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Gsh's School At Cybw


w squared
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I agree with the last two posts emphatically! There is now point in blowing all that money on trubine time because if you don't get the job you are stuck with all that debt and nothing to show for it but a pilots licence that you could get for cheaper. If you were to do it in say a R22 with 10 hrs in a R44 that would be more sensible and all the money you saved you could use to make a road trip and find work or accept a lower wage which is a actuality. That being said I did not know about this program and if it's possible to do that and actually get a flying job then great, but in my 7 years in the industy (not very long but still) I find it unlikely that they would allow you to do anything other than ferry flights and pay you very little because 100 turbine or 100 piston IS STILL 100 HRS. No offence to any low time drivers out there, I was a 100 hrs at one time too, but you have to give yourself a chance to survive finacially after a huge investment like flight training.

 

I get the impression that they will hire you to sweep floors and move the odd machine to keep their word and eventually the pay will kick your *** to the point that you won't be able to afford living up there any more (equal to Fort McMurray) and you will quit.

 

I really hope my assesment is incorrect because I have alot of respect for said company and I hope that that type of practice is olny limited to certain companys...like a known swindeler in Jasper.

 

Good luck and do your reserch,

 

MG

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I regret not keeping some of the emails I exchanged with a few former students. One in particular who was very happy, he said he flew 100 hours his first season, and was full time the following year.

 

I dont doubt, however, that there is probably someone on the complete opposite side of things who probably didnt show the work ethic necessary and ended up pushing the broom.

 

For everyone who asked for the emails- I need your email adress and I wont hesitate to forward you the info. Keep in mind everything said on here, after all, GSH still needs to make money.

 

Cole

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Cole,

 

To keep it fair then, why not train with Canadian in Pentiction? You can save money and live at home! All turbine too. My years employed with them as a pilot and BM, had shown that they also hired their students, some of them only coming over to do a 25 hr Mtn course. If you are an exceptional person, any company will look at you. If you decide to invest 100 hrs with them, they will 'look' at you for a future investment in return.

 

I am a firm believer that get your license (affordable) and then worry about endoresments. If you can afford some turbine time, great! Most of us couldn't though and we made it. There is no doubt that the 22, 44, or 300 can turnout great pilots!

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I dont doubt, however, that there is probably someone on the complete opposite side of things who probably didnt show the work ethic necessary and ended up pushing the broom.

 

So does work ethic alone grant you a job at GSH? Not likely. You could end up being the best student they have ever, and will ever, have. But if the market bottoms out that year then you're screwed just like everyone else.

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Well said Ryan.

 

T-rex- As much as I would LOVE the chance to get to fly with the guys out here the cost still comes with an even bigger price tag... Personally Im planning on going to a piston school, then talking about other things for after.

 

GSH- $85,000ish

CHL (Penticton)- $120,000+

Piston schools- $40-55,000ish

 

Personnaly I came off the GSH idea when I decided I could do better things with the money and hopefully still end up employed. Ive decided to try and go to a piston school next fall/winter.

 

I think I have emails from about every school in the province on the same topics and they all seem to have the same answers, yet when you speak to the peolpe that hire the lowtimers that come out of these schools, it becomes obvious which ones are blowing smoke.

 

Food for thought.

Good dialog though, keep it coming.

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It truly amazes me how this business of flight training became so mistrusted,

It seems that flight training has become a shady business, because of a few people the equivalent of “Ambulance chasers” in this part of the industry.

 

GSHL fly’s in excess of 40,000 hours per year, the flight school brings in maybe

500 hours at a reduced rate, that so appends to be around $ 350.00 less per hour

Then our regular rate, and some people out there still think that we are trying to rip them Off.

 

What we need are pilots, not money,(call Bull if you want, but how many machines sat on the ground do to lack of flight crews in the industry last year). It was brought up that the CFI may be building hours, I may not have a lot of hours insofar as the industry goes, but 8000+ seems To be enough numbers in a log book, what I’m still building is experience, and that will never end….. and I do not get paid to fly, I’m on salary.

 

One of my students that I trained two winters ago is at 1000 hours with a HU500 endorsement and an Astar endorsement given to him by GSHL. The rest seem to

Be around 600 hours.

 

So I understand that you have to be careful what you spend your money on but

To question the motives of a company that do not advertise their flight schools

Seems ridicules. GSH need pilots with Bell 206 time, that’s why we use them at the

Flight school, do we lose potentially great students with our prices, yes!

 

I keep the classes’ small (five to six students) so that the students have an excellent chance at getting hired, and yes it’s based allot on work ethic, is the job guarantied, NO, no one guaranties a job at the end because you have no Idea who your students Are until the end of the course, even though there is an interview process to get into the School.

 

The debate started with what do you think of GSHL’s flight school, if you honestly think poorly of the school then say it, but if you have no Idea about the school then leave Great Slave out of the debate on turbine verses piston time.

 

And W squared you may not run into to many of our former student on this forum,

We do not pump them out the door like some of the other schools, but I’m sure if

They are out there they will PM you.

 

So in the end even though there are no guaranties of employment, the chances are rather high that you will get hired, and then it’s up to the graduate to keep there job. GSHL like other companies are aware that the industry is going to need pilots, that is why they started a school to train pilots to hire them.

 

Cheers,

 

JR

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" Maybe look at their hanger set up now that they moved....pretty piss poor operations for a pilot in training trying to land with the wires, roads, firehall, aircraft, trucks, trailers..etc....(I suggest take a look for yourself!) The current location was never designed for helicopters."

Hey T-REX that was a very astute but misinformed observation about the school,

we park our two Jet Rangers across the street at the old hanger, the only danger to the "employees in training" are getting hit by a fix wing driver wile crossing

the street. :shock:

 

I'm sure I'll get slagged about my comments, but that's the fun with this forum,

listening to you bunch of old Lady's arguing makes my morning Coffey that much more enjoyable. B) and remember I'm just another driver working with the A/C

that management gives me.

 

Cheers

 

JR

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Hehe, I was waiting for you to post up JR. You basically pointed out what needed to be drawn attention to.

 

I have to say, after re reading some of the emails you and I sent back and forth I still find myself debating GSH. Im planning to drop by some time this winter to check it out as with some other schools, we'll be in touch.

 

Cole

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It seems it is well known that Great Slave Helicopters hires a lot of it's own students. My question is what comes of the student that isn't hired by Great Slave? Are their chances of getting a job even worse than the average new pilot? From an operator's standpoint, I'd be suspect of a person that trained at Great Slave and then came looking for a job with my company after they finished there. If they were any good, why didn't Great Slave hire them? Know what I mean?

 

I know there may be circumstances beyond the student's control but how is the potential employer to know them, and if made aware, believe them?

 

Potentially, you could have shelled out twice the cash to train and given yourself a black eye in the process.

 

That said, I think anyone willing to invest such a large amount of money into training that returns so little (for quite a while) must be highly motivated. Especially those that raise the money themselves.

 

I guess that leads me to another question, does Great Slave Helicopters take into account how an individual will be finanacing their training? Are trust fund babies and the guys who work in the tar sands for a couple years saving every penny given equal consideration?

 

Just my thoughts, feel free to rip them apart :up:

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Wow T-rex sounds like you really like GSHL!!!!! , as for the 500D being such a machine of the past try telling that to all those Geologists that love it for Sampling, which is a great gig for a lowtimer especially in the arctic and how about all those seismic guys that still use them all over Alberta and BC. Like Huffy said I can guarantee you they don't run thier flight school for money but to attract new talent for the pool. And hey we all know the real money is working in Alberta doing Pine Beetle stuff just look at the great rates you got for your B2 for the next 2 years.

 

DTII

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