It’s the 24th of February, the day before a big day in the Perlan Project. Some came by air, in an ASH25 glider, no less. Most of the team has met up in preparation for tomorrow.
Christalt Eve
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Blog
Fabulous Progress
Ed Warnock, our Executive Director, has visited the workshop in Bend and has the following report. Photos by John Miller. Fabulous Progress! I was amazed at the progress since we were there last. It is visually quite impressive. Wings The main shop is completely...
Rebreather Mark 4 Testing
The rebreather system has been rebuilt into its 4th configuration. This is going to be used for testing as it is very close to the final flight configuration. Now that we have access to a suitable frezer, we can do our “cold tests” to check that there are no problems...
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone following the Perlan Project. December has been a pretty slow month for us but work is continuing. The main development was a decision on the battery system. It turns out the main battery is going to be one really big...
New Instrument Tested
We have sucessfully tested one of the candidate flight instruments in wave lift conditions. The new instrument is called a Craggy Ultimate because it provides the ultimate large-screen soaring display for the pilots. It is capable of running any windows CE software...
More Oshkosh Photos
Just a couple more photos from Oshkosh.
Progress in the Workshop
The guys in the workshop in Bend have been making lots of progress recently. The build rate is really picking up and the excitement is building along with the parts count. Much of the current progress is the boring stuff: project timeline plans and specifications for...
One in the Oven
As the weather turns cooler in Bend Oregon, the team in the shop is staying indoors a bit more. No more afternoons sanding Perlan parts with the hangar doors open watching the traffic on the airfield. Of course this should help get our parts made quicker. The final...
Dennis Tito Visit to Bend
Dennis Tito has recently visited the Windward Performance workshop in Bend, Oregon. The main fuselage molds are now complete so Dennis had an opportunity to see all the big pieces. The rate of work is now increasing so that we expect to finish the wing molds much...
Sanding and More Sanding
The production process we are using to build the Perlan is based on the normal process for mass production of gliders. (In the glider business 50 to 100 is considered to be a lot of gliders.) This is necessary for accurate control over the weight and other properties...
Recent Posts
Perlan Wave Sniffing
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...
Second Check Flight in Argentina
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....
Airbus Perlan 2 First Flight in Argentina
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...
Flight Preparation in El Calafate
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!...
Perlan 2 Glider Arrives at El Calafate
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...
El Calafate Airport Support
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...