On 9-16 the helicopter from Ushuaia arrived. The R-44 copter has less than 10 hours on it. We took advantage of a calm, cool evening for a photo shoot. The clarity of the light is magnificient and sunset gives that warm glow along the leading edge of the wing. It...
On September 15-16 representatives from Comodoro and Buenos Aires ENAC and ANAC came to El Calafate to see the Perlan 2. Empressa Argentina Navegacion Aerea (similar to ATC) is a brand new agency in Argentina which started August 1. Walter Salama, Director of...
On September 14 and 16 Perlan Project hosted several classes of local high school age students from El Calafate. Previously Perlan Project had gone to the classrooms. Now they came to the hangar. This was organized by Liz Kennick, president of Teachers in Space. She...
The wind strength and direction are of utmost importance on any wave mission. On Tuesday the 13th (Argentine equivalent to American Friday 13th) we decided to practice a wave mission, first celebrating Doug and Hector's joint birthdays. But, we really needed a...
After the first short flight in Argentina there were some tweaks and improvements made. So on September 11, 2016 Perlan 2 took to the skies of Patagonia for the second time. Jim and Tim Gardner piloted this one, with Morgan as Cap Com and Miguel on radios....
On September 9, 2016 we flew the first Airbus Perlan 2 flight from El Calafate, Argentina. It would be a short Functional Check Flight (FCF) for the aircraft which had traveled over 14,000 kilometers by truck, boat, and truck to reach its southern Andes home. That's...
The level of complexity for an expedition such as Perlan Project in Argentina is mind boggling. The Laviasa tow plane flown by Cholo Miranda arrived at sunset to enthusiastic team applause. It is a prototype 2 seat Pawnee (Pulche) with a bubble canopy. Sweet!...
Today was delivery day at El Calafate for the Perlan Team. It was as eagerly anticipated as Christmas morning. The Cruz del Sur truck brought the container to the hangar ramp on a frosty morning. The 4 legs and chain hoists were pulled out of container and...
We are excited to be at El Calafate! But it is very necessary to learn the rules and regulations to be good citizens of the airport. So the past 2 days have had several meetings with airport authorities. We gathered for a team photo near the black and yellow tripods...
Ten years ago on August 29, 2006 Einar Enevoldson and Steve Fossett made history with a sailplane flight to 50,722 feet (15,460 meters) from El Calafate, Argentina. They were extremely cold and their pressure suits, on loan from NASA, had inflated to the point...
On January 6, 2018 Perlan Project hosted title sponsor Airbus for the quarterly review meeting. Since the Perlan 2 glider was in Rosamond for upgrades requiring carbon fiber parts, we held the meeting at nearby Hilton Garden Inn in Palmdale, CA. After the meeting we...
On January 5, 2018 Aviation Week annouced their 2017 Aviation Person of the Year - Tom Enders, CEO of Airbus. Dr. Enders has been a long time supporter of the visionary Perlan Project. We are so pleased to congratulate him on this awesome accolade. Dr. Enders has...
In the off-season Airbus Perlan Mission II is making more upgrades to the Perlan 2 pressurized glider. Team member Greg Scates has been invaluable in creeating solutions for these upgrades. Previously he came to Minden to the cold hangar to make and cure carbon fiber...
Alec Guay, the two-year Perlan intern, made cubesats in Perlan 2 his collegiate senior engineering project. He flew to California for some hands on design and fabrication. The impetus to this project was threefold. We wanted a better rack to hold the cubesats....
On November 30, 2017 Perlan Project gave a talk co-sponsored by China Lake chapter of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the China Lake Museum. The afternoon started with a personally guided tour of the China Lake Museum by Bob Campbell....
On November 29, 2017 NASA Armstrong (previously Dryden) hosted it's 50th Colloquium Series about innovative aviation. Perlan Project was honored to be selected again. Einar Enevoldson spoke some years ago about Perlan 1. Jim and Jackie Payne spoke about Perlan 2 to a...