The Perlan 2 wings are on! We are getting ready for Airbus Perlan Mission II - Campaign 2018. Again we awoke to fresh snow and icy roads at the end of July! But today we wanted to make progress towards flying in the Patagonia wave. So we scraped windshields and used...
The long-awaited Perlan container finally arrived in El Calafate! We had prepped the hangar with Mike and Tim doing lots of broom work. The Tribal truck driven by Daniel Garro arrived about 1 am. The next morning he brought it to the hangar ramp on a drizzly day. Tim...
The 2018 Perlan Team got to El Calafte in good order. However a blizzard closed the high passes of the Andes. So our container had a delay at the busy Chilean port of San Antonio. For the past few years the team has really wanted to travel only 4 hours south from El...
The Perlan Team gathered in Buenos Aires to fly together to El Calafate. Jim and Jackie Payne met Dan Gudgel and Mike Malis in Atlanta. Georgia thunderstorms caused some delays. But we had hours to spare in Buenos Aires. You usually transfer between airports EZE...
The 2018 Argentina Perlan Team is on the move! The journey is the destination. Ed and Linda Warnock led the first wave. They made a delightful side trip to Iguazu Falls in the very north of the Argentina/Brazil jungles. Morgan and Sandra Sandercock flew into Buenos...
Yes, the original hatches worked for Perlan 2 to 54,000 feet. But the team wanted perfect hatches made to exactly fit the contour of the fuselage openings. The best description of the hatch shape is a Pringle's potato chip. 3-D curvature - both compound and complex....
The Perlan saga continues with a new chapter. The first ever tow by an Egrett was designed, fabricated and tested by the Perlan Project team and AV Experts. For Argentina a much more powerful tow plane had been a dream; one hour on tow to 10,000 feet was typical. Then...
The 2018 Argentina Campaign for Airbus Perlan Mission II has begun. Sending a glider on an expedition to Patagonia is a monumentual undertaking. If you don't bring a spare with you then the campaign may end early. There is no Amazon Prime or overnight shipping. But...
Early on Saturday morning during Memorial Day Holiday the Perlan team and special guests gathered for a last check flight before packing up for Argentina. Teacher in Space Jim Kuhl's former student Drucilla's cubesat experiment about growing moss in a Mars-like...
Once the Perlan 2 was back in the air, a goal was to start training back up Perlan pilots. Tim Gardner is an instructor in power and gliders, teaches recovery from unusual attitudes, and has many hours of wave flying. The Perlan 2 is difficult to fly for various...
Perlan Project had several desired upgrades for the 2019 season. In January 2019 Perlan 2 was trailered from Minden to Rosamond passing Mount Whitney along the way. (Above the trailer tires in the photo.) I joked that going to Greg Scates composite shop in...
As 2018 comes to a close, it's time to look back on an awesome, amazing, ultra successful year for Perlan Project. The Airbus Perlan Mission II achieved many first-ever milestones with our core Perlan team plus our around the globe supporters. Included in this blog...
As we celebrate the 2018 holidays Perlan Project has much to be greatful for. Thanks Laurent for getting the delightful card created. We appreciate all our friends, fans and supporters for joining our journey toward the edge of space in 2018. As our card says "may you...
On December 7, 8, and 9 the Perlan Team met in Minden to plan for 2019. We had a mix of informal and formal gatherings. The first event was a celebratory Holiday Party at Jim and Jackie's house for team and spouses. It was lovely to toast our accomplishments of 2018...
On November 26 the Royal Aeronautical Society awarded a bronze medal to the Perlan team. The awards and medals are recognized as “The most prestigious and long-standing awards in global aerospace honoring achievement, innovation and excellence.” The citation read,...
Perlan Project has had so many opportunities to share our story in presentations around the world. 3 in Germany, London, Alaska, California, Nevada. Plus there are already dates scheduled in 2019 at NASA Armstrong, in Maryland, and the Founder's Innovation at Oshkosh...