Perlan’s blog collects the thoughts and experiences of team members from the multiple disciplines needed to build and prepare the aircraft, plan the flight, and carry out the mission. Here, you’ll find insights from the designers, craftspeople, pilots, meteorologists, and support personnel who will make Perlan’s record ascents a reality. Perlan’s blog will be an opportunity to delve into the challenges and triumphs that travel with the giant sailplane.
When Perlan Project was approached by Classical Tahoe to partner in a fundraiser, we said "Yes!" It is always good for a community when two non-profits can work together. As it turned out we hosted two "Evening with Perlan" events. Karen Craig and Laurie Riccardi aided by Lindsay McIntosh organized it beautifully. Jackie coordinated on the Perlan side.
To all our families, friends, and fans:
The most important upgrade for Perlan 2 in the off-season is new custom fit hatches made by Greg Scates. He created a collar of fiberglass which will be the basis for tooling for the new hatches. The old hatches were made from splashing from the test fuselage, not the flight fuselage. The original hatches clearly worked to 54,000 feet but were not perfect. Jim and Greg want perfect.
Every non-wave season we try to get some upgrades done on the Perlan 2. From December 2017-February 2018 Greg Scates has led a volunteer crew in Rosamond and achieved some spectacular changes. Mike Malis, Alec Guay, Scott Wiley and David Leingang have all spent many hours and days supporting these Rosamond-based upgrades. Morgan Sandercock dropped in one day to add his engineering help. And Jim Payne connected people, organized tasks, all round go-fer, and kept the entire team updated on progress.
The tail camera footage from Perlan 2 can be spectacular. I scoured the 5 hour flight from 9/9/17 for the most glorious shots. It was very difficult to narrow it to only 4 minutes! The music I selected was "Higher" by Silent Partner. How cool is that? Tim Davis put it together for us. The glacier Perito Moreno is visible below the Perlan 2 in several early sections and the third photo of this blog. If you look closely you can see where a chunk of ice (calf) has fallen off the 200 foot wall of the glacier. The stacked lenticular clouds in photo four topped out at 35,000 feet.
On February 5, 2018 the National Aeronautic Association annouced the illustrious list of nominees for the greatest aviation achievement in America in 2017. Perlan Project was proud to be included in this prestigeous group. This is the Oscar of Aviation, there is no higher honor. Jack Pelton, Chairman and CEO of the Experimental Aviation Association and a NAA Distinguished Statesman in Aviation nominated Perlan Project based on it's accomplishments in 2017.
“For more than a century, the Collier Trophy has recognized the ‘greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America,’ Greg Principato, President and CEO of NAA stated. “This year’s outstanding group of nominees represent the great depth and breadth of our aviation industry. Each is changing our world for the better. The Collier Selection Committee will have its work cut out for it this year and we at NAA couldn’t be more excited." For a recap of all 2017 nominees see https://aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/collier-trophy-nominees-announced/
Today we have a guest blogger Alec Guay our intern for past 2 years. Alec (aka Grasshopper) has helped immeasurably in Argentina for two campaigns. Now he is helping with the improved CubeSat rack and other Payload Bay improvements in Rosamond under the watchful eye of composites guru Greg Scates. To avoid confusion in Alec's photos, it is the Perlan 2 glider which is upside down in the background of some photos! And Alec got the donation of carbon fiber from Tom Haulik of Hexcel all by himself. Alec writes:
Hi Perlan Blog Readers! A mid project update on the composite science rack I am fabricating as part of my Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Project.
One of the more challenging aspects of every wave flight of Perlan 2 is the tow. On the September 9, 2017 wave day the air that the CNVVM tow plane and Perlan 2 flew through was dynamic. It could be compared to a moderate roller coaster ride. The video linked below shows a 4 minute composite of that hour long tow.