<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by michswiss:
I know the QF742s and 743s fairly well. For some reason, QFs use of these planes and my normal travel routes in AsiaPac coincide. I've also seen the 747SPs from the outside (never in one though). Strange looking beasts. Are they really faster than the other variations?</font>
The SP has an every so slightly higher normal cruise speed. The -200, -300 and -400 are generally considered 572Mph while the SP is 580 (according to what QF call "average cruise speed").
According to Boeing, the "Classic" 747's all have a typical cruise speed of 555mph (0.84 mach), and the 747-400 of 565mph (0.85 mach). So it a difficult to find apples-to-apples comparision (avg cruise speed, typical cruise speed, max speed etc).
They do look strange, and lets hope JT fulfils the rumour that he is interested in buying and preserving/flying EAA.