The Perlan Project is very close to completely self-contained pressurized wave flight. We have test flown the sealed hatches using Mountain High EDS cannulas, but the last critical milestone was installing the (Darth Vader) rebreathers.
We have been extremely busy in Minden with getting the Perlan ready for pressurized flight. That finally happened! And Dr. Tom Enders (the top boss of Airbus) with other senior Airbus management team from Europe and USA came to fly on March 4, 2016.
On February 28, 2016 The Airbus Perlan 2 glider took to the skies while pressurized. This was a historic day for Perlan Project and one of final critical milestones prior to beginning altitude wave soaring in this unique aircraft.
February 2016
Perlan Project was well represented at the Soaring Society of America's convention in Greenville, SC. The SSA is an early sponsor of Perlan's flight computers. Dennis Tito, a major Perlan sponsor had his new jet Arcus on display. Bob Carlton and Mark Mocho have done a fabulous job installing the powerful self launching one of a kind jet into a Schemp-Hirth Arcus sailplane. Dennis received his SSA gold medal for Out and Return. Jim Payne got a SSA gold medal for triangle distance.
On February 13, 2016 we installed neon orange tufts of yarn on the right wing. It was time for some confirmation of airflow patterns over the wings. The wide angle Sony video camera would document air flow and characteristics approaching stall. Jim and Miguel Iturmendi launched into calm winds behind Silvio Ricardi in SoaringNV's trusty Pawnee tow plane. This time we have posted some awesome in-flight photos. Everything performed as expected.
BoneHead Composites is sponsoring the flight crew of Perlan 2. They have sent 10 helmets from size Small to XXLarge for the comfort and safety on all Perlan 2 missions. Jim Payne has worn a BH helmet on all short test flights of the Perlan 2. He has also worn a BoneHead helmet for over 7 hours in a different glider. He says it is extremely comfortable with clear voice reception.
Airbus Group and Perlan Project held a productive quarterly meeting in Minden on January 29, 2016. As always the Perlan 2 glider was the primary focus of the meeting. Public presentations from IMAX, No Right Brain Left Behind, Discovery, Science Committee, KiloPapaYankee wave clothing, and BioMarine re-breather system were highlights. Afterwards Laurie and Silvio Ricardi hosted a scrumptious buffet at the Carson Valley Inn. Photos from Viktor Venson and Jackie Payne
On January 15, 2016, Mark Harvie, president of Omni Medical Systems visited the Perlan hangar. He was there to sponsor the Perlan flight crew with range extender relief systems. These high tech pump assisted urinary systems will allow Perlan pilots to be comfortable for the entire 8 hour mission. Mark and Rick Arnold briefed the team on system operation.