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 getting some fog between the panes so Ed did the dry air purging. This is periodic maintence as the hangar is on the shore of the largest lake in Argentina. A tiny fitting was tapped and screwed into the purge hole to assist future purges.
On the previous flight Miguel’s LX 9000 airspeed was 5 knots different than front cockpit. Both cockpits have airspeed displays from both independent flight computers. Bottom display is from the “other” cockpit. Jim’s display matched the mechanical airspeed instrument. Lars, Tim, and Morgan found a tiny leak in the pitot static system which explained the slight difference from the rear LX.
Also on previous flight the top of front instrument panel had faded enough that the fibers reflected on the inside of the eyeball windows. So Tim and Daniel removed the glare shield and instrument panel to prepare for painting. Jim made a paint booth; Jim and Daniel painted the glare shield. Lars, Tim, and Daniel did a control check for friction and free play. Morgan upgraded software. Loris worked on upgrades to the Virtual Cockpit Perlan 2 telemetry/tracker program. Stewart serviced air and oxygen systems and some elctronic repairs on a power strip. Miguel cleaned the rebreathers and continued revising checklist procedures.
Miguel has been working to set up some education outreach opportunites for this year. Last year it was easy to meet with local students. This year there are teacher contract negotiations and it is much more difficult to arrange. But Miguel perservered by setting up a presentation in the local auditorium rather than at the school or at the hangar like last year. Very much the Perlan Standard Operating Procedure SOP–find a problem? devise the solution using materials at hand.
A classic example of the Perlan SOP was when Jamie wanted a push to talk switch to work with his helmet in the photo chase helicopter. Stewart devised and wired, and created the perfect ergonometric hand trigger–with a sharpie dry erase marker housing. These guys know how to make something from almost nothing – whether in the air or on the ground!
After a long day in the hangar, hot meals and fabulous desserts are always a great idea!
Perlan Soars! Perlan Se Eleva! Jackie
