Perlan Project had several desired upgrades for the 2019 season. In January 2019 Perlan 2 was trailered from Minden to Rosamond passing Mount Whitney along the way. (Above the trailer tires in the photo.) I joked that going to Greg Scates composite shop in Rosamond was like getting a full day at the spa, except this is for 2 months. It is much easier to work inside the inverted cockpit standing up, rather than leaned over and head down if the glider wheel is on the ground. So the Perlan 2 fuselage got inverted to hang on the custom made heavy A-frame. The frame needs to be moved with a forklift and positioned by 4 guys, one on each leg of the A-frame. Since the tail is so tall, the fuselage is fairly high off the ground. For a short video of rolling inverted see: https://www.facebook.com/PerlanProject/videos/1154159661418619/?permPage=1
Surfing in the Sky
Glider pilots have surfed on mountain waves since 1932. The process is like surfing on a wave in the ocean, except the glider is in the wave rather than on the surface of the wave. Einar Enevoldson, a NASA Test Pilot, saw evidence that in regions closer to the Poles, in winter, the waves could extend above the troposphere and well into the stratosphere. Previously, no one had searched for waves in the stratosphere in sub-polar regions in winter. From 1992 until 1998 he gathered more evidence that these waves existed, and might be strong enough to lift a sailplane to remarkable altitudes. In 1998 Dr. Elizabeth Austin joined Einar in the search for an understanding of stratospheric mountain waves. She found that the Polar Vortex, and one of its principal components, the stratospheric polar night jet, existing only in winter, provided the high speed wind in the stratosphere that powered incredibly high waves. The Perlan Project was formed to explore these waves and soar them to the edge of space.
