Perlan Project has three primary goals - Exploration, Innovation and Inspiration. Miguel Iturmendi volunteered to be a career speaker at Booker Middle School in Florida to inspire young minds about science and technology in aviation. He talked about Perlan and other...
Due to a springtime snow storm in the Northeast the NAA cancelled today’s Collier Trophy competition in Washington DC. It will be rescheduled at a future date. All Perlan’s key personnel were here, ready to tell our story of our significant aviation achievements in...
The absolute hottest ticket at the SSA 2018 Reno Convention was flying the Perlan Flight Simulator. We were maxed out all three days, with over 150 folks getting a real taste of flying high. There was no charge to fly, but the signup sheet showed lots of evidence of...
On March 1-3 in Reno, NV the Soaring Society of America held the 2018 national convention. The Perlan 2 glider was the featured display at the front of the convention floor. Many of the Perlan team showed up to work the convention floor. Einar, Ed and Jim put in many...
The Soaring Society of America hosted their convention in Reno, Nevada from March 1-3. Perlan Project was featured on the convention floor and at the Friday night OSTIV dinner. The team gathered to celebrate the awarding of two national records from Greg Principato,...
On September 9, 2017 Perlan 2 soared to 35,000 feet but was unable to get higher. So Jim Payne and Tim Gardner made the decision to come back to El Calafate. In the video linked below you can see the spoilers extend upward on each wing. They are called air brakes or...
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...
To all our families, friends, and fans: Happy Valentine's Day from Perlan Project! We know that each of you support the goals of Perlan Project in some way. Whether you travel to El Calafate, or keep life moving forward when someone else goes to Patagonia for weeks or...
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...
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...
On September 12, 2018 the weather supported stratospheric wave in Patagonia Argentina. Clouds were expected in the afternoon so a 10 o'clock launch was selected. This would be another envelope expansion flight, faster not higher. On this same day we had invited many...
For Flight #53 the objective was envelope expansion and a functional check flight of some recent upgrades performed by the Perlan Team. The goal was to fly faster, not higher, to clear more flutter excitation modeling to the right. (More details below.) Our weather...
On September 2, 2018 Airbus Perlan Mission II claimed its third world record in a fabulous week of high altitude Patagonia soaring. The team of 20 dedicated people, and the Perlan 2 glider were ready to fly again when the weather supported our goals of Exploration,...
Only 2 days after Airbus Perlan Mission II claimed a new world record, the polar night jet and mountain waves alligned again on 28 August 2018. When we arrived at the hangar we had a unpleasant surprise that the entire airport was without electricity. But Tago worked...
After 5 weeks of preparation in El Calafate and 2 weeks of practice flying the Perlan 2, Airbus Perlan Mission II set a new unofficial World Record for Absolute Altitude without an engine of 60,669 feet (18,492 meters) measured by GPS. Normally aviation altitude is...
On a No-Fly day Team Perlan decided to visit El Chalten, about 140 miles north of El Calafate. The Glacier National Park extends between these two scenic areas of Patagonia. On the shores of Lago Viedma there's a large glacier, but the crown jewel is Mount Fitz Roy...