After a fabulous wave flight on May 12, we took the wings off Perlan 2 that afternoon. We added Roger Tanner to our pack up team. Greg Scates once again masterminded the loading of the container. We decided to use the winch on our old 4x4 pickup truck to get the trailer up the reinforced ramps. (With a lighthearted photo of 2 "winching wenches," Sandra and Jackie) Even got the elusive Stewart in some photos.
The Airbus Perlan Mission II team has been keeping a low profile in Minden. We have quietly upgraded several systems in preparation for our return to high altitude wave attempts. On May 12 the team gathered for a final test flight of those systems. We waited for sprinkles and overcast sky to turn into foehn gaps and wave bars. The map shows wave bars right over Minden, which is exactly in the corner between Nevada and California. Here is the full story.
Chief Pilot and weather forecaster Jim Payne set the pace for the team. Morgan Sandercock would be copilot operating the new spherical 360 camera and the flutter vibration exciters. Doug Perrenod with Sandra Sandercock would be CapCom. Greg Scates was there to watch all his days of modifications and installations perform flawlessly. Stewart Tattersall led the ground crew for launch and recovery. Stewart's built in windsock (beard) is priceless when hooking up the tow rope from a limited viz cabin. Really! And I tried to keep it all rolling along and take photos. Sort of a human checklist, so to speak.
From May 2-5 Teachers in Space visited Perlan in Minden, sponsored by Perlan Project. Chris Murphy was team lead for 3 Ashford School science and robotics teachers. Kathryn Craven, Dorey Manfre, and Carly Imhoff have just completed training for Perlan 2 high altitude flights and balloon flights. Their students designed one of the cubesats. Perlan team member Doug Perrenod was the liason with Liz Kenneck of Teachers in Space.
After designing, implementing and installing various upgrades for season two in the Sierra, Airbus Perlan 2 flew its first wave mission April 22, 2017. All systems worked flawlessly. Although wave lift was weak above 25,000 feet they managed 30,960 ft on GPS altimeter reading. This is highest we have been in our methodical envelope expansion, higher than Mount Everest's 29,000 feet.
Jim Payne and Miguel Iturmendi launched at 9:30 behind Silvio Riccardi in SoaringNV's Pawnee. Our morning ground crew of Tim and Jackie was augmented by Alan and Brad. Also helping in preflight activities from Airbus were Ken, Severin, and Denis. Michael was capcom assisted by Doug. Definitely a team effort!
On April 11, 2017 the Perlan 2 glider took to the air for a Functional Check Flight. Finally it was ready for a Return to Flight low altitude, unpressurized mission. Jim Payne and Tim Gardner launched behind Silvio Ricardi in the SoaringNV Pawnee tow plane. Jim and Tim did a very thorough preflight checklist. Stewart, Brad and Jackie assisted as ground crew. Stewart carries his own personal windsock with him at all times, as the photo illustrates.
Morgan Sandercock, pilot, project manager and contributor to the Perlan Project gave a presentation to the biennial OSTIV Congress in Benalla, Australia.
El Calafate is on the middle of the south shore of Lago Argentino. It is the largest lake in Patagonia and is fed by Perito Moreno Glacier - the White Giant on the west shore of the lake only 80 km away. The Parque Nacional Los Glaciares contains many glaciers but Perito Moreno is the most notable and accessable. It moves 7 feet per day so there is a lot of calving off the 200 foot wall which meets the lake. All of the Perlan team made time to visit this glacier.
October 7, 2016.
The 2016 Argentina wave season has ended for the Airbus Perlan Mission II team. We learned and accomplished a lot, but strong wave conditions never materialized. The Perlan team put together an amazing network of supporters in Argentina.