Science proves it is possible to take off with AK-47s

You may have seen a number of action movies in which tough characters seem to fly while firing countless shots with a variety of firearms. Perhaps it was this image that eventually motivated a hypothetical question sent to the what if website by a curious Internet user.

The question, which can be translated as, “Is it possible to build a device that can fly using downward-firing machine gun fire?” Generated a series of calculations and questions, plus a surprising answer: yes! Hypothetically, of course.

Hypothetical flight

According to the explanation of the site, the principle is quite simple. If when firing a weapon aimed forward the triggered impulse pushes us backwards, then if we fired it downwards, the impulse would push us upward. But how many weapons would it take to get a platform, say, to fly with the force of the fire?

According to what if staff calculations, at least 300 AK-47s loaded with 250 projectiles each. Such an arsenal would be capable of generating vertical acceleration at speeds close to 100 meters per second, which would allow us to reach heights of over 500 meters. However, with just 25 of these weapons it would be possible to get off the ground.