In a previous article, "Michael Nouak" said:
While I generally agree with the rest of your post, you're incorrect here.
The B747 was originally conceived to be a cargo plane for the military, in
competition to the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, which eventually won the contract.
Only after losing did Boeing decide to convert its design to pax use.

However, they converted the design. Unlike the Mars, where the company
took ALREADY BUILT bombers and stripped out the guns and stuff to make it
into a troop transport, they went back to the drawing board, and stripped
off structure that would have supported the military requirements for
higher G loads, rougher landing zones, and heavier concentrated loads on
the floors, making an aircraft that was no longer strong enough for a
military mission.


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Or, to put it another way, if you see a long line of rats streaming off of
a ship, the correct assumption is *not* "gosh, I bet that's a real nice
boat now that those rats are gone". - Mike Sphar