Blog posts | Perlan Project

Blog

Perlan’s blog collects the thoughts and experiences of team members from the multiple disciplines needed to build and prepare the aircraft, plan the flight, and carry out the mission. Here, you’ll find insights from the designers, craftspeople, pilots, meteorologists, and support personnel who will make Perlan’s record ascents a reality. Perlan’s blog will be an opportunity to delve into the challenges and triumphs that travel with the giant sailplane.

Calibration Time at Stanford Space Rendezvous Lab

A world record is more than accomplishing the desired feat. A world record claim must document the data and prove that the pertinent rules were followed. A major component of verification is the flight data recorders. Thanks to Professsor Simone D'Amico and the Space Rendezvous Lab at Stanford University, Perlan Project was able to document that flight data and follow the never before used rules. Thanks also to Bernald Smith and Todd Walters for setting up the initial calaibration in 2016 and to Duncan Eddy and Vince Giralo for running the scripts. Tom Payne (PhD Stanford) helped the lab set up the two LX's for the calibrations.

Perlan Project Meets with AF and PSA

Airbus Perlan Mission II was well represented In Buenos Aires from September 18-22 by Morgan and Sandra Sandercock. They made a presentation to the Argentina Air Force Research and Development division.

Final Team Departs El Calafate

When many of the Perlan team departed El Calafate, the weather was not safe for the tow plane to fly. Cholo was able to fly out from El Calafate on Monday.

Thank You from El Calafate - Airbus Perlan Mission II

At the end of a successful campaign there are many people to thank. First is all the team members who traveled to El Calafate taking from 3 weeks to 3 months out of their busy lives. Each one of us put the mission above our personal lives and it is deeply appreciated! The team members who supported from outside El Calafate were also important to our success. We knew we could count on them to assist with any challenge.

Packing Up - Airbus Perlan Mission II

On September 15 the Perlan team finished loading the container. It takes some preparation to get everything in the proper place and tightly secured.

Perlan Project Telemetry Explained

Perlan 2 has a unique system to communicate with the ground. We call our ground station Cap Comm shortened for Capsule Communication. The software program was written by Tom Payne with Morgan Sandercock. Tom wrote a very robust program that could accept our in-the-field revisions without crashing the program. The Life Support System Display (LSSD) is seen in the cockpit and in CapComm. The flutter excitation data is also seen both in the cockpit and can be sent to CapComm. Photos are of CapComm on the day of the highest flight.

Michael Batalia explains telemetry:

Perlan 2 Patagonia Wave to 36,000 feet

On September 10 when Hurricane Irma was bashing Florida the Perlan team kept close watch on Sarastoga, Florida home of Perlan pilot Miguel Iturmendi. Miguel was home with his family. We are happy to report no significant damage to his family, house or hangar. Ken McKenzie also reported only very light damage to their home in Fort Lauderdale. The red cloud over Florida covered both of their homes. Wave pilots probably respect the power of the wind more than any other group of aviators.

Perlan 2 Most Scenic Flight to 35,000 feet

On September 9, 2017 Perlan 2 again went wave searching with Jim Payne and Tim Gardner at the controls. The Airbus Perlan Mission II ground team prepped the glider the day before. The forecasts were not strong but there would be wave. The balloon team gathered fresh data which showed very light winds at the tropopause. But the sky started looking a bit better so they decided to give it a try.

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