US Air Force IFT-R
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US Air Force IFT-R
I just became aware of a new Air Force contract that will apparently begin this year, although it’s been hard to find information about and potential award and start date.
It seems the Air Force has had a hard time putting students through fixed-wing training in the AT-6 for various reasons which has created a bottleneck in the supply of pilots for undergraduate helicopter pilot training.
The did an experimental program in the past year wherein they sent prospective helicopter pilots to a civilian flight school in Texas for basically an FAA helicopter private pilot license.
They sent out an RFP a couple years ago gauging industry capabilities to support training up to 100 pilots a year flying 3000-5000 hours a year on Bell 206 “or equivalent” aircraft and are now seemingly close to awarding an actual contract.
Has anyone else heard of this? I found the contract Performance Work Statement and can post a link if anyone is interested.
FltMech
It seems the Air Force has had a hard time putting students through fixed-wing training in the AT-6 for various reasons which has created a bottleneck in the supply of pilots for undergraduate helicopter pilot training.
The did an experimental program in the past year wherein they sent prospective helicopter pilots to a civilian flight school in Texas for basically an FAA helicopter private pilot license.
They sent out an RFP a couple years ago gauging industry capabilities to support training up to 100 pilots a year flying 3000-5000 hours a year on Bell 206 “or equivalent” aircraft and are now seemingly close to awarding an actual contract.
Has anyone else heard of this? I found the contract Performance Work Statement and can post a link if anyone is interested.
FltMech
One would think the Air Force could use the Army or Navy schools that are already in operation and bootstrap their own service students into one of those schools.
Seems that would be far better than creating one of their own.
Think back to Southern Airways at Fort Wolters in the 1960's for example.
Seems that would be far better than creating one of their own.
Think back to Southern Airways at Fort Wolters in the 1960's for example.
I just became aware of a new Air Force contract that will apparently begin this year, although it’s been hard to find information about and potential award and start date.
It seems the Air Force has had a hard time putting students through fixed-wing training in the AT-6 for various reasons which has created a bottleneck in the supply of pilots for undergraduate helicopter pilot training.
The did an experimental program in the past year wherein they sent prospective helicopter pilots to a civilian flight school in Texas for basically an FAA helicopter private pilot license.
They sent out an RFP a couple years ago gauging industry capabilities to support training up to 100 pilots a year flying 3000-5000 hours a year on Bell 206 “or equivalent” aircraft and are now seemingly close to awarding an actual contract.
Has anyone else heard of this? I found the contract Performance Work Statement and can post a link if anyone is interested.
FltMech
It seems the Air Force has had a hard time putting students through fixed-wing training in the AT-6 for various reasons which has created a bottleneck in the supply of pilots for undergraduate helicopter pilot training.
The did an experimental program in the past year wherein they sent prospective helicopter pilots to a civilian flight school in Texas for basically an FAA helicopter private pilot license.
They sent out an RFP a couple years ago gauging industry capabilities to support training up to 100 pilots a year flying 3000-5000 hours a year on Bell 206 “or equivalent” aircraft and are now seemingly close to awarding an actual contract.
Has anyone else heard of this? I found the contract Performance Work Statement and can post a link if anyone is interested.
FltMech
https://govtribe.com/opportunity/fed...ates-air-force
and
https://www.highergov.com/contract-o...r0025-p-a1f07/
cheers
btw the cap you see on the head had an unique Icarus IFR training device of which a famous Blackhawk driver was trying to market...he and his crew who were shot down over Afghanistan made it to front of News week (i took screen shot of the his iphone) knows how to talk the talk and also has a book out.
They seem a good outfit...
cheers
Last edited by chopper2004; 8th May 2023 at 18:25.
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That would make sense but we all know each branch has to indoctrinate their people in whatever procedures, regulations and publications they use, everybody has to reinvent the wheel.
A pilot I fly with was flying HH-60Gs at CCAD, had about 400 hours in them and the Air Force came in and said that he couldn’t continue to fly their Pavehawks because he didn’t go to the Air Force HH-60 course.
Will be interesting to see who wins this contract. The way the PWS is written it will have to be with 100 miles of a military installation of some kind.
FltMech
A pilot I fly with was flying HH-60Gs at CCAD, had about 400 hours in them and the Air Force came in and said that he couldn’t continue to fly their Pavehawks because he didn’t go to the Air Force HH-60 course.
Will be interesting to see who wins this contract. The way the PWS is written it will have to be with 100 miles of a military installation of some kind.
FltMech
CAE has it
'As many of you know, =AZWruTK2gqkhBdKrwQnMfOAwhWrR0vybwpqC_44B1TULIh-VNVP7GRcoicM0bhru8d4sL4NotZ0Zch1sTDrHKvAkC8yiZp8qNEeI7bLZl5U LlUkwXeHA3WelCh3jDVqNdYE&__tn__=-]K-R]Helicopter Institute has been “chasing the win” with regard to the USAF Initial Flight Training - Rotary (IFT-R) contract. Although we were fully ready to execute the contract as a Commercial-off-the-Shelf solution, we were notified that we were not selected.
The competition was between Helicopter Institute and CAE. In this case, CAE pulled off the win. We out performed on almost all factors, but lost on price!
Congratulations to CAE on another substantial win under their belt as they also hold the IFT contract for USAF fixed wing training.
To other small business owners watching HI’s performance…not being selected is always a possibility. As a company, we held Plan A, B, and C on the table in case we did not make the cut. So…it’s off to Plan B and keep doing what we’re doing well.
I would like to thank our staff, customers, vendors, and friends that have supported this effort from day one!
After next week, we will schedule a Zoom debriefing for any Small Business owners that would like to hear about our journey during this process. It was hard, but the learning softens the blow! Hope to see you there.
Randy Rowles
President
Helicopter Institute Inc.
cheers
I just became aware of a new Air Force contract that will apparently begin this year, although it’s been hard to find information about and potential award and start date.
It seems the Air Force has had a hard time putting students through fixed-wing training in the AT-6 for various reasons which has created a bottleneck in the supply of pilots for undergraduate helicopter pilot training.
The did an experimental program in the past year wherein they sent prospective helicopter pilots to a civilian flight school in Texas for basically an FAA helicopter private pilot license.
They sent out an RFP a couple years ago gauging industry capabilities to support training up to 100 pilots a year flying 3000-5000 hours a year on Bell 206 “or equivalent” aircraft and are now seemingly close to awarding an actual contract.
Has anyone else heard of this? I found the contract Performance Work Statement and can post a link if anyone is interested.
FltMech
It seems the Air Force has had a hard time putting students through fixed-wing training in the AT-6 for various reasons which has created a bottleneck in the supply of pilots for undergraduate helicopter pilot training.
The did an experimental program in the past year wherein they sent prospective helicopter pilots to a civilian flight school in Texas for basically an FAA helicopter private pilot license.
They sent out an RFP a couple years ago gauging industry capabilities to support training up to 100 pilots a year flying 3000-5000 hours a year on Bell 206 “or equivalent” aircraft and are now seemingly close to awarding an actual contract.
Has anyone else heard of this? I found the contract Performance Work Statement and can post a link if anyone is interested.
FltMech
Then CAE won it over this summer with the Bell 505,
https://www.cae.com/news-events/pres...ry-wing-pilots
cheers
