Boeing's Stubby Jumbo: The 747SP that Flew Farthest and Highest

The Boeing 747SP was an extraordinary aircraft that redefined long-distance travel in the 1970s. Born out of Pan Am's need for a nonstop route between New York and Tokyo, Boeing trimmed nearly 50 feet from the standard 747 fuselage to create a lighter, longer-legged jet.

The result was a uniquely proportioned aircraft with a distinctly stubby profile, but it could fly farther than any airliner of its day. In March 1976, a South African Airways 747SP flew nonstop from Seattle to Cape Town, covering over 10,000 miles in one flight.

The little jumbo set records around the world, flying nonstop routes that were previously impossible. Pan Am's Clipper Liberty Bell even circled the entire planet in around 46 hours in 1976. For a few years, the 747SP was the only jet that could cross the world's longest gaps without stopping.

Its reign was short-lived, however, as more efficient long-range twins arrived and made the thirsty little four-engined jumbo redundant. But its story didn't end there. One 747SP found a remarkable second life as SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, flying above 99 percent of water vapour that blocks infrared light from the ground.

SOFIA flew for eight years, revealing the invisible forces of cosmic-scale magnetic fields and deepening our understanding of water on the Moon. The Boeing 747SP may have been a stubby little jumbo, but it had the longest legs and the most surprising destiny of them all.