Perlan II mission reaches for new heights after first flight

The Airbus Perlan Mission II is a major step closer to the goal of sustained, piloted flight at 90,000ft following the successful first flight of the Perlan 2 experimental glider. Launching early in the morning 23 September from the Redmond Municipal Airport in Redmond, Oregon, chief pilot Jim Payne and team pilot and project manager Morgan Sandercock were towed aloft by a Piper Pawnee towplane.

2023-02-20T20:02:20-08:00September 24th, 2015|

Lofty Ambitions

Making its debut at EAA AirVenture 2015 is a new aircraft that’s destined to shatter records. The Airbus Perlan Mission II will use a little-known meteorological phenomenon called the Stratospheric Polar Night Jet, to reach and fly at 90,000 feet – piloted, winged and sustained flight at over 27,400m. Perlan 2 will fly higher than the Lockheed U-2 or SR-71, but it is not an exotically-shaped or scramjet-powered superplane. It is a glider.

2023-02-20T20:02:45-08:00July 14th, 2015|
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