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The Windward Performance Perlan II ((英語:Pearl)) is an American mid-wing, two-seats-in-tandem, pressurized, experimental research glider that was designed by Greg Cole and built by Windward Performance for the Perlan Project.〔Staff report, ''The Perlan II project continues to develop'', pages 24-25. FreeFlight, the Journal of the Soaring Association of Canada, Autumn, 2011.〕 The aircraft first flew on 23 September 2015 at Redmond Municipal Airport, Oregon.〔 ==Design and development== The Perlan II is a follow-up design to the successful Perlan I and has as its design goal a flight exceeding in altitude. The project's goals include science, engineering and education. The aircraft will be used to study the polar vortex and its influence on global weather patterns.〔 The program also hopes to beat the 85,069 ft altitude record set in 1975 by a SR-71.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Gliding-To-Edge-Space220972-1.html )〕 The aircraft is made from composites. Its span wing has a high aspect ratio of 27:1 and is equipped with airbrakes. The pressurization system produces an 8.5 psi differential, although the two-person crew will wear pressure suits for safety. The landing gear is a retractable monowheel gear. Because the aircraft will operate at extreme altitudes, in only 3% of sea level atmospheric pressure, it will also be flying at true airspeeds in excess of 0.5 Mach.〔 The aircraft was designed to minimize flutter and manage shock wave formation. The original funding for the Perlan Project was provided by Steve Fossett and he flew the Perlan I, along with test pilot Einar Enevoldson to a glider altitude record of in the mountain waves of El Calafate, Argentina on 30 August 2006. Fossett was killed in a light aircraft crash a year later and the project floundered without funding. Since then more than US$2.8M has been raised to build the Perlan II, including a donation from Dennis Tito.〔 In November 2013, a crowd-funding effort was undertaken. In August 2014 Airbus became a partner in the project.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Airbus To Join Perlan Project )〕 The Perlan II was originally expected to fly in early 2013 and will start with some flights in the US Sierra Nevada mountain wave. The record setting and research flights are intended to start in southern Argentina in April 2016,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Perlan 2 Glider Getting Set For First Flight )〕 by Einar Envoldson〔 or Perrenod using rebreather oxygen systems.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Edge of Space: Airbus' Perlan 2 Aims to Break World Altitude Record )〕 The aircraft was displayed at AirVenture in July 2015.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=New Perlan Glider Debuts At Oshkosh )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=High Hopes: Airbus Perlan Mission II Glider Built to Become 'Highest-Flying Winged Aircraft Ever' to Attempt Historic First Flight )〕〔 First flown in September 2015, research flights are expected to start in 2019. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Windward Performance Perlan II」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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