{"id":8392,"date":"2013-10-23T11:57:46","date_gmt":"2013-10-23T18:57:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=8392"},"modified":"2013-10-23T11:57:46","modified_gmt":"2013-10-23T18:57:46","slug":"perlan-project-gets-good-press-in-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/perlan-project-gets-good-press-in-the-new-york-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Perlan Project Gets Good Press in the New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Science reporter Matthew Wald visited the Perlan Project in Bend, Oregon recently to see for himself an aircraft that just might conquer the heights \u2013 90,000 feet \u2013 in a world-record attempt that will investigate the polar vortex and the ozone hole.<\/p>\n

\"perlan<\/a><\/p>\n

His report in the October 21 New York Times<\/i> <\/a>highlights the intellectual investment in the project, with extremes of aircraft design reaching toward extreme goals.\u00a0 Perlan II will fly higher than any powered or unpowered aircraft in a sustained fashion.\u00a0 Zoom climbs in which American and Russian fighters emulated rocket ships to reach altitude records were more ballistic than controlled.\u00a0 Those who recall The Right Stuff<\/i> will remember Chuck Yeager\u2019s frantic and finally unrecoverable tail slide back from the edges of space.<\/p>\n

The on-line version of the story has the advantage of including a video that very nicely explains the goals and aspirations \u2013 as well as the hazards, associated with the flight.<\/p>\n

\"Perlan<\/a>

Perlan II in near space<\/p><\/div>\n

The article has brought a large number of responses from readers, and a follow-up recounting in the Sydney Morning Herald<\/i><\/a>.\u00a0 This world-wide interest reflects a need for people to find others to admire and emulate.\u00a0 One correspondent referred affectionately to himself, and by inference to Einar Enevoldson, the project\u2019s founder, as \u201cgeezers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRemarkable; \u00a0no, \u00a0incredible! I had no idea of the natural “winds” that would make such a feat possible. Yet the thing that grabs this old geezer the most is that Enovoldson, at 81, is a prime mover of and participant in, the project.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Morgan<\/a>

Morgan Sandercock (left), project manager, and Einar Enevoldson, project founder, show off cockpit mockup for the Times<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

While we wait for the AARP to dive in as a sponsor, people can make donations to this project <\/a>and help launch a great adventure that may well be the ultimate exploration of our atmosphere.\u00a0 It may well be the beginning of other adventures if it succeeds in inspiring young people to aeronautical and space careers. \u00a0Because of Perlan, DuckHawk, SparrowHawk and other high-performance ships designed by and built at Greg Cole\u2019s Windward Performance<\/a> workshop, another astonishing program waits in the wings, and will help demonstrate the potential for clean, green aviation.\u00a0 The blog will report on that in the near future.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, we\u2019ll look for Perlan II to explore the upper atmosphere while using no energy other than that of the high-blown winds above Argentina and Patagonia.<\/p>\n