What is the point of the Boeing 747 SP?

The Boeing 747 SP was a lot lighter than the orignal 747 and was able to carry a lot more fuel. It was the longest range airliner in the world before the A340-600.





The new 747s have more fuel efficient engines, can carry more fuel (and passengers), and are lighter empty so the 747 SP became obsolete.

What is the point of the Boeing 747 SP?
Having the same wing and engines as the 747-200, but beinh much shorter, the SP (Special Performance) was much lichter, which made is capable of flying faster, higher and travel much greater distances as compared to the other airliners at the time.





It is a very popular aircraft amongst some aviation enthousiast. It even has a website dedicated to it.





http://www.747sp.com/
Reply:The Boeing 747 SP was made to serve markets that did not have adequate passenger flow to neccesitate the use of the larger 747.
Reply:to carry people... duh
Reply:It was the 747 GTi, shorter lighter fuselarge than the -200, yet the same engines, and wings which gave better rate of climb, and acceleration, although not top speed as this is mach limited and enabled a range of 8000 plus miles with passengers, however the later full length - 400 with more fuel efficient engines has now taken on the mantle of ultra long range 747 by flying London Sydey non stop, over 9000 miles
Reply:... BOEING 747 SP ............ means 'special purpose ', plane was designed for long range and for use of private use by different countries as state planes ........ later they found it was not that economical ............ but they are still in use by some countries in middle east ...............
Reply:It was a great version of the 747 taht catered for smaller passenger loads and better performance.
Reply:The point was to trade passenger capacity for fuel capacity to serve more distant markets non-stop.
Reply:The Boeing 747SP was an aircraft that was shorter than the 747 but was able to fly a farther range. The wingspan was the same length as the 747 but the tail was a little higher. The cruising speed was a little faster too. However the number of passengers that could be seated in the SP was fewer than the 747. I know that Pan Am used them a lot and when they sold their Pacific routes to Asia, United Airlines started using them. South African Airways also used them on long range routes.





Right now the 777 LR and the A340-500 both have super long range capabilities.
Reply:The 747SP is a shorter version of the 747-200/100. It also has a longer vertical tailfin and simplified flaps (1 piece as opposed to the other 747s triple slotted flaps) and was first offered to customers in 1974 to fill in the niche of ultra long haul (also known as lon-rang 'thin' routes) routes, at the expense of passenger capacity. It has been superseded by the 747-400 in 1989, and is no longer in production. It is very rare to see one in commercial use nowadays, though most are now for corporate, not commercial use (for example, as business jets).
Reply:The 747 SP is an outdated model that has been replaced with a more fuel efficient engine configuration. Do a Yahoo search on Boeing 747 SP and all your questions will be answered.
Reply:Here it is from Wikipedia:


The 747SP was a shortened version of the 747-100. It was introduced into service in 1976 with Pan AM. Apart from the upcoming 747-8 the SP is the only 747 with a modified length fuselage. It was designed to fly higher, faster, and longer than the 747-100. Boeing hoped that the abilities of the SP would compete and take orders from the Douglas DC-10 and create a niche market, however in the end only a total of 45 were built.





As at August 2006 a total of 13 Boeing 747SP aircraft were in airline service with South African Airways (1), Iran Air (1), Iraqi Airways (2), Kinshasa Airways (1), Palace Air (1), Saudi Arabian Airlines (1), Syrian Arab Airlines (2) and Transatlantic International Airlines (2).[21]





The sole remaining South African Airways 747SP - the "Maluti" - was decommissioned on 30 September 2006 with a final flight to Rand Airport where it will remain on show as a static display/museum aircraft. (This final transport flight was the aircraft's first flight in three years.)