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