Boeing 747SP

what is it?

The Boeing 747SP (for Special Performance) is a shortened version of the Boeing 747 wide-body airliner, designed for a longer range. It is the highest flying subsonic passenger airliner, with a service ceiling of 45,100 feet (13,700 m). Built to meet a requirement for a long range and smaller aircraft to compete with the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011 TriStar tri-jet wide-bodies, the aircraft introduced in 1971/1972.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 jet engines · 59.6 m wingspan

base stats

• range 10,797 kmwithout refuelling
• seats 343passengers
• size 317.5 tmax take-off weight
• built 45made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 51 years ago, in 1975.
• 🚗Wingspan of 59.6 m: about 13 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 53 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 10,797 km: Amsterdam to New York (≈5,850 km) without stopping.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.6× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1975-07-04

introduced

1976

retired

2021

status

still flying

number built

45

role

wide-body jet airliner

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Boeing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes

engines

4× Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7J

crew

3

passengers

343

length

55.9 m

wingspan

59.6 m

height

20.1 m

max take-off weight

317.5 t

top speed

—

range

10,797 km

ceiling

13,746 m

ICAO code

B74S

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family