banner
banner

28 Mar 2024, 11:51 [ UTC - 5; DST ]


Concorde Battery (banner)



Reply to topic  [ 27 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Username Protected Message
 Post subject: Perlan II Sailplane
PostPosted: 28 Aug 2018, 20:47 
Offline


 Profile




Joined: 01/31/18
Posts: 157
Post Likes: +115
Not sure how many of you might be aware but the Perlan Project has been having a pretty successful season in southern Argentina. The day before yesterday they bumped the World Altitude Record up to ~61,000 feet. The previous record was ~52,000 ft which they set last September. Today they flew to ~65,000 feet indicated via their real time tracking page. Not sure what the official GPS altitude will be but they almost certainly bumped up their record claim. And the season isn't over yet!

This is a really exciting project for us soaring pilots. The glider is pressurized and designed to operate up to 90,000 ft. They have observed stratospheric waves at those heights and they believe that the glider has the performance to be able to climb there.

www.perlanproject.org


Top

 Post subject: Re: Perlan II Sailplane
PostPosted: 28 Aug 2018, 21:34 
Offline


 Profile




Joined: 02/05/15
Posts: 382
Post Likes: +104
Location: KSLC
Aircraft: Divorced: AC690A-10
I’m not a soaring pilot, but that is just super cool.


Top

 Post subject: Re: Perlan II Sailplane
PostPosted: 28 Aug 2018, 21:44 
Offline


User avatar
 WWW  Profile




Joined: 12/17/13
Posts: 6322
Post Likes: +5520
Location: Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA
Aircraft: Turbo Commander 680V
Really impressive. And it's perhaps somewhere up there that we will also see the potential capabilities of battery powered flight for long range. Once you're up there, it wouldn't need much power to go pretty fast and far. Doesn't GS increase with about 2kts per 1000ft? At 70000ft, you'd have gained an extra 140kts on the same power...

But perhaps even more interestingly - the heavily modified Grob 520 they use to tow the Perlan, regularly tows the thing up to 48000ft on a Garret -14 engine! Just goes to show us that if you have enough wing and good power-to-weight, you can really get up there even in a TP.


Please login or Register for a free account via the link in the red bar above to download files.

_________________
Problem is the intelligent people are full of doubt, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.


Top

 Post subject: Re: Perlan II Sailplane
PostPosted: 28 Aug 2018, 23:54 
Offline


 Profile




Joined: 11/03/08
Posts: 14525
Post Likes: +22857
Location: Peachtree City GA / Stoke-On-Trent UK
Aircraft: A33
Nice. I’ve done a few glider tows where I would have killed to have that vertical stab.


Top

 Post subject: Re: Perlan II Sailplane
PostPosted: 29 Aug 2018, 10:15 
Offline


 WWW  Profile




Joined: 03/11/15
Posts: 152
Post Likes: +114
Company: Trailhead Partners
Location: Austin, TX
Username Protected wrote:
Doesn't GS increase with about 2kts per 1000ft? At 70000ft, you'd have gained an extra 140kts on the same power...


That's wild. From the website: "Its true flight speed at 90,000 will be 350 knots"


Top

 Post subject: Re: Perlan II Sailplane
PostPosted: 29 Aug 2018, 15:02 
Offline


User avatar
 Profile




Joined: 12/24/15
Posts: 119
Post Likes: +85
Location: SE Idaho
Aircraft: Grumman S-2T
That’s really cool...hope they succeed!

In the U-2 at 70,000’ we would fly at Mach .700 to .715. That was about 102 KIAS, or 420 to 425 kts True. There is not much room between max Mach and stall speed when you get above 70k.


Top

 Post subject: Re: Perlan II Sailplane
PostPosted: 29 Aug 2018, 15:19 
Offline


 WWW  Profile




Joined: 03/11/15
Posts: 152
Post Likes: +114
Company: Trailhead Partners
Location: Austin, TX
Username Protected wrote:
That’s really cool...hope they succeed!

In the U-2 at 70,000’ we would fly at Mach .700 to .715. That was about 102 KIAS, or 420 to 425 kts True. There is not much room between max Mach and stall speed when you get above 70k.


Need more U-2 stories on BeechTalk! :popcorn:


Top

 Post subject: Re: Perlan II Sailplane
PostPosted: 30 Aug 2018, 17:48 
Offline


 Profile




Joined: 01/31/18
Posts: 157
Post Likes: +115
Username Protected wrote:
Really impressive. And it's perhaps somewhere up there that we will also see the potential capabilities of battery powered flight for long range. Once you're up there, it wouldn't need much power to go pretty fast and far. Doesn't GS increase with about 2kts per 1000ft? At 70000ft, you'd have gained an extra 140kts on the same power...

But perhaps even more interestingly - the heavily modified Grob 520 they use to tow the Perlan, regularly tows the thing up to 48000ft on a Garret -14 engine! Just goes to show us that if you have enough wing and good power-to-weight, you can really get up there even in a TP.


It has a 100+ ft wingspan...I think it's actually registered as a motor glider.


Top

 Post subject: Re: Perlan II Sailplane
PostPosted: 02 Sep 2018, 22:40 
Offline


 Profile




Joined: 01/31/18
Posts: 157
Post Likes: +115
They made it to 76000 feet and change today. Higher than the highest recorded U2 flight! In the course of a couple weeks the World Altitude Record has jumped 23000 feet. Absolutely amazing!


Top

 Post subject: Re: Perlan II Sailplane
PostPosted: 03 Sep 2018, 21:49 
Offline


 WWW  Profile




Joined: 04/09/08
Posts: 1788
Post Likes: +213
Company: Felkins Aviation LLC
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Aircraft: S35, & others
Wow!


Top

 Post subject: Re: Perlan II Sailplane
PostPosted: 03 Sep 2018, 21:58 
Offline


 Profile




Joined: 08/13/14
Posts: 537
Post Likes: +257
Aircraft: Cessna T206H
Very cool!!!


Top

 Post subject: Re: Perlan II Sailplane
PostPosted: 03 Sep 2018, 22:05 
Offline


 Profile




Joined: 01/31/18
Posts: 157
Post Likes: +115
They've put a lot of pictures and video and stuff on their Facebook Page.

Website: http://perlanproject.org/

Video from the tail cam on the 76000 ft flight:

https://www.facebook.com/PerlanProject/ ... 506192210/

Only thing I noticed really wrong with this article was that Morgan Sandercock is not the only copilot. The three record flights made this season have all been done with different back seaters. Morgan, Miguel Itermundi, and Tim Gardner.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/perl ... index.html


Top

 Post subject: Re: Perlan II Sailplane
PostPosted: 03 Sep 2018, 23:04 
Offline


 Profile




Joined: 01/10/16
Posts: 1111
Post Likes: +1257
Location: KLBO
Aircraft: Cessna 172
To get a full appreciation of soaring in mountain wave conditions and the rich history of this endeavor, I recommend that you obtain a copy of a book entitled “Exploring the Monster Mountain Lee Waves: the Aerial Elevator” by Robert F. Whelan.

Then look into what pilots like Sabrina Jackintell, Paul Bikle and Bob Harris accomplished flying their gliders in the wave. For the record....nobody...has flown a single seat glider higher than the 49,009 ft record set by Bob Harris back in 1986.

The subsequent records that have been set by others involved multi-place gliders with significant outside support, such as pressure suits loaned by NASA or large scale financial sponsorship, advantages that the wave flight pioneers did not have the benefit of.

While the Perlan Project is an amazing achievement in it’s own right, it merely proves that if you throw enough resources at a challenge, you can usually achieve it. When you compare Perlan to what individual glider pilots accomplished on their own in their own sailplanes with not much more than a dream and determination, you can then begin to appreciate what Bob Harris and his predecessors accomplished. That is something to be truly celebrated and admired.


Top

 Post subject: Re: Perlan II Sailplane
PostPosted: 03 Sep 2018, 23:27 
Offline


 Profile




Joined: 01/31/18
Posts: 157
Post Likes: +115
Yep Exploring the Monster is a great read.

I think there needs to be a chapter or two added to it now :)


Top

 Post subject: Re: Perlan II Sailplane
PostPosted: 04 Sep 2018, 00:06 
Offline


 Profile




Joined: 07/15/12
Posts: 147
Post Likes: +128
Here is a great podcast about the perlan project.

http://omegataupodcast.net/283-the-perlan-project/


Top

Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Reply to topic  [ 27 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next




You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  

Terms of Service | Forum FAQ | Contact Us

BeechTalk, LLC is the quintessential Beechcraft Owners & Pilots Group providing a forum for the discussion of technical, practical, and entertaining issues relating to all Beech aircraft. These include the Bonanza (both V-tail and straight-tail models), Baron, Debonair, Duke, Twin Bonanza, King Air, Sierra, Skipper, Sport, Sundowner, Musketeer, Travel Air, Starship, Queen Air, BeechJet, and Premier lines of airplanes, turboprops, and turbojets.

BeechTalk, LLC is not affiliated or endorsed by the Beechcraft Corporation, its subsidiaries, or affiliates. Beechcraft™, King Air™, and Travel Air™ are the registered trademarks of the Beechcraft Corporation.

Copyright© BeechTalk, LLC 2007-2024

.ssv-85x50-2023-12-17.jpg.
.MountainAirframe.jpg.
.gallagher_85x50.jpg.
.bpt-85x50-2019-07-27.jpg.
.avfab-85x50-2018-12-04.png.
.blackwell-85x50.png.
.kingairacademy-85x100.png.
.kadex-85x50.jpg.
.cav-85x50.jpg.
.one-mile-up-85x100.png.
.Wentworth_85x100.JPG.
.Rocky-Mountain-Turbine-85x100.jpg.
.ei-85x150.jpg.
.Marsh.jpg.
.geebee-85x50.jpg.
.SCA.jpg.
.ABS-85x100.jpg.
.jandsaviation-85x50.jpg.
.boomerang-85x50-2023-12-17.png.
.wat-85x50.jpg.
.traceaviation-85x150.png.
.camguard.jpg.
.lucysaviation-85x50.png.
.Foreflight_85x50_color.png.
.sierratrax-85x50.png.
.centex-85x50.jpg.
.CiESVer2.jpg.
.aircraftferry-85x50.jpg.
.concorde.jpg.
.Latitude.jpg.
.blackhawk-85x100-2019-09-25.jpg.
.wilco-85x100.png.
.saint-85x50.jpg.
.avionwealth-85x50.png.
.planelogix-85x100-2015-04-15.jpg.
.stanmusikame-85x50.jpg.
.headsetsetc_Small_85x50.jpg.
.airmart-85x150.png.
.Wingman 85x50.png.
.midwest2.jpg.
.aircraftassociates-85x50.png.
.Genesys_85x50.jpg.
.aviationdesigndouble.jpg.
.pdi-85x50.jpg.
.tat-85x100.png.
.daytona.jpg.
.jetacq-85x50.jpg.
.chairmanaviation-85x50.jpg.
.AAI.jpg.
.pure-medical-85x150.png.
.kingairnation-85x50.png.
.bullardaviation-85x50-2.jpg.
.tempest.jpg.
.aeroled-85x50-2022-12-06.jpg.
.dbm.jpg.
.temple-85x100-2015-02-23.jpg.
.shortnnumbers-85x100.png.