Alec Guay is a 24 year old engineer and glider pilot from Massachusetts. Alec designed and fabricated Perlan's composite CubeSat & Science rack for 2018 flight certification. Over the past four years in Argentina and Nevada, he’s worked with the science...
Stormi Noll is a graduate student in the Atmospheric Science department at University of Nevada Reno. She holds a bachelor's degree in atmospheric science from UNR, received in 2018. Stormi serves as a Research Assistant on the Perlan Project and will assist in data...
Jim Kuhl was a 6th grade Earth Science teacher from Syracuse, NY when he applied for the original NASA Teacher in Space program in 1985 and was a finalist for the NASA Educator Astronaut program in 2004. In 2009, Jim was one of seven Pathfinders chosen in a national...
Photographer
TOW PILOT - ARGENTINA Biography BORN February 25, 1937 in General Roca province of Rio Negro Argentina. Cholo was selected tow pilot of the year in Argentina in 2017. He set a world speed record for a triangle of 100 K in a standard class glider. Founding partner and...
Bruce Patton has been interested in wave soaring since his first trip to Minden, Nevada in 2008 where he obtained his One Lennie Award. Since that trip Bruce has made several trips back to Minden where he has been able to obtain his Diamond Altitude plus get exposer...
Tom Payne is an electrical engineer and serial entrepreneur who now utilizes his expertise and success to support new ventures as an investor and mentor through the Sand Hill Angels Investment Group. He frequently consults as an expert witness for litigation cases...
Einar, a lifelong glider pilot, former jet fighter pilot in the USAF, and exchange officer with the Royal Air Force attended the Empire Test Pilot's School in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. He served as a test pilot on the Hawker Hunter, English Electric Lightning,...
Bookkeeper for the Perlan Project for more than 10 years.
A test pilot for the US Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base, California, Roger is a member of the Test Pilot School (TPS) and part of the F-16 Combined Test Force staff. He instructs on both the F-16 and gliders, and teaches the Stall, Departure and Spin Testing part...
This morning with 2 inches of fresh snow overnight I would not have given a chance to get a flight off. I would have been wrong. Jim asked for best efforts from the entire team and we delivered. A shakedown flight with the world's most complex glider is far...
We were ready for a Airbus Perlan Mission II Dress Rehearsal yesterday, before the snow arrived today. For the past few days the Perlan Team has fine tuned all glider systems and support teams. Tim Gardner and John Kregl replaced a control rod end in the wing. With...
Today was a great day since we got the Perlan 2 rigged in El Calafate! The day started with a beautiful sunrise. (However: Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning....) Although the hangar is super-sized we still need the doors open to rig the 84 foot wing span....
To prep the Airbus Perlan Mission II team for a successful Patagonia campaign in 2023 takes an incredible amount of exacting work in very cold conditions. There is no room for error. We've done this four previous years and we know to be thorough and meticulous. It...
Today featured several milestones for the start of '23 Campaign for Airbus Perlan Mission II. We began the frigid morning with a customs inspection of the container, which we passed with "flying colors." The customs seal was encased in ice from the 2,000 mile winter...
Finally in late July '23 the Airbus Perlan Mission II is gathering in El Calafate! It's winter in Patagonia and the Andes mountain roads have been closed many, many days. But the Perlan container arrived in early June to Mendoza to beat the worst of the winter...