Previously to being transferred to NASA in January 1997, the SOFIA Boeing 747SP aircraft was operated at different times by United and Pan Am. The 747SP.com website provides information on the current status of ownership and provides photographs of the colours flown by each owner.

The desire to build a faster, long distance plane, with the capability to carry a lot of passengers lead to the development of the Boeing 747SP model (the SP stands for Special Performance). Basically, the SP model is a downsized version of a regular 747.

Page Last Updated: February 19, 2004