tiercel Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 I am considering resuming my flight training this summer and getting my instrument and CFII ratings. My options are training in NW Montana about 2.5 hrs away, or going to Leading Edge Aviation in Bend which is at least 10 hrs away but may have more potential for instructor jobs. Any thoughts about the flight school in Bend and the helicopter industry there? I guess I prefer the less urban locations vs cities like Portland/Hillsboro and Seattle. I have concerns about building time as a flight instructor in NW MT. Quote
FlorIdaho Chris Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 I am considering resuming my flight training this summer and getting my instrument and CFII ratings. My options are training in NW Montana about 2.5 hrs away, or going to Leading Edge Aviation in Bend which is at least 10 hrs away but may have more potential for instructor jobs. Any thoughts about the flight school in Bend and the helicopter industry there? I guess I prefer the less urban locations vs cities like Portland/Hillsboro and Seattle. I have concerns about building time as a flight instructor in NW MT. I did my R44 checkout with Leading Edge. They are a busy flight school and a bunch of great guys. They sure get my thumbs up recommendation. Bend is also a beautiful place to fly. The weather is good most of the time. Lots of activity at the school. Additionally they have a big rebuild shop. I think their rebuild volume is second only to the factory. Interesting to see the mechanical side of helicopters as well. A side benefit is there is a lower probability of being grounded because your rental ship is grounded waiting for parts or maintenance. Just curious, where are you considering training in NW MT? Quote
choppedair Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 I also did an R44 checkout with them a couple years ago. Generally seemed like pretty decent group of guys there. They had 3 helicopters when I visited them, and crashed 1 of them during company training.The instructor I flew with is gone, and I'm not sure who is there now so I can't comment on their instructors. They do have a pretty nice maintenance shop and I hear they are pretty good about allowing students and CFI's to watch maintenance work.Bend is a nice area. You would get lots of high density altitude experience, lots of high mountains nearby. Quote
tiercel Posted February 12, 2009 Author Posted February 12, 2009 Just curious, where are you considering training in NW MT? I live in Missoula so the closest flight school that does instrument ratings is Red Eagle Aviation in Kalispell, about 2.5 hrs north. I've heard good things about them and they operate 300CBi's, but I worry that they wouldn't have as many students as a location like Bend would, which is an attractive location that is not that far from Portland. However, Red Eagle Aviation was awarded the contract with Flathead Valley Community College to train students in their Aviation associates degree program, so this may change. Quote
choppedair Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 I live in Missoula so the closest flight school that does instrument ratings is Red Eagle Aviation in Kalispell, about 2.5 hrs north. I've heard good things about them and they operate 300CBi's, but I worry that they wouldn't have as many students as a location like Bend would, which is an attractive location that is not that far from Portland. However, Red Eagle Aviation was awarded the contract with Flathead Valley Community College to train students in their Aviation associates degree program, so this may change. I believe leading edge has a deal with Central Oregon Community College for an associates degree also.There is a noteworthy argument about training in 300 vs Robinson helicopters. In order to instruct in a Robinson, you need a certain amount of flight training IN Robinson helicopters. If you do all of your training in a 300, you cannot legally instruct in a Robinson of any sort. This really cuts down your possibility of jobs. Plus if you start in the 300, the robinson will seem much more difficult to transition into. The bend area does not have a lot of instrument approaches, but you are not far from the Portland area, surrounded by airports with instrument approaches. Plus you are not too far from the coast either! Quote
heli.pilot Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 I believe leading edge has a deal with Central Oregon Community College for an associates degree also.There is a noteworthy argument about training in 300 vs Robinson helicopters. In order to instruct in a Robinson, you need a certain amount of flight training IN Robinson helicopters. If you do all of your training in a 300, you cannot legally instruct in a Robinson of any sort. This really cuts down your possibility of jobs. Plus if you start in the 300, the robinson will seem much more difficult to transition into. The bend area does not have a lot of instrument approaches, but you are not far from the Portland area, surrounded by airports with instrument approaches. Plus you are not too far from the coast either! SFAR 73 requires (among other things) a CFI to have 200 TT in helicopters, 50 in Robinson's, to instruct in a Robinson. So you could certainly do a huge chunk of your time in 300's and still be able to instruct in Robbie's. You just couldn't do ALL your time in 300's if you intended to instruct in Robbie's. FAR 61.195 (f) says:"A flight instructor may not give training required for the issuance of a certificate or rating in a multiengine airplane, a helicopter, or a powered-lift unless that flight instructor has at least 5 flight hours of pilot-in-command time in the specific make and model of multiengine airplane, helicopter, or powered-lift, as appropriate." So for that matter, if you did ALL your time in Robbies you wouldn't be able to instruct in 300's either. Quote
CFIAP5544 Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 TOP NOTCH FLIGHT SCHOOL!! Their facilities are IMPRESSIVE! There Maintenance is IMPECIBLE! GOOD SCHOOL! The helicopters are AWESOME!!!! Quote
tiercel Posted February 15, 2009 Author Posted February 15, 2009 Not to worry. I've already met the SFAR requirements and been to Robby School, though not recently. I also have about 40 hrs in 300CB's. It's been almost 7 years since I've done any serious flying, so I will need a lot of retraining as well as instrument time. Thanks for the good info! Quote
Witch Posted February 15, 2009 Posted February 15, 2009 I noticed that most of the tail numbers ended with SH. I didn't stay long, but chatted with a mechanic briefly. Really nice FBO. Later Quote
mrjibbs Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 I trained and now am a CFII at LEA so if you would like a first hand review let me know. We do have a degree program with COCC and yes lots of our helicopters have SH tail number. All that means is we picked up lots of the pieces left behind by you know who and it has done nothing but good things for our school. We are also an extremely busy commercial operator putting 4 turbines to lots of work doing christmas trees, USFS contracts, seismic jobs and much more. And to top it all of we opened a satellite location in the Willamette Valley to expand our flight school and commercial operations so the opportunites continue to grow. If your headed down to HAI next week, stop by our booth. We flew down a 22 & 44 that just got finished in our overhaul shop. Let me know if you have any other questions!! 1 Quote
Witch Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 All that means is we picked up lots of the pieces left behind by you know who and it has done nothing but good things for our school..... And to top it all of we opened a satellite location in the Willamette Valley to expand our flight school and commercial operations so the opportunites continue to grow.Did you also happen to aquire their building and hangar too? At KSLE I mean. I may need to stop in one day this summer, and say hi to Aaron too. Later Quote
tiercel Posted February 19, 2009 Author Posted February 19, 2009 I trained and now am a CFII at LEA so if you would like a first hand review let me know. We do have a degree program with COCC and yes lots of our helicopters have SH tail number. All that means is we picked up lots of the pieces left behind by you know who and it has done nothing but good things for our school. We are also an extremely busy commercial operator putting 4 turbines to lots of work doing christmas trees, USFS contracts, seismic jobs and much more. And to top it all of we opened a satellite location in the Willamette Valley to expand our flight school and commercial operations so the opportunites continue to grow. If your headed down to HAI next week, stop by our booth. We flew down a 22 & 44 that just got finished in our overhaul shop. Let me know if you have any other questions!!Do you have an R22 instrument trainer, too, or just the R44? I sent you a PM. Quote
mrjibbs Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 We did not aquire their hangar, it is far to large and expensive and it still has the SSH logo on it btu we got ourselves a nice sized hangar at the central ramp just south of the tower. Who is the "Aaron" you speak of? We do not have a R22 IFR trainer. We do have a Fly-It sim out in Bend and in Salem we use an R44 Astro for the initial IFR training. Its $300 an hour so its cheaper then the Raven II's and it still builds R44 time so its a nice alternative. Quote
mrjibbs Posted February 27, 2009 Posted February 27, 2009 this should help paint the picture! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9oRhMLA8Zk Quote
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