GC Helicopter SOW_Rev1.pdf

NASA Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Project

National Campaign Dry Run Helicopter

Statement of Work

6/5/2020

06/23/2020_Rev.1

Prepared by:

AAM National Campaign

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Table of Contents

1.0 Background

1.1 Overview Description of Services

2.0 Objectives

3.0 Scope

4.0 Aircraft Operations

4.1 Pilot Qualifications

4.2 Helicopter Requirements

4.3 Aircraft Airworthiness

4.4 Aircraft Instrumentation

4.5 Test Flight Profiles

4.5.1 Vehicle Characteristics Tests

4.5.2 UAM Task Elements

4.5.3 Mission Overview of Scenario 1 Flights

4.5.4 Mission Overview of Scenario 2 Flights

4.5.5 Mission Overview of Scenario 3 Flights

5.0 Security

6.0 Period of Performance

7.0 Deliverables/Milestones

8.0 Financial

9.0 Other Requirements

1.0 BACKGROUND

The NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate plans to host a series of Advanced Air

Mobility (AAM) National Campaign (NC) events to help determine the readiness level of industry with regards to vehicle stability, control and performance, safety assurance, airspace interoperability, and social acceptance. The NC series, which includes both simulations and flight tests, is designed to promote public confidence in Urban Air Mobility (UAM) safety, facilitate community-wide learning, and inform new regulatory policies while capturing the public’s imagination. The AAM NC UAM Helicopter Dry Run is intended to capture foundational vehicle and operational data to support evolutions in vehicle, infrastructure, and airspace requirements that will enable the advent of UAM in the National Airspace System

(NAS).

There are three areas of focus within the NASA UAM portfolio:

* Vehicle standards development and operations – focus on capabilities that are critical enablers for UAM such as electric aircraft propulsion, stability, control and performance, materials and structures, and autonomy.

* Airspace design and operations – develop and validate operational concepts for how to manage UAM traffic safely and efficiently.

* Community integration – understanding and addressing the most critical barriers to community integration, such as public acceptance (noise, security, privacy, etc.), supporting infrastructure, and local regulations.

The National Campaign series progresses through scenarios that increase in complexity, advanced technologies, and ability to verify readiness for operational use by standardized testing in partnership with the FAA. NASA believes a UAM ecosystem-wide strategy can serve as a tool for the entire community to increase the maturity of UAM Maturity Level (UML) across government, industry and academia together. NASA and the FAA are planning to collaboratively develop and implement the NC series. NASA plans to work with the FAA to assess vehicle airworthiness and share NC data collected with the FAA throughout the NC effort. NASA intends for the NC to address information requirements and provide lessons learned to inform

FAA standards development for UAM safety, certification, operations, and airspace integration.

As a fundamental part of NC Developmental Test (DT), NASA will conduct the NC helicopter dry run with three build up events. The helicopter will be used as a surrogate UAM vehicle and will fly the test scenarios on the Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB) range with an instrumentation payload provided by NASA.

1.1 OVERVIEW DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES

The Contractor shall provide all management, personnel, equipment, supplies, materials, and other items and non-personal services necessary to perform helicopter flight in support of the NC dry run. The Contractor will ferry the helicopter to NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center

(AFRC) at EAFB. FAA pilots will fly all of the missions in support of the NC dry run.

Additional instrumentation that is self-powered and includes a differential global positioning system (dGPS) and GPS antenna will be installed after the helicopter arrives at AFRC. The

Contractor shall design and execute the installation and integration of the NASA instrumentation box and antenna onto the helicopter. A fit check will be conducted at the Contractor facility after approving the Contractor’s design. NASA AFRC will inspect and approve the installation.

Three dry run build up events are planned from mid-September 2020 to April 2021. The expected duration for each dry run event is expected to last about two weeks. Because NASA must inspect and issue an airworthiness certificate, the same aircraft shall be used for all dry run events. In order to complete the dry run flight test program, the project expects the helicopter to fly approximately 30 hours. Depending on the progress of the flight test, the Contractor may be required to fly additional test missions not to exceed 10 hours. Note that the payload shall be removed by the Contractor between dry run build up events. The payload will remain at NASA

AFRC between dry run events.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

Using a “surrogate” UAM vehicle, the objectives of the NC Helicopter dry run are to:

• Collect foundational Vehicle Characteristics data from an appropriately sized rotorcraft

(representative of expected weight class for UAM vehicles)

• Demonstrate and refine UAM Task Elements that are considered to be building blocks of

UAM mission profiles

• Demonstrate UAM scenarios

• Demonstrate the Flight Test Infrastructure (FTI) capabilities that NASA is developing to support future NC events. The capabilities include a range mobile operating facility

(MOF), NASA airspace management, and flight instrumentation payload planned for installation on partner aircraft.

3.0 SCOPE

The Contractor shall provide to AFRC a helicopter that meet the vehicle requirements as specified in paragraph 4.2. The Contractor pilot will act as the pilot in command (PIC) for all sorties. All test points performed on all sorties will be flown by an FAA test pilot. Up to two additional NASA and/or FAA test engineers will also fly on the sorties. The test engineers may carry-on hand-held instrumentation systems and/or portable electronic devices.

Three NC build up tests are scheduled between mid-September 2020 and April 2021. Each build up test is approximately two weeks in duration, not including the time to ferry the aircraft to

Edwards AFB, install and checkout of the instrumentation payload, and removal of the instrumentation payload from the aircraft after each build up tests.

The helicopter will be scheduled to fly up to 6 days per week, including weekends. The project manager or mission controller will notify the Contractor the day prior if the helicopter will be required the next day. Helicopter scheduling will depend on test points to be flown, weather, and availability of airspace. All dry run sorties will be flown within the EAFB R-2508 complex.

Most sorties will be flown within R-2515 restricted airspace. There may be instances when airspace necessary to execute a test flight may not be approved due to higher priority test missions that may cause a schedule delay or a re-scheduling of the planned test activity.

The helicopter provided to support NC must be ready to fly each day during the period of performance. The helicopter shall not have any planned scheduled maintenance activity except for normal pre and post-mission maintenance service.

For all sorties at EAFB, fuel will be provided by NASA. The fuel required for the ferry flight from the aircraft’s home station to EAFB will not be provided or reimbursed. A full load of fuel will be provided for the departure ferry flight. The fuel cost associated with any non-NC mission will not be reimbursed. All non-NC sorties must be approved by the AFRC flight operations directorate and the PM during the period of performance. All other expendables (oil, hydraulic fluid, etc.) will not be provided by the government and must be replenished by the Contractor for the safe operation of the helicopter.

4.0 AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS

The services defined in this statement of work are considered a Commercial Aviation Service

(CAS) to NASA. A CAS is defined as a full-service contract agreement through which an executive agency acquires an aircraft and related aviation services (e.g., pilot, crew, maintenance) for exclusive use.

The Contractor shall meet the following requirements in accordance with NPD 7900.4 NASA

Aircraft Operations Management, NPR 7900.3 Aircraft Operations Management Manual, and

AFOP 7900.3-006 Aircrew Flight Operations Manual. Any deviations from the stated requirements require additional approval and must be coordinated in advance of the contract award.

All flights shall be conducted as a public-aircraft operation and NASA will maintain operational control under NASA’s aviation authority. As such, NASA has a responsibility to ensure CAS aircraft are airworthy and such aircraft operations are conducted safety. All CAS operations shall be inspected by NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Aircraft Operations Office personnel prior to contract award and be subject to on-going surveillance during the contract period. The

Contractor shall provide and make available all applicable flight operations and maintenance manuals, provide the aircraft specific Minimum Equipment List (MEL), aircraft logbooks, maintenance records and plans, and personnel training records. The Contractor shall inform

NASA of any hazardous material on the helicopter. NASA reserves the right to conduct no-notice surveillance inspections of all maintenance and flight efforts performed under the contract, regardless of Contractor/Subcontractor status. The Contractor shall support these surveillance activities and ensure Subcontractor compliance as required.

The operator should hold and maintain a 14 CFR 121 Certificate or 14 CFR 135 Certificate and perform all operations in accordance with the requirements of their certificate. If the operator does not hold the required certificate, the Contractor shall provide documentation that demonstrates an equivalent level of safety (e.g. company operations manuals, maintenance manuals, quality assurance programs, crew training records and certifications, maintenance records and plans). In this case, the operator shall perform all operations in accordance with the provided documentation.

The Contractor shall identify aircraft support requirements necessary for flight operations from

AFRC. This includes, but not limited to, aircraft ground equipment (AGE), support equipment and fuel. Maintain a tool control program that ensures tool inventory and location accuracy, including specialty tools to mitigate on aircraft Foreign Object Debris (FOD) implications on safety and mission assurance.

The Contractor shall review and provide critical feedback to the Helicopter Dry Run Flight Test

Plan. The will also be expected to support the test readiness review (TRR) and may be asked to provide detailed vehicle engineering data to the TRR board prior to the first flight under this contract. The Contractor shall participate in all pre-mission and post-mission debrief. The

Contractor shall provide egress training to the NASA and FAA aircrew members. The Contractor pilot(s) shall receive the R-2515 brief and complete local area orientation, possibly to include an airspace orientation flight with a NASA pilot and the Contractor pilot(s) onboard the Contractor helicopter. The Contractor pilots will also participate in an AFRC led site survey of the NC-specific landing sites prior to operating the aircraft in and around each NC landing site.

4.1 Pilot Qualifications

The pilot shall possess the following qualifications:

1. FAA Commercial Pilot Certificate

2. Current and qualified in aircraft type

3. Minimum 2,000 flight hours, 1,000 hours in helicopters

4. FAA 1st Class Medical with any FAA Special Issuances reviewed by a NASA

Aeromedical Physician.

The following pilot qualifications are highly desired:

1. Instructor pilot

2. Previous graduate of, or instructor experience at, a military or civilian test pilot school

4.2 Helicopter Requirements

1. Maximum take-off weight under 7,000 lbs

a. Maximum rotor diameter less than 40 ft

b. Maximum dimension under 50 ft

2. Digital instrumentation package with onboard recording of parameters to include aircraft stability, control, and performance and pilot control inputs. (ref: FAA Part 27 Subpart B -see Table 1 for specifics)

3. Onboard display of select Table 1 instrumentation to assist with conduct of Part 27, Subpart B, flight test maneuvers

4. ADS-B Out operating on 978 or 1090 MHz

5. Navigation aids that allow pilot input of multiple routes and waypoints, and allows the pilot to easily activate an alternate pre-programmed route in-flight. This item may be provided by NASA.

6. Vehicle equipped for the flight crew to monitor two radio frequencies (UHF and/or VHF) simultaneously and transmit on one radio frequency (UHF and/or VHF).

7. Configured with an FAA-approved Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System

(TCAS) and Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS) for the specific type model aircraft to mitigate midair collisions and controlled flight into terrain. Alternative

FAA-approved systems such as ADS-B in/out or other FAA-approved emerging technologies will be evaluated as an acceptable alternative.

8. The following helicopter requirements are highly desired:

a. Flight Management System (FMS) with a 3-axis autopilot that can accept ARINC

424 programming.

b. Area Navigation (RNAV) capable for precision approaches and can accept

ARINC 424 programming

c. VHF 118-135.975 MHz and/or 136-151.975 MHz

4.3 Aircraft Airworthiness

The aircraft configuration and airworthiness shall be reviewed and approved by NASA and a

NASA Airworthiness Statement or Airworthiness Certificate must be issued prior to the first flight performed under the contract.

An Airworthiness Certificate or Statement is valid only for the specific configurations, flight envelopes, duration, locations, and operations specified in the approval. Any change to the specified configuration or flight operation requires issuance of a separate or amended

Airworthiness Certificate or Statement.

All aircraft modifications and/or configuration changes performed during the contract period shall go through an appropriate level of design reviews and are subject to NASA airworthiness approval.

All aircraft modifications and/or configuration changes performed during the contract period shall be in accordance with FAA airworthiness standards such that the aircraft will maintain its current FAA airworthiness certificate after completion of the contract.

If any aircraft modifications and/or configuration changes require FAA Form 337 documentation

(FAA Series 8110, 8100.9), the Contractor shall provide the Designated Engineering

Representative (DER)/Designated Airworthiness Representative (DAR) evaluation and all associated documentation for review and approval.

The operator shall ensure that the aircraft and all required equipment are operated and maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications.

The operator shall comply with manufacturer Mandatory Service Bulletins and FAA

Airworthiness Directives or equivalent before and during contract performance.

The operator shall provide and make available a list of all Mandatory Service Bulletins and

Airworthiness Directives applicable to the contract aircraft in the format shown in FAA

Advisory Circular 43-9C complete with authorized signature, certificate, type, and number.

4.4 Aircraft Instrumentation

In additional to onboard aircraft instrumentation provided by the Contractor (Table 1), NASA will install a self-powered instrumentation payload that will contain a differential Global

Positioning System (dGPS) and associated antenna. An available aircraft GPS antenna may be used for the instrumentation box if acceptable. The Contractor is responsible for the installation and integration of any hardware (Splitter) required to interface the aircraft antenna. The

Contractor shall provide the accuracy and speed range for each of the instrumentation parameters listed in Table 1.

a. The Contractor shall design and execute the installation and integration of the NASA instrumentation payload onto the helicopter. A fit check of the instrumentation payload will be conducted at the Contractor’s facility, no later than 14 days after contract award.

b. NASA will provide instrumentation payload design specifications to assist the Contractor with their integration design.

c. The Contractor shall record and time-stamp, within 100 millisecond of GPS time, all helicopter flight instrumentation data in Table 1 and deliver the recorded data to NASA at the end of each day.

d. Data traces may be requested after the day’s flight activities to assist with analysis. If requested by NASA, the Contractor shall provide post flight data traces from onboard instrumentation that support FAA Part 27/29 stability, control, and performance requirements and/or Rotorcraft Flight Manual flight manual flight envelope/performance charts.

Helicopter Instrumentation Requirements

Parameter Range Range

Units

Sample Rate

(Hz)

Accuracy Speed

Range

Airspeed 0 to 120 KIAS 10 TBD TBD

Altitude 0 to

12,000 ft 10 TBD TBD

N1 0 to 100 % 40 TBD TBD

Nr 0 to 100 % 40 TBD TBD

Roll +/- 80 ° 40 TBD TBD

Pitch Attitude +/- 90 ° 40 TBD TBD

Heading 0 to 360 ° 40 TBD TBD

P - Body Axis Roll Rate +/- 50 °/s 40 TBD TBD

Q - Body Axis Pitch Rate +/- 50 °/s 40 TBD TBD

R - Body Axis Yaw Rate +/- 50 °/s 40 TBD TBD

Nx - Axial Acceleration +/- 8 g 40 TBD TBD

Ny - Lateral Acceleration +/- 8 g 40 TBD TBD

Nz - Normal Acceleration +/- 8 g 40 TBD TBD

Static Pressure 0 to 15 PSI 40 TBD TBD

Dynamic Pressure 0 to 50 PSF 40 TBD TBD

Collective Control

Position

0 to 100 % 40 TBD TBD

Lateral Control Position 0 to 100 % 40 TBD TBD

Longitudinal Position 0 to 100 % 40 TBD TBD

Directional Control

Position

0 to 100 % 40 TBD TBD

Beta - Sideslip +/- 90 ° 40 TBD TBD

Throttle Position 0 to 100 % 40 TBD TBD

OAT -- Outside Air Temp 0 to 100 °C 40 TBD TBD

Torque 0 to 100 % 40 TBD TBD

Table 1. Helicopter Instrumentation Requirements

4.5 Test Flight Profiles

The helicopter, flying as a UAM surrogate aircraft, will fly any or all maneuvers IAW the AAM

NC UAM Helicopter Dry Run Flight Test Plan. The Test Plan provides detailed information and test procedures for:

• UAM Vehicle Characteristics tests (typical Part 27 Subpart B flight test maneuvers)

• UAM Task Elements tests (building block tasks that make up the overall UAM mission)

• UAM Mission Scenarios tests (see Mission Overviews later in this section)

All maneuvers will be flown under the NASA’s Airworthiness and Flight Safety Review

Process. The mission controller or PM will inform the Contractor at least the day prior to the test flight, the scenario and test cards that will be executed. All sorties are expected to operate out of

AFRC. Figure 1 depicts the planned heliport and vertiport locations. Figure 2 shows the boundary of the “Unmanned Air System (UAS) work area” that is expected to be utilized for some UAM Helicopter dry run Scenarios and figure 3 shows out-and-back, and X-33 routes that will be used for the three UAM Scenarios tests. The routes depicted in figures 2 and 3 shows the expected duration the helicopter will perform. These routes are also used to gather data on route and airspace conformance that will be used research on NC. UAM Vehicle Characteristics tests and UAM Task Elements tests will be flown in VFR conditions and may utilize other areas within the R-2508 complex.

In accordance with standard flight test risk management, NASA will use a build-up approach to accomplish all test points. The AAM NC UAM Helicopter Dry Run intends to study leeward and windward landing sites adjacent to buildings to emulate the UAM environment. Experimental

UAM Heliports will be utilized for this work. The NC seek hazard analysis inputs from the

Contractor for operating a helicopter near a building. All UAM Heliports are designed in accordance with existing FAA Heliport Design guidance for a VFR Heliport (ref: AC 150 5390-

2C). NASA can provide detailed layout drawings, including obstacles, for all UAM

Heliports/Vertiports being used for the UAM Helicopter dry run flights. All maneuvers will be conducted within aircraft operating limits.

Figure 1. Operating Locations (yellow and red boxes) at AFRC

Figure 2. UAS Operating Area

Figure 3. X-33 and out-and-back routes

4.5.1 Vehicle Characteristics Tests

Perform a subset of Part 27, Subpart B, aircraft certification points in accordance with the UAM

Helicopter Dry Run Flight Test Plan. Tests will include, but are not limited to: in-ground effect

(IGE) and out-of-ground effect (OGE) power margin characterization; trim characteristics;

longitudinal stability; climb performance, longitudinal stability, lateral-directional stability, all-azimuth controllability.

4.5.2 UAM Task Elements

Perform discrete “building block” tasks that make up the Urban Air Mobility Mission in accordance with the Helicopter Dry Run Flight Test Plan. In some cases, tests will be flown with varying environmental or geometric parameters to measure foundational vehicle characteristics during the conduct of the tests. Tests will include, but are not limited to: Taxiing;

Hover; Hover translation; Heading changes over a point; UAM Heliport Approaches/Departures;

UAM Vertiport Approaches/Departures; Maneuvering flight; Missed Approach; Balked

Landing; and simulated airspace tasks.

4.5.3 Mission Overview of Scenario 1 Flights

Perform nominal vehicle and airspace operations, to include pre-flight planning and basic airspace/vehicle information exchanges. Execute NASA/FAA prescribed takeoff, fly ~15 miles using nominal operations and procedures while maintaining contact with the airspace provider at all times, land using nominal vertiport/heliport SOP as defined by NASA/FAA, and if time permits, turn the vehicle for a repeat flight. Up to 20 virtual UAM aircraft with no planned interference will be utilized as background traffic. The virtual traffic will “fly” predefined routes on a static schedule with consistent spacing to emulate UML (1-2)-type operations. Operations will take place in simulated Class G airspace. All Scenario 1 flights will occur in VMC conditions during daylight hours. Routes can transit from one site to another (for example: Area

A to X-33, or vice versa, figure 3) or begin and end at the same site (for example: Area A to

Area A, operating within the UAS Work Area, figure 2).

4.5.4 Mission Overview of Scenario 2 Flights

Perform nominal vehicle operations and execute airspace negotiation, to include pre-flight planning and basic airspace/vehicle information exchanges. The flight is assumed to occur in the

UAM corridor that has been established and is in use based on a helicopter Letter of Agreement

(LOA) that allows for multiple UAM flights within the corridor. Takeoff and landing will occur in simulated Class D airspace, separated by a section of simulated Class G airspace. Takeoff and landing will be executed using vertiport/heliport SOP as defined by NASA. Takeoff, fly ~15 miles using nominal operations and procedures while maintaining contact with the airspace provider at all times to allow for airspace negotiation, which will occur during the cruise phase of the flight. After takeoff, while the vehicle is still in simulated Class D airspace, a NOTAM will be issued that indicates a fire is causing the UAM corridor to be closed. The NOTAM will cause airspace negotiation and vehicle re-routing to occur. Airspace partner UAM Service

Supplier (USS), or other USS within Provider of Services to UAM (PSU), will announce a UAM

Volume Restriction (UVR) and communicate the UVR to its operator(s) and PSU. Simulated

ATC may communicate with the vehicle concerning the re-route using standard phraseology.

Simulated ATC will nominally be the Mission Controller (MC) reading from a script, with the exception of Scenario 3c. To conclude the flight, the vehicle will re-enter simulated Class D airspace, land, and if time permits, turn the vehicle for a repeat flight. The re-route will include two 90 degree turns, as well as both a flyover and a flyby waypoint. Up to 50 virtual UAM tilt-rotor aircraft with no planned interference will be utilized as background traffic. The virtual traffic will “fly” predefined routes on a static schedule with consistent spacing to emulate

UML2-type operations. The virtual traffic will be both on the same route as the helicopter, as well as adjacent to the helicopter’s flight paths. All Scenario 2 flights will occur in VMC conditions during daylight hours.

4.5.5 Mission Overview of Scenario 3 Flights

The vehicle will nominally operate out of one vertiport – all takeoff procedures and “planned” landing profiles will be FAA-prescribed. The vehicle will remain close to the vertiport to allow the helicopter to execute Scenario 3 several times within one day. Both scenarios are within simulated Class-D airspace. In scenario 3a, the helicopter will execute a go-around, loiter, and land at the originally intended site. In scenario 3b, the helicopter will execute a balked landing resulting in a diversion to an alternate heliport/vertiport. In Scenario 3c, the helicopter will execute a balked landing resulting in a diversion to an active runway, where the vehicle will have to get worked into the existing pattern traffic. There will be simulated background traffic consisting of up to 50 virtual UAM aircraft. The virtual traffic will “fly” predefined routes on a static schedule with consistent spacing to emulate UML2-type operations.

5.0 SECURITY

Access to EAFB and AFRC is limited to US Nationals. AFRC will arrange for unescorted access of Contractor personnel to the center. The Contractor will provide a list of personnel who will required access to EAFB and AFRC no later than 30 days prior to the aircraft arrival date.

Since all flight operations will take place on EAFB, the Contractor must have a US Air Force approved landing permit. If the Contractor does not have an approved landing permit, the

Contractor shall complete and submit the following forms to the appropriate Air Force office

(address on the form) immediately after contract award:

1. DD2400, Civil Aircraft Certificate of Insurance

2. DD2401, Civil Aircraft Landing Permit

3. DD2402, Civil Aircraft Hold Harmless Agreement

6.0 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

July 15, 2020 – May 31, 2021

7.0 DELIVERABLES/TASKS

1. Final integration design of the NASA provided instrumentation payload

2. Fit check of the NASA provided instrumentation payload

3. Completion of Dry Run 1

4. Completion of Dry Run 2

5. Completion of Dry Run 3

8.0 OTHER REQUIREMENTS

Overnight storage of the aircraft in a hangar at AFRC is limited. If the aircraft must be parked in a hangar overnight, the Contractor should plan on utilizing an airport in the vicinity of Edwards

AFB with available hangar space.