Head in the Clouds

Oregon Air Force Veteran Leads Team to the Very Edge of Space with Engineless Glider, Setting New Altitude Record

By Kathie Dalton, Veterans News Magazine

At a time in life when most people are well into enjoying retirement, Air Force veteran Ed Warnock was looking for his next adventure. It came in the form of a project he was reading about to fly an engineless glider to the very edge of space. He emailed founder Einar Enevoldson in 2009, when Perlan was still in its formative stages.

The Perlan Project fit right in to Warnock’s philosophy on life: “Never be bored.” Warnock volunteered to help develop its organizational structure and run it as an Oregon-based nonprofit.

As the CEO of the Perlan Project, Warnock and the international team of aviators, engineers and scientists who volunteer their time and expertise for the non-profit have reached some lofty goals.

Designed by Greg Cole, of Bend, the pressurized glider and her team travel each summer to Patagonia — one of the few places on Earth where high mountains near the planet’s poles combine to create powerful winds at altitudes of 90,000 feet.

On Sept. 2, 2018, the glider reached 76,124 feet — surpassing the highest altitude of the U-2 and became the highest flying, piloted, subsonic airplane in history.

“This was too much fun to pass up. It follows my pattern of maximizing the joy in life,” said Warnock.

Air Force veteran Ed Warnock subscribes to a strict philosophy: Never be bored. If an opportunity arises to lead a team piloting a glider to the edge of space, you can bet he’s going to take it.

Life for Warnock has been a series of self-described fabulous experiences.

He began his four-year enlistment in the Air Force in October of 1961. His real interest was in becoming a pilot, but at the time he wasn’t eligible as he wore glasses. Instead, he learned Russian.

He went from boot camp to Syracuse University where he learned Russian before being sent to Turkey. It was his first experience living in an Islamic country. Beginning what would become a lifelong practice, Warnock became a part of the community and learned a bit of the language.

He was able to travel to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Cyprus, and Germany while stationed in Turkey. But not Russia, which was still closed to foreigners. As an intercept operator, Warnock in 1963 listened in as Russian Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space.

“I appreciated the Russian culture and people,” said Warnock. “I never thought of them as enemies. The Russians I met were wonderful people.”

Warnock’s second assignment was as a photo interpreter, where he made use of his top-secret clearance to interpret satellite photos of maps of Russia and China for strategic air command to make radar maps.

He volunteered for Vietnam but didn’t have enough time left in his enlistment. He would have had to re-enlist for another four years. Warnock spent his remaining enlistment at Barksdale Air Force Base near Shreveport, LA.

After the Air Force, Warnock earned a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering (Honors and High Distinction) from the University of Arizona and an Master of Arts in Systems Theory. With his degrees under his belt, Warnock went to Los Angeles where he became a thermodynamicist with the Navy.

When he was working at the Naval Air Weapons Station (formerly Naval Ordnance Test Station) at China Lake,

Bertha Ryan, a key player in the soaring world, gave him his first glider ride. (Coincidentally Ryan is the author of “Soaring Beyond the Clouds,” a book about Einar Enevoldson’s life as a test pilot and soaring pilot.)

Designed by Greg Cole, of Bend, the glider and her team travel each summer to Patagonia, where high mountains and powerful winds create the perfect test environment.

But Warnock still wanted to fly. He left his work with the Navy to achieve his life’s dream of becoming a pilot.

He flew into the next phase of his life as a bush pilot and aircraft mechanic in the Philippines, working with a group bringing literacy to remote areas. He worked in Mindanao where he ran airborne supplies and landed on short, bumpy grass strips.

“The aircraft was like a time machine,” he said. “Where we landed there was no electricity, no running water, and they lived in grass huts. They were hunter gatherers.”

Warnock’s partner in adventures is his wife Linda. While in Mindanao and expecting their first child she let him know it “was time.” They jumped on a motorcycle to get to the plane to fly to the strip next to the hospital where she gave birth to their first daughter.

Next on the list of fabulous adventures for the couple was South Sudan. “I had to look it up on a map!” says Warnock.

Warnock was director of the project, pulling together 30 to 35 expats from around the world in this remote place in Africa. In an area the size of Texas the group worked in 25 different languages to develop literacy in a society with an oral tradition and no written language. There were also no paved roads.

At one point, the Warnocks were in the middle of a gun battle during a coup.

“I have this picture of my wife grabbing the baby out of the high chair and hitting the floor when the bullets started flying,” said Warnock. “Afterwards she put the baby back in the high chair and went on with feeding. She was brave, resolute, and cheerful.”

The team lost one of their members who was shot and killed during their time in Africa.

After Africa they headed back to the states where Warnock dived into a diverse array of ventures.

Ed and Linda Warnock accept the prestigious Royal Aeronautical Society Bronze Medal in London in 2018 on behalf of the Perlan team.

First, restaurant chain construction in West Texas. Then a stint as vice president of a Texas oil company. Then standing up a project management office for the Bonneville Power Administration. Then helping the legislatures of Washington, Oregon, Montana, and Idaho develop policy around the Columbia river system governing power generation, fish preservation, agriculture, and recreational interests.

In the varied positions Warnock has held over the years there is a common theme of pulling different types of people together and working as a team. This is the most intriguing challenge for Warnock.

Upon returning to his hometown of Portland in 1984, Ed and Linda and now two daughters settled in the Beaverton area. From his home office, Warnock is a managing partner in Cumulus Consulting as well as part time professor at both University of Oregon and Willamette University.

“We did it backwards. We got married, went to the tropics, went on safari and are now in the starving student phase,” Warnock laughs. “I didn’t make the choices I did to be profitable, but looked at what we would enjoy doing next.”

Warnock has “raised the level of interesting” and doesn’t see himself retiring soon.

The 2020 pandemic has grounded the Perlan team for now, but their dreams continue to take flight. Having already shattered the 1976 Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird world record for sustained altitude in horizontal flight at 85,069 feet, the new goal is to beat the U2 record of 12 ½ miles above the earth’s surface in 2021.

Warnock plans to be on hand for the accomplishment.

Next on the horizon may be a long glide into Russia. Starting from Greenland or Iceland, the glider will ride the polar wave into Russia. Warnock would have to coordinate with each country on the flight plan for permission for not only airspace, but permission to land as the glider has no engine.

Another possibility might be flying small remote-controlled gliders loaded with instruments into tornadoes and hurricanes to gather data for building predictive models.

He is also in conversations for a derivative of Perlan with dynamic soaring — hopping in and out of the jet stream to harvest energy. Plans are being laid for spring trials in Nevada. This might be used for the glider flight across Russia.

Perhaps Warnock will finally get to use his Russian in-country after all.