Draft Statement of Work for Sources Sought.pdf

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Statement of Work Engineering Support Services for Aircraft Modification and Instrumentation

Background

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) operates a fleet of aircraft out of its facility at Lakeland Linder International Airport in Lakeland, FL. These aircraft currently include light, twin-turboprop engine aircraft, heavy four-engine turboprop aircraft, heavy twin-engine jet engine aircraft and are listed below:

• DeHavilland Twin Otter DHC6-300 x4

• Hawker Beechcraft King Air BE-350CER x2

• Gulfstream G-IVSP x1

• Gulfstream G550 x1 (Entering service in FY24)

• Lockheed WP-3D x2

To carry out its scientific missions, AOC must often modify and alter these aircraft to support the numerous scientific instruments used in achieving NOAA’s mission. Usually, these are “one of a kind” prototypes, requiring a unique design, analysis, testing, and certification methodology. AOC has its sheet metal fabrication shop, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified mechanics and a limited Aerospace and Electronics Engineers staff. However, AOC cannot consistently achieve its mission with in-house capabilities and must seek outside support, often in a limited time frame. Additionally, the AOC engineers do not have the necessary certification required for FAA approval if FAA compliance is required.

Scope

NOAA is seeking a contractor to provide AOC with engineering support on a task order basis and engineering technical support utilizing an on-demand request to invoice system. The contractor will supply AOC with the specific engineering services defined in the individual task issued against the contract. Aircraft operations and maintenance shall prioritize aircraft access required to obtain technical data.

Contractor Duties and Tasking o Services to be provided by the contractor from issued task orders include, but are not limited to, the design of equipment, aircraft modification, and working with AOC personnel to develop a design to meet the requirements of an issued task order.

Examples of previous projects are:

• Drop tubes (pressurized or unpressurized) from the WP-3D and G-IVSP

• New equipment racks, tables, or other mounts for scientific installations

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• Mounts in the cabin for life rafts, bottle racks, and galley mounted equipment

• Remote sensing equipment mounts (hyperspectral scanners, LIDAR units, aerial cameras, thermal imagers, radiometers, radars, etc.)

• Air sampling probes, trailing cones, wind gust probes

• Wing pylons on the WP-3D and DHC6-300

• Scientific power upgrades

• DHC6-300 observer bubble window design and engineering

• Analysis of equipment and modification

• Testing of equipment and modification:

• Static wing deflection tests on wing pylons

• Static weight loads on nose canards

• Inspection of equipment and/or aircraft modification

• Certification of equipment and/or aircraft modification

• Consultation on engineering proposals or meetings as necessary

• Develop “approved” data according to the FAA. This usually incorporates an FAA form 8110-3, “Statement of Compliance with Federal Aviation Requirements,” signed by an FAA Designated Engineering Representative (DER) or a letter in lieu of an 8110-3 for the WP-3D aircraft.

o The contractor must be able to travel to the AOC, as necessary, within a day of an issued task order for onsite inspections, measurements, and testing of equipment and aircraft modifications.

o The contractor must work closely with AOC personnel using the design requirements to construct a plan that can achieve AOC’s scientific goals in a manner that does not compromise the safety or certification of AOC’s aircraft.

o The contractor must be able to access mechanical designs in the Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES) format (Solid Works) and electrical drawings in the AutoCAD “.dwg” format.

o The contractor must also be able to provide technical support, via telephone and email, during the hours of 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM M-F (Eastern Standard Time). Technical support requests typically cover assistance with answering and responding to engineering and technical questions. The contractor may be required to provide references and/or excerpts from references for support in answering the requests. The costs associated with the technical support provided will be billed and invoiced against the contract after acceptance by the Contracting Officer Representative (COR).

o All delivered drawings must be in a format readily accessible by the Government.

Mechanical drawings must be in Solidworks format or other if approved explicitly by AOC.

Electrical drawings must be in AutoCAD “.dwg” format or other if approved explicitly by the AOC.

Deliverables

The contractor shall maintain the capability to deliver, in the time specified in the task order, any (but not limited to) the following items:

• Electrical and Mechanical design drawings

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• Drawings in PDF format with CAD source files

• Electrical and mechanical design reports

• Structural analysis

• Structural report

• Aerodynamic analysis

• Aerodynamic report

• FAA form 8110-3

• Letter in lieu of 8110-3 for non-certificated aircraft

• FAA Form 337

• Consultation Review

• Customized Part Designs as Necessary for Modifications

• Rights to All Drawings and Files Generated for the Task Order

• Delivery address: 3450 Flightline Drive, Lakeland FL 33811

All delivered drawings must be in a format readily accessible by the Government.

Mechanical drawings must be in Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES) format.

Electrical drawings must be in AutoCAD “.dwg” format or other if specifically approved by the AOC.

Required Qualifications

The contractor shall have experience in the aeronautical field and be well versed in FAA regulations and procedures. The contractor must be capable of aircraft design and analysis using modern traceable methods and computer-aided design (CAD) and analysis programs.

At a minimum, the contractor must be able to perform linear static structural analysis using finite element modeling (Finite Element Analysis [FEA]).

Additionally, the Contractor must have readily available an FAA-designated engineering representative (DER) appointed in accordance with Code of Federal Regulations, 14 CFR §183.29, who holds an engineering degree or equivalent, possesses aircraft technical knowledge and experience and meets the qualification requirements of FAA Order 8100.8 At a minimum; the DERs must cover the disciplines of both Structural Engineering (general) and System and Equipment Engineering (electrical equipment) for CAR 3, Part 23 (normal, utility, acrobatic, and commuter), and Part 25 (transport) aircraft.

Desired qualifications

• Have experience dealing with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Atlanta Aircraft Certification Office (ACO). This is the primary office for all AOC issues, and they are familiar with the AOC mission and its unique requirements.

• Have experience designing aircraft installations and modifications for scientific-type equipment such as equipment racks, dropsonde tubes, wing pylons, probes into the airstream, radiometers, lasers, etc.

• Have direct engineering experience with the aircraft listed in section 1.1.

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• Have the ability to perform dynamic structural analysis in addition to the required static analysis.

• Have the ability to perform material and vibration testing/analysis of aircraft and parts.

• Additional DER disciplines, especially flutter/ground vibration, ice protection systems, systems calibration, and fatigue life analysis.

Completion schedule

The completion schedules/ Periods of Performance will be identified in each task order statement of work.