[jyl]

What happens when an air bearing encounters a spot that is not to those specs? Let's say a small dent or ripple in the tube, a weld that wasn't completely ground down or that cracks, or the deformed hole left by a rifle bullet? Does it make a difference that the bearing is traveling at 800 mph?

I'm imagining a situation where the 800 mph bearing hits a local deformation in the tube, and rips the tube like a fish being gutted.