Tri Models Inc.

Tri Models Inc., a small-business manufacturer of precision-machined aerospace hardware and wind tunnel models based in Huntington Beach, California, operates as a prime contractor (86% of recent awards) and subcontractor on federal research and defense contracts, competing predominantly under total small business set-asides across its NASA prime work and selecting full-and-open competition on Air Force and defense prime work. The company is a for-profit corporation structured as a business manufacturer of goods, with 144 total awards spanning 1993 to present and a combined potential value of $131.2 million across prime and sub engagements.

Tri Models' customer concentration is heavily weighted toward NASA's aeronautics research centers. NASA Langley Research Center dominates by award count (59 awards, $4.9 million combined potential value) under a general and precision machining and fabrication BPA with a one-dollar ceiling and all calls set aside for total small business, while NASA Glenn Research Center anchors the dollar side with 14 awards carrying $40.5 million combined potential value under a $4.999 million non-set-aside BPA established August 22, 2022, running through May 31, 2027. Together, the two NASA centers account for roughly 52% of combined potential value across the top five customer agencies. The Department of the Air Force Materiel Command Test Center ranks third with 16 awards valued at $1.8 million, primarily for balance block fabrication, sting assemblies, and wind tunnel support equipment under small-business set-asides. The Navy Strategic Systems Programs and DARPA round out the top federal customers. Across the portfolio, the company delivers under five primary parent vehicles: BPA NNL16AA19Z (32 task orders, $1.7 million), IDC NAS102089 (26 task orders, $3.5 million), IDC NNL08AA09B (19 task orders, $2.7 million), IDC FA930004D0018 (11 task orders, $1.2 million), and BPA 80LARC21AA016 (7 task orders, $810 thousand).

Recent concrete capability work includes a $26,685.42 BPA call from NASA Langley on April 28, 2026, for an Aether Model (16-inch) wind tunnel model with June 2026 completion; a $1.262 million firm fixed-price purchase order from NASA Glenn (September 2022) for a characterization array for the 10x10-foot supersonic wind tunnel; a $357,838.47 purchase order from the Air Force Materiel Command Test Center (September 2023) for a Second Tetra Adjustable Dogleg Sting and associated parts for Arnold Engineering Development Complex testing; and a $493,714.68 order (September 2022) for a model and support assembly platform and transfer cart for AEDC Tunnel 9. The company's NAICS footprint reflects this work: All Other Miscellaneous Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (43 awards), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (23 awards), and Machine Shops (16 awards) dominate the profile.

On the subcontract side, Tri Models delivers metal fabrication, design, and model manufacturing to Bell Textron on the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) FLRAA program (awards October 2025 and September 2025); to Northrop Grumman on DARPA aircraft manufacturing and Great Horned Owl flight demonstration programs; to Lockheed Martin on advanced systems and TRIDENT P&DSS cone models; to The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory on the Peregrine lunar lander program; and to Beyond New Horizons on Arnold Engineering Development Complex test operations and sustainment work. Recent activity has grown modestly — five to nine awards annually from 2023 to 2025 — with combined obligated dollars of $18.1 million representing 14 percent of combined potential value, signaling either backlog or unrealized funding against high-value BPA ceilings, particularly the $4.999 million NASA Glenn vehicle.

Tri Models designs and builds wind tunnel test models, ground test hardware, flight test hardware and prototypes for the aerospace community