The MX-311 Water Bullet


The MX-311 Water Bullet is designed to be hoisted vertically to elevations up to 3 miles, released and allowed to free fall, and finally smash-land into water - eventually, after further testing, with Maximus inside. The higher it goes, the faster it falls, with estimated impact speeds of 60-220 miles per hour - if dropped from three miles, the craft will actually break the sound barrier. The four-fin design grips the rushing air and allows the Water Bullet to be steered from within, making it a controlled crash planned for various fresh-water locations around the world. The impact site is marked by a GPS satellite system to make it as accurate as possible and a circle of buoys on the water's surface will also guide the craft as well as caution those below.



Upon impact, a sensor in the very tip of the Water Bullet engages eight mini-cannons that blast hundreds of biodegradable pellets into the water to break the surface tension and start moving it in a forward motion. High- pressure air tanks inside the tip assembly inject air through rings on the nose and create a tunnel for the Water Bullet to travel through. Over 1440 springs on slide rails absorb the estimated 1.8 million pounds of kinetic energy; the 14 spring-loaded slide rails inside the airtight polycarbonate shell make the craft a tandem set of mechanical displacement systems sharing the massive load on impact. After plunging to depths of 45-60 feet, air tanks will fill two air bags mounted inside the crown of the Bullet and bring it to the surface to be fished out by the winch and crew on board the catamaran-style barge. The MX-311 experimental aircraft is the first of its kind, the first prototype in the world; Maximus is the first person to publicly attempt this stunt.