On August 20, 2019 Airbus Perlan Mission II soared in Patagonia skies for the first time this campaign. With the long delay on the container, the Perlan team was ready to launch Perlan 2 for a return to service flight. Jamie Darcy had his video crew and photo chase helicopter ready. The glider had all necessary systems checked for low level flight. There had been lots of team hours spent getting the glider ready. The Egrett was ready to go. As a special guest Einar Enevoldson’s grand daughter was visiting and she was ready to see Perlan 2 fly. With everything ready, it was time for Jim and Miguel to soar!
Because this would be a non-pressurized flight CapComm closely monitored the CO2 levels when the hatches were installed on the ramp. With no masks, the moisture from pilots breathing also caused some inside fogging. But as soon as the tow out began, the air scoop put enough fresh air into the cockpit to improve those conditions. Alec had returned to demonstrate to the new interns how a wing run behind the very loud Egrett should be conducted. He was ready with a miked, noise cancelling head set. Jim moved the ailerons to assure they were neutral. Arne made sure the Perlan 2 was ready, but then had to switch to tower and Spanish. A final rudder wag and off they went. All of this can be seen on the 1:40 minute video at the bottom of this blog.
The tow was smooth and all Functional Check manuevres were flawless. Jamie thought he got some great footage from the helicopter. After over an hour it was time to return to El Calafate Airport. The pilots and team were all very pleased with the performance. It was a fabulous feeling to get the 2019 Argentina campaign of Airbus Perlan Mission II off to a great start. Thanks to all the photographs from various team members. Next is to get ready for “onda grande” – big wave! If your browser doesn’t support the video you can use this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BerV-_bmkIA
Perlan Soars Again! Jackie
Update: to view flight footage in a separate blog see https://perlanproject.org/blog/flight-footage-first-argentina-flight-perlan-2-2019
