The Perlan Project is very close to completely self-contained pressurized wave flight. We have test flown the sealed hatches using Mountain High EDS cannulas, but the last critical milestone was installing the (Darth Vader) rebreathers. The BioMarine...
We have been extremely busy in Minden with getting the Perlan ready for pressurized flight. That finally happened! And Dr. Tom Enders (the top boss of Airbus) with other senior Airbus management team from Europe and USA came to fly on March 4, 2016. Tom and...
On February 28, 2016 The Airbus Perlan 2 glider took to the skies while pressurized. This was a historic day for Perlan Project and one of final critical milestones prior to beginning altitude wave soaring in this unique aircraft. Chief Pilot Jim Payne and...
February 2016 Perlan Project was well represented at the Soaring Society of America's convention in Greenville, SC. The SSA is an early sponsor of Perlan's flight computers. Dennis Tito, a major Perlan sponsor had his new jet Arcus on display. Bob Carlton and...
On February 13, 2016 we installed neon orange tufts of yarn on the right wing. It was time for some confirmation of airflow patterns over the wings. The wide angle Sony video camera would document air flow and characteristics approaching stall. Jim and Miguel...
BoneHead Composites is sponsoring the flight crew of Perlan 2. They have sent 10 helmets from size Small to XXLarge for the comfort and safety on all Perlan 2 missions. Jim Payne has worn a BH helmet on all short test flights of the Perlan 2. He has also worn a...
Airbus Group and Perlan Project held a productive quarterly meeting in Minden on January 29, 2016. As always the Perlan 2 glider was the primary focus of the meeting. Public presentations from IMAX, No Right Brain Left Behind, Discovery, Science Committee,...
On January 15, 2016, Mark Harvie, president of Omni Medical Systems visited the Perlan hangar. He was there to sponsor the Perlan flight crew with range extender relief systems. These high tech pump assisted urinary systems will allow Perlan pilots to be...
Saturday, January 16, 2016 An open house was held from 10:00 AM to Noon for individuals who missed the official ribbon cutting of the Dennis Tito Perlan Hangar: About 30 visitors came including 10 students that are part of the Minden Build-A-Plane project. [gallery...
January 15, 2016 The Perlan 2 completed two perfect test flights today from Minden, NV. The weather was clear and calm and above freezing-just what you want for early test flights! Jim Payne, Pilot in Command (PIC), and Miguel Iturmendi, Flight Test Engineer (FTE),...
On August 25, 2017 Airbus Perlan Mission II team took a well earned sleep-in, but still went to hangar at 10 am for some planned work. With several days of very light winds forecast we had time available for some maintence. The front eyeball dual pane windows were...
Weather forecasting is as much art as science, especially in Patagonia. Airbus Perlan Mission II has the best forecasts and satellite photos available this year. Last year the GOES 13 satellite photos for southern Patagonia were only published three times per day....
On a rainy August 21, 2017 most of the Perlan Team visited an old Argentine estancia (ranch) La Usina for lunch. The ranch was self sufficient on a river with their own water wheel from a sluice. Once the drizzle stopped the condors came out into skies above Usina,...
After a strong effort by the Airbus Perlan Mission II team on the morning of August 19, 2017 we were ready to tow out Perlan 2. (See separate blog about PreFlight.) We had been inspired by the possible forecast from 48 hours previous for what might be possible....
This blog is dedicated to the entire support team for Perlan Project in El Calafate. On August 19 we knew there was a short window of opportunity to fly between two fronts. But when we arrived at the hangar there was ice pushed up against the 4 piece rolling hangar...
On August 18 we awoke to a blanket of snow in El Calafate. There was a low pressure system parked over the top of us bringing moderate snow and no wind until mid-afternoon. Probably 10-12 inches, so we cancelled the early morning upwind balloon launch due to road and...