Request for Information was posted on April 17, 2006. RFI resulted in several questions submitted by potential offerors. The following are responses to those questions.QUESTION: Is this in fact the flight screening syllabus or something else? Why the four place aircraft? ANSWER: This is the Flight Screening program. The four-seat desirable is to give us the option of a third person riding in the back. This additional person would usually be either a non-scheduled student gaining additional learning by observation, or a senior instructor evaluating or upgrading the instructor in the front seat. However, the normal crew compliment will be two, therefore the aircraft should benefit from extra performance if only two of the four seats are occupied. QUESTION: How many (40 training day) classes in the academic year? Per semester? ANSWER: During an academic semester, it is a single - class, however the class will be divided into alternating days. Therefore, when computing sortie requirements, there are actually 80 training days in a semester, with each group of cadets getting 40 days. Therefore, each cadet only gets 40 days to get through the program, and will only have time to fly once per day. QUESTION: How many (15 training day) classes in the summer? ANSWER: During the summer, there will actually be three different classes, 15 days each. However, the students will be available all day, easily able to fly twice (weather providing). QUESTION: How many students per class? ANSWER: The number will vary based upon several factors, not the least of which are the pilot needs of the Air Force that year, and the number of medically pilot-qualified cadets. At present, the loads are approximately 200 students per academic semester and 130 over the entire summer. However, those ratios will most likely change in the future to maximize training opportunities during the summer. The total number of students per year will be approximately 500. QUESTION: Is there a minimum/maximum class size? ANSWER: Not specifically. Although ratios may change, the total for the year will be approximately 500. However, from an infrastructure standpoint, the operations during the summer will most likely place the highest demand on resources and will therefore drive the requirements for numbers of aircraft and instructors. QUESTION: Does allowable class size varies re: academic year vs. summer? ANSWER: Yes, as described above. QUESTION: To what extent are the MFIs available to schedule? ANSWER: Each MFI should be able to fly twice per week, and may in reality fly much more often than that. However, the contractor can not rely on MFI availability when building their schedule and determining required resources. QUESTION: Are there a minimum number of flight events the MFIs will accomplish per class or per student? ANSWER: No. QUESTION: On any given training day, what is the earliest time a student can report for training and the latest time a student can depart (i.e., what is the available scheduling range)? ANSWER: There is a significant difference between the academic year (semesters) and the summer. During the semesters, the earliest practical report time is 0600, and the last group of cadets must be out of the building by 1820. Due to their academic schedule, cadets are available in three blocks within this timeframe, each block consisting of 4 hours and 15 minutes. This block must include travel time between the Cadet Area and the airfield, which is planned at 30 minutes each way, leaving slightly over 3 hours total for training at the airfield. This timeframe is completely governed by the cadets schedule on the academic campus and has no flexibility. In contrast, there is significant flexibility in the summer, since AFS will be the cadets sole military duty. The contractor may determine report and dismissal times, as long as Air Force crew rest restrictions are met. QUESTION: How/where are the cadets currently receiving this training? What aircraft? ANSWER: Cadets are currently receiving training at the USAFA airfield, which is a requirement. The current contractor utilizes DA-20 aircraft. QUESTION: Who is the incumbent contractor? Or is it performed in-house by the Government? ANSWER: Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, located in Dayton FL. currently holds the contract QUESTION: If there is a current contract, is it all-inclusive, i.e. does it include training and maintenance, or are they separate contracts? ANSWER: Yes, there is a current contract and it is all inclusive. The future contractor will be responsible for maintenance on their proposed aircrafts. QUESTION: Is the 25 hour syllabus in the RFI new or is it the one currently being used? ANSWER: The 25-hour syllabus in the RFI is a draft that is about to go into effect. However, the changes from the current syllabus are extremely minor. QUESTION: What are the number and clusters of blackout training dates? ANSWER: There are three semesters per calendar year - Spring, Summer, and Fall. QUESTION: What is the proposed contract type, i.e. CPFF, CPAF, FFP, (etc.)? ANSWER: Firm-fixed Priced. QUESTION: The RFI indicates the Government will provide fuel service. Does this mean all required fuel will be provided on-site by the Government? ANSWER: Yes. QUESTION: Will there be any connection between this program and the contract awarded to Doss Aviation to provide Introductory Flight Training to ROTC cadets? ANSWER: The connection will be a common syllabus, with a common goal of screening pilot candidates. However, there will be vast differences between the operations of the two programs due to numerous known factors. QUESTION: Can the Government make available to prospective offerors the current contract(s) which supports this effort? ANSWER: Yes, written requests will be accepted only. QUESTION: Will selected contractor be allowed to train cadets at alternate locations/sites to avoid inclement weather season? ANSWER: No. QUESTION: To allow us to plan for this solicitation can you provide more details on the anticipated dates for the Industry Day, site visit, Draft RFP, Final RFP, Proposal Due Date, expected Award. ANSWER: The Milestones are tentative and will be updated and posted to FedBizOps at time of finalization. QUESTION: Can you provide an expected total value for the 10 year program? ANSWER: Rough Order of Magnitude ranges between $25M - $35M QUESTION: Can you provide information on the insurance requirements anticipated in the contract? ANSWER: Aircraft Public Liability Insurance requirements will be stated in the Performance Work Statement. QUESTION: What requirements for SB and SDB are expected in this solicitation? ANSWER: Final decision for Small Business and Small Disadvantage Business goals has not been coordinated with the Small Business Specialist. The goals will be identified in the subsequent solicitation. QUESTION: Is the training syllabus the same one used by the IFS program? ANSWER: It is anticipated the training syllabus will be similar to the IFS program. QUESTION: What tasks are you expecting the contractor to perform during the mobilization period? ANSWER: Tentative plans are to have contractor become familiar with the site, flying patterns, maintenance area, classroom area, syllabus, and military CFIs. Also to provide training to any IPs, conduct check rides, and establish aircraft inventory on site. QUESTION: Would the AF consider a 10 year contract with annual funding vice a one year contract with 9 option years? ANSWER: We do not anticipate considering a 10-year contract with annual funding. QUESTION: Can you provide more details on your reasoning for a 4 place aircraft? Is the aircraft going to be used for anything other than student training? ANSWER: See response below for similar question. QUESTION: What environmental requirements will be put into the contract? Since the aircraft requirements have changed, will the AF have to do an Environmental Assessment based on the selected aircraft? Will this be part of the mobilization effort? If an EA is required, what support is required of the contractor? ANSWER: This question is being coordinated with local Civil Engineer. QUESTION: Will the AF consider a termination liability clause in the contract so that if the program is cancelled before the end of the 10th year because of some factor(s) outside the contractor's control, then AF will cover some agreed to amount for the aircraft? Obviously this reduces the contractor's risk with the AF benefiting because the overall cost of the program will be lower. ANSWER: The termination clauses are already established by the Federal Acquisition Regulation. QUESTION: Why does USAFA want a four-seat aircraft?" Can you shed any light on that particular requirement? I certainly couldn't. ANSWER: First, having a four-seat aircraft will, naturally, enable us to have someone ride along in the back. This would be useful for instructor training / evaluations, or for students who were not schedule to fly that go to ride along and gain situational awareness. Second, other than the above, our normal operations will be two people in the airplane. The broad assumption is that having two people in a 4-place airplane will facilitate greater performance when needed or desired.
