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GI/911 100% Approved School, Anywhere, with the most benefits all around


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HI there, I am new to the forums and have gained a lot of useful information from here and thank you

 

I know this topic has been covered before but im hoping for a more up to date opinions on schools.

 

 

Few things important to me ..

 

Location Location Location, What school do you think has the best location? My girlfriend is coming with and she will be using her degree to get a job wherever that may be. (City) We really like San Diego but I have not found a school that covers 100% of my flight school out there.

 

Time to Complete, Ive heard 18 months and 24 month Programs with the same outcome. Id like to finish faster if i can.

 

Job Placement, Who will liekly help me along the way, Who is more reputible?

 

Ive looked at GuIdance Aviation in Az and Also Ocean Helicopters in West Palm..

 

 

Also I was wodnering if someone can write out a rough explanation of a typical career path for a Commerical Pilot.. and Earning Capabilities in each job..

 

 

Thanks for the info in advance, If i am missing any keys points please let me know. Im trying to make my choice carefully

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Leading Edge in Bend, Oregon. I know a lot of my former students that ended up there and they love it. It's a great school. Everything you need to know about a career path is on this site if you dig even just a tiny bit. I will sum it up.

 

Train

Teach

Tours

Work

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I will be leaving the military soon and Leading Edge Aviation in Bend, OR is one of the places that really caught my attention. I have already spoken the GI Bill liaison at the school and the aviation program manager at Central Oregon Aviation. I am also still work on speaking with Upper Limit Aviation and Southern Utah University in Cedar City, UT on information. Other than what they cover under the GI Bill, the local areas also attracted me. I love the outdoors and both places are in some nice spots. Good luck on you decision.

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Another very reputable school. I've heard nothing but great things about them. Hawaii can be an interesting place to live, but very hard to get started out there. It's an expensive place to live if you can afford it mainly because well, Hawaii is an island chain, and for the Islands to get anything out there either has to be flown in or shipped in (and thats never cheap.)

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I just visited leading edge aviation to look into their 135 ops side. The chief pilot of the flight school said it's very rare they hire outside of their flight school's top instructors. Also said they only hire from within their school for instructors. Over 130 students and 30 instructors at the moment. I was very impressed with how professional and friendly their staff is. Seems like a place that can lead into a great career.

 

Bend is a great place to live. Lots of breweries and outdoor activities.

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  • 1 month later...

Leading Edge Aviation in Bend, Oregon looks like a great school. I didnt even see it the first time I researched these schools. These forums are useful. Some of the other schools have good and bad reps from different people but Leading Edge seems to be good all around from what I can tell. I will definately give them a call. If anyone has had experience with them feel free to comment/message. Thanks in advance

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Leading Edge Aviation in Bend, Oregon looks like a great school. I didnt even see it the first time I researched these schools. These forums are useful. Some of the other schools have good and bad reps from different people but Leading Edge seems to be good all around from what I can tell. I will definately give them a call. If anyone has had experience with them feel free to comment/message. Thanks in advance

Leading Edge is a great school both in the modern flight training they offer and the association with COCC, whose aviation staff are experienced helicopter professionals and qualified FITS SBT Facilitators. The on staff DPE is an accomplished helicopter professional with experience in many non training operations.

 

I have trained 54 of their CFIs, chief pilot, dir. of trng, admissions director +

 

I should be there in the third week of April training the new and up and coming CFI/IIs to join the staff and re-currency and upgrade training for the existing staff.

 

Mike

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I am a commercial helicopter student (should begin CFI in a couple weeks) at Leading Edge and I'll echo Mikemv's assessment. I have had a phenomenal experience with LEA and with COCC, and best of all....it's an ethical program that grows pilots the right way.

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The sad part is, looks like they are getting ready to try and limit the available funds for flight training. If done, it wont altogether cancel the programs, but severly limit the rotor guys. 20k a year might get it done fixed wing, but not rotor.

Yea, I've heard something about this. The VA is looking to try and cap flight training. Doesn't surprise me at all, but I'm sure some schools are to blame with their ridiculous pricing.

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  • 1 year later...

Having done some research on this as I'm in my last year of service before I get the full 100% there's a few different routes that you can go and I'm actively watching the benefits disappear into thin air so who knows if there will be anything left in a year. Hoping the new administration revamps veterans benefits. If you choose to do the flight training without being tied to a degree program then you're limited to $12,554.54 per year to apply towards the training costs. You also need to have your Private Pilots license before you can use the funding towards higher certifications which means you pay probably $15-20,000 up front. You get no housing allowance and no book stipend. If you choose to do flight training in conjunction with a degree program they will pay you the housing allowance, a book stipend, and your costs are fully covered up to the public school in state cost of training. If you are attending a private school then $19,198.31 per year. I think that schools like Guidance Aviation, and students who bought into their propaganda due to lack of knowledge or selfishness/shortsightedness, have completely ruined the benefits for future students, at least for now.

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(first post here...new member),

 

I too am looking to pursue my helicopter training after I retire from the military and have noticed that the post 911 benies are quickly disappearing . I would rather utilize the GI bill benefits but I'm not closing off the option of paying out of pocket as I really want to pursue this career field as my next career after i retire from the Air Force in 2018. I have been researcing like crazy but cant' seem to find a whole lot of answers as to what my best options are. Its alot like ready stereo instructions at times LOL. Here is a little info about myself that may help clearify some questions:

 

- Been in the Air Force for 20 years (last November), will retire at 22 years.

- I am orginally from Louisiana and was planning on attending Guidance Aviation in Baton Rouge upon retirement but now that option is gone since GA is closing the Baton Rouge location.

- I am thinking that I would like to fly for offshore operations on the Gulf coast as we plan on moving back to Louisiana after I retire. But I'm open to other options...main goal is to have a career as a Helicopter pilot

- Thinking of finding a helicopter flight school near me to start pursuing my PPL as I see that the VA may not cover this any longer. And would like to get a jump start on flying prior to retiring.

 

Any suggestions, guidance or any info that would be helpful to me pursuing my dream of becoming a helo pilot would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

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(first post here...new member),

 

I too am looking to pursue my helicopter training after I retire from the military and have noticed that the post 911 benies are quickly disappearing . I would rather utilize the GI bill benefits but I'm not closing off the option of paying out of pocket as I really want to pursue this career field as my next career after i retire from the Air Force in 2018. I have been researcing like crazy but cant' seem to find a whole lot of answers as to what my best options are. Its alot like ready stereo instructions at times LOL. Here is a little info about myself that may help clearify some questions:

 

- Been in the Air Force for 20 years (last November), will retire at 22 years.

- I am orginally from Louisiana and was planning on attending Guidance Aviation in Baton Rouge upon retirement but now that option is gone since GA is closing the Baton Rouge location.

- I am thinking that I would like to fly for offshore operations on the Gulf coast as we plan on moving back to Louisiana after I retire. But I'm open to other options...main goal is to have a career as a Helicopter pilot

- Thinking of finding a helicopter flight school near me to start pursuing my PPL as I see that the VA may not cover this any longer. And would like to get a jump start on flying prior to retiring.

 

Any suggestions, guidance or any info that would be helpful to me pursuing my dream of becoming a helo pilot would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

There are still schools out there that will cover 100% of your ratings incl. PPL with your GI bill. I fly at Leading Edge Aviation with COCC (looks like I'm not the only one on this thread) and my PPL was covered along with my other ratings.

There is some misinformation out there that there are no schools that will cover PPL, but that's not true. Like people said above, LEA is a great school. It ticked all my boxes when I was looking. Great location, training environment, they hire from within. But also your training in the right kinda aircraft (R22s and 44s... not turbines... yikes) to get your ratings.

I would recommend looking into LEA and COCC if you want to get all your ratings at one place, and get them all covered by benefits. There are probably a few other schools that do it too, but I can't attest to how good they are. But I definitely love LEA.

Good luck!

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