year, a max speed of Mach 0.92 being achieved. Boeing used a  747SP in December 1975 to fly a demonstration tour of the aircraft around the world, covering 116,114 km (72,152 miles) in 29 days visiting 18 countries. On 24 March 1976 a South Africa Airways SP flew non-stop from Washington DC, USA to Capetown, SA covering 16,560 km (10,290 miles). On 3 May 1976 a round the world flight was made by a Pan American Airways 747SP with two stops, covering 36,795 km (22,864 miles) in a flight time of 39 hrs 26 mins, this record being enhanced by a Pan American aircraft on 28 October 1977 which flew around the world over both the North and South Poles, covering 42,978 km (26,707 miles) in a time of 54 hours 7 minutes.

After certification, production deliveries commenced to Pan American Airways. Subsequently a number of airlines ordered this model but final production only ran to 43 aircraft. This model pioneered regular non-stop services from New York, USA to Tokyo in Japan, Los Angeles, USA to Taipei in Taiwan, and Sydney, NSW to San Francisco, USA. It was available with Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7A engines with which it had a gross weight of 299,370 kg (660,000 lb), but the Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7F and JT9D-7H engines were also available, as were the General Electric CF6-45A/A2 and CF6-45B/B2, and the Rolls Royce RB.211-524-B2.

In January 1980 Qantas, as part of an order for further Boeing 747s, ordered two Model 747SP-38s (VH-EAA -c/n 22495 – ‘City of Gold Coast / Tweed’ and VH-EAB – c/n 22672 – ‘Winton’) powered  by Rolls Royce RB.211 engines. The first aircraft arrived in Sydney on 23 January 1981 and was used for promotion and training flights before being modified internally to have 50 of the economy seats replaced by 28 business class seats. One of the main reasons for Qantas operating the Model 747SP was the limitations imposed in relation to operations into Wellington, NZ. Qantas had used Lockheed L-188C Electras to the airport until June 1972 and then had an interim charter arrangement with Air New Zealand to service the port jointly with Douglas DC-8s on its behalf. However, the economy of the DC-8 became progressively less attractive and it was decided a wide-body aircraft would be more suitable to service Wellington.

The acquisition of the Model 747SP also enabled Qantas to serve other regional routes with better flexibility and profitability. Other aircraft considered at the time were the Airbus A300, Boeing 767-200 and Lockheed L-1011-50. Testing of a 747SP was carried out at Moses Lake, Colorado, USA using a hired Braniff Airways aircraft, the runway being marked to simulate Wellington airport.

Qantas Model 747SPs commenced non-stop services between Australia and the United States West Coast in April 1984, operating three times a week from Melbourne, VIC, and Sydney direct to Los Angeles. At one stage VH-EAA was painted in the colours of Australia Asia.

The two aircraft remained in Qantas service until 2001 when they were placed on the market for sale but, as no sale was forthcoming, by early 2002 both aircraft had been retired and flown to the United States where they were broken up at Marana, VH-EAA having flown 75,238 hours and VH-EAB 69,469 hours.  At one stage in 2002 it was announced in the press that one of the SPs might be sold to actor John Travolta, who operated an ex-Qantas 707.

Most 747SPs had 46,950 lbst Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7A turbofans, but the Qantas aircraft had Rolls Royce RB.211-524 turbofans, the same as those fitted to its standard Model 747-238B aircraft. In March 2000 a 747SP-27 was registered for a short period as VH-OZX (c/n 22302 – ex N142SW, B2454, N1301E, N1608B, [N608BN]) in Australia to Global Air Leasing. Visitors over the years have included Corsair Model 747SP F-GTOM to Auckland, and Pan American Airways and South African Airways regularly operated the type to this region.

By 2015, although from only a small production run, 14 examples were still in operational use. One of these, a Model 747SP-100, visited New Zealand in 2013 and 2015. This aircraft, originally built for Pan American Airways in 1977 as N636PA, was eventually obtained by North American Space Administration (NASA) in the late 1990s and, registered as N747SP. It underwent 10 years of modification and made its post rebuild first flight at Waco, Texas, USA on 26 April 2007.

This aircraft was fitted with a large telescope weighing 17 tonnes which was operated by the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy as a sub-orbital telescope cruising over the southern ocean, the telescope being fitted with a Faint Object InfraRed Camera for taking photographs of outer space. In June 2018 the aircraft arrived again in Christchurch where it commenced operations studying the correlation between magnetic fields and star detritis spiralling into the blackhole of the Milky Way, and examining the Magellanic Cloud and Jupiter’s moon Titan.