Best School?

[go coastal]

You can talk all you like, but I know first hand the 47 is an amazing teaching tool, I could never allow a student to do as much as I do in those light little ultralight machines. And with the 47 G4 model I can take a student out for a REAL days work. :punk:

 

And by the way, my 47 G4 ( GSKY ) can lift an empty R22. Learning to bring a load into a confined area with out the added turbine cost is the best value for your dollar.

 

R22's were designed as a cheap personal back yard machine, kinda like my quad, a toy.

 

So please some one tell me why a school uses a 22, accept for the fact the DOC is cheaper than my quad.

 

My thoughts

 

Rob

 

Boy Rob, you sound like you are on the defensive. A little insecure about your machine even. I feel that any machine worth its weight can do the talking for itself and doesn't need the instructor to go on a rant to defend it. I don't recall saying anything bad about the 47. I think its a great machine. I just don't think it is going to make the difference between success and failure. I know a **** of a lot of pilots with thousands of hours that have never even sat in a 47.

 

I do recall suggesting that there are a HUGE number of factors which a student should consider when choosing a school. The type of machine is only one of those decisions and in my opinion certainly not the one that should be the deal breaker either way.

 

I don't choose to be an instructor anymore and so I have ZERO affiliations with any school or machine. My opinions are merely that, opinions. I feel that the more unbiased information a student can get before jumping into this game the better.

 

Anyway, I enjoyed your 47 sales pitch all the same.

 

Ben

 

p.s. I'm curious; how much training time do you have in the evil R22 "toy"?

[sirlandsalot]

well Rob...that is your opinion! You seem to really try to sell that 47. Weather you train in a 22, 300 or a 47 your still at 100 hrs. All the machines teach a student fine as long as the INSTRUCTOR is good, The biggest thing is ususally getting a job, and a 44 endorsment will go alot farther than that 47 will. If a GOOD instructor has taken a student to 100 hrs on a 22, then the issue for the for the student now becomes employment!

[Emory]

I was just looking at the Tech website, and was i happy to see that they have free accomodations on site. Is this a common thing for schools? because i could see this playing big into school choice for me. Im sure the accomodations are nothing special (trailers, but thats what rig camps are like, and they work just fine) but compared with going through the trouble of finding a suite for the right time, moving, paying rent, gas to get to school every day, and time commuting, i think living on site would be great.

[412driver]

the way i read RHRobs post is that he is BRAGGING about his 47...not defending it!

 

and rightfully so

 

bottom line for anyone looking is don't listen to us. go and visit every school, talk to the people there (students and instructors) and make YOUR OWN DECISION!!

[sirlandsalot]

Yup a place to stay would have helped me alot! That there could be a huge factor. I didn't buget that part well, and it hit me hard on top of my 50 grand!

[Skidz]

It's funny. I've been on these forums for about 6 years now, and these "best school" threads are always the same.

 

Personally, I think there are five principal factors involved in chosing the "right" school. All of them are equally important:

 

1) Quality of instruction (this includes individual instructors, ratios and ground school)

 

2) Training environment

 

3) Training aircraft (by this I mean which a/c are YOU most comfortable in, and how many does the school have ?)

 

4) Personal situation (Will you have to move ? Quit your day job ?)

 

5) The "vibe" (Do you feel you're in good hands with your school ? )

 

The only recommendation I can make definitely is NEVER SIGN ON WITH A SCHOOL BEFORE PHYSICALLY VISITING IT !!!

 

Here's what I did: I chose three schools in my area. I made appointments with each for an intro flight. Regardless of the hour at which the intro flight was scheduled, I showed up bright and early on the morning and spent the whole day there. I audited the ground school classes, I hung around with the other students and so on and so forth (without making a nuisance of myself mind you). This allowed me to get a good sense of the atmosphere at each school.

 

I invested three entire days to evaluate these schools before plonking down my 50k. I feel I made the right choice given my circumstances.

 

General recommendations I can make:

 

If you can, train in the mountains. I couldn't afford to move out west for my training, but that was my personal situation at the time. If I could have, I would have.

 

Aircraft type isn't as important as aircraft quantity. It sucks when your school's only helicopter goes t!ts up for two weeks during your training. Make sure there are enough aircraft to go 'round as well as instructors to put in them. That was a problem for a short period of time at my school, where everyone was fighting for time on machines.

 

Good luck !

[Hazy]

It's funny. I've been on these forums for about 6 years now, and these "best school" threads are always the same.

 

Personally, I think there are five principal factors involved in chosing the "right" school. All of them are equally important:

 

1) Quality of instruction (this includes individual instructors, ratios and ground school)

 

2) Training environment

 

3) Training aircraft (by this I mean which a/c are YOU most comfortable in, and how many does the school have ?)

 

4) Personal situation (Will you have to move ? Quit your day job ?)

 

5) The "vibe" (Do you feel you're in good hands with your school ? )

 

The only recommendation I can make definitely is NEVER SIGN ON WITH A SCHOOL BEFORE PHYSICALLY VISITING IT !!!

 

Here's what I did: I chose three schools in my area. I made appointments with each for an intro flight. Regardless of the hour at which the intro flight was scheduled, I showed up bright and early on the morning and spent the whole day there. I audited the ground school classes, I hung around with the other students and so on and so forth (without making a nuisance of myself mind you). This allowed me to get a good sense of the atmosphere at each school.

 

I invested three entire days to evaluate these schools before plonking down my 50k. I feel I made the right choice given my circumstances.

 

General recommendations I can make:

 

If you can, train in the mountains. I couldn't afford to move out west for my training, but that was my personal situation at the time. If I could have, I would have.

 

Aircraft type isn't as important as aircraft quantity. It sucks when your school's only helicopter goes t!ts up for two weeks during your training. Make sure there are enough aircraft to go 'round as well as instructors to put in them. That was a problem for a short period of time at my school, where everyone was fighting for time on machines.

 

Good luck !

 

......and try to get some winter ops experience.

[gwk]

And pay as little up front as possible!

[go coastal]

Very good advice Hazy. :punk:

[Hazy]

Cheers!