Airbus experimental glider completes first flight

The composites-intensive Perlan 2 glider will, in 2016, attempt to set a new world altitude record for any airplane.
Airbus Group (Toulouse, France) reported on Sept. 23 that the composites-intensive Perlan 2 glider, the world’s first engineless aircraft designed to reach the edge of space, achieved its successful first flight in a historic moment about 5,000 ft/1,524m above Robert’s Field, the Redmond Municipal Airport in Redmond, OR, US. This was the first test flight of the aircraft, which next year will attempt to set a new world altitude record for any airplane. The goal of this project is to open up a world of new discoveries related to high-altitude flight, climate change and space exploration.
The Perlan 2 glider was developed by The Perlan Project, a volunteer-run, non-profit endeavor headed by leaders in aerospace and engineering. It is supported by Airbus Group and a group of other sponsors that includes Weather Extreme Ltd., United Technologies and BRS Aerospace.
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