Helicopter Institute has been selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to provide specialised helicopter flight training for NASA astronauts and pilots at its Fort Worth, Texas, facility.
The training will qualify NASA personnel to operate the U.S. Navy TH-57 helicopters recently transferred to NASA. NASA has the requirement since astronauts without previous flight experience undergo flight training to convert and then maintain proficiency. In the 1960s the agency had a fleet of Bell 47s used to help astronauts train for lunar landing flights a need that has returned with the forthcoming Artemis lunar landing missions.
Training will be carried out using Helicopter Institute’s Bell 206B to develop the aircraft-specific knowledge and flight proficiency required for these operations.
The announcement comes after a challenge by Helicopter Institute of the planned sole source procurement which would have seen the Bell Training Academy selected as part of the TH-57 OEM. That challenge resulted in the procurement process being opened to other bidders.
Speaking about the award Randy Rowles, Founder and CEO of Helicopter Institute, said :“We are extremely proud and genuinely humbled to have been selected to train NASA’s astronauts and pilots. Our Bell 206 training programmes have earned a reputation for instructional excellence that we believe is unmatched in the helicopter industry. This award reflects the exceptional quality of our instructors, the strength of our training programs, and our unwavering commitment to aviation safety. We are sincerely appreciative of NASA’s confidence in Helicopter Institute and consider it a tremendous privilege to support their aviation mission.”
