This episode features an in-depth look at the Perlan Project. The mission of the Perlan Project is to fly an engineless aircraft to the edge of space, in this case, by taking advantage of an aerodynamic phenomenon known as wave lift. Not only is soaring to 90,000 feet an audacious goal, but on top of that, the Perlan Project is a worldwide collaborative project run entirely by aviation enthusiasts, scientists, engineers and adventurous pilots. No one has ever soared to the edge of space in a glider and so the Perlan engineers are venturing into unchartered aviation territory on their own. On this episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast I speak to Project Manager Morgan Sandercock and Flight Test Engineer Alan Lawless about:
- the genesis and history of the Perlan Project
- how one goes about designing, manufacturing and testing a glider that is to fly to the edge of space
- past success stories
- and the team’s future plans for breaking aviation records.
In case you personally want to support the Perlan Project as a donor, you can do so on the Perlan Project donor page.
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