The Perlan 2 wing has passed one of its most dangerous tests: the 3G load test. First RDD had to build a beefy test stand to hold the wings aloft, but upside down. Sandbags equal to three times the weight of the whole glider were loaded onto the bottom surface of the wings to test if the wing can handle the load. It passed perfectly, with no concern to the heavy weight placed upon it. It was a tight fit to get the wing tips onto the wings. We had to use the upper corner of the ceiling.
Now that this test has been passed sucessfully, we can proceed to our next test, leading up to the first flight. Even after the first flight, there will be more tests like this, to prove out the whole ‘envelope’ of flight from low altitude to high altitude. This is a real experimental aircraft and we will always have more experiments we can do.
