July 9, 2017 was Unloading Day for Perlan and Independence Day for Argentina. The truck arrived last night and the crane arrived this morning. The Perlan team was in place to download and unload the container. First we needed to sweep and clean the hangar. The hangar...
July 8, 2017 Today was the big arrival day at El Calafate for Airbus Perlan Mission II. Tim and Alec were the early scouting party. They started getting the rental cars ready and met two groups at the airport. Cholo and Raul departed the Atlantic coast in the CNVVM...
The events of July 6-7, 2017 in Argentina were extremely worthwhile for the Perlan Project. The logistics of a Campaign in Patagonia are incredibly complicated. In the past 2 days it is coming together. Tim and Alec arrived in El Calafate after driving hard for three...
On July 4th Tim and Alec drove from Marlague to Bariloche down Route 40. This mostly paved road is 5,000 km (3,000 miles) in total. It is a classic like Route 66 in USA. They stopped at Chos Malal for lunch and the memorial to San Martin. I love the tourist interest...
While the polar vertex has begun to spin high over El Calafate, our Airbus Perlan Mission II team has begun to arrive in Argentina. Tim Gardner and Alec Guay were all smiles as they exited the Mendoza airport yesterday July 2, 2017. Tago met them and took them to see...
From January through April 2017 the Perlan team kept a low profile while working on upgrades for the Perlan 2. Here's a partial list of improvements that are ready for Campaign Two in Argentina. Probably most significant is the ability to seal the cabin for...
For 2017 the Perlan Project shipping to Argentina has been much smoother than last year. The trailer inside the container departed Minden on May 16. That was one day behind schedule. It loaded unto a Hamburg Sud vessel out of Long Beach with 5 hours to spare. It took...
Since Jim and Jackie would be in Washington DC on June 22, 2017 for a National Aeronautic Association award program, Airbus decided to leverage that trip for Perlan. At 8 am Kristina Messner from Focused Image took us to the ABC television station for an interview...
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...
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...
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...