michael88997 Posted February 16, 2010 Report Share Posted February 16, 2010 hey new to the forum my name is michael... anyway i am a senior at UNT graduating this december with a finance degree, my deam my whole life has been to fly helicopters and i plan to do that once i finish my degree. my main question is what is a good school in dallas, i took my initial flight to see if i wanted to do it or not at all american helicopters in denton and really liked the guy and he let me fly for about 40min and hover for 5 min doing 180 degree and 360 tail spins which was alot of fun... basically i would like to go to a school where i can train as fast as possible and be able to turn around and teach students to build up hours to become commercial... I will most likely have most of the money to do flight school or I might get regular loans to pay it off but money isn't my main concern it is getting into a good school... thanks for any input or help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r22butters Posted February 16, 2010 Report Share Posted February 16, 2010 You want what everyone else wants, a job after training. Even if you find a school that will automatically hire you after training, that doesn't mean there will be enough students to go around. I have met a few CFis in that situation, and since you will only be paid on the hobbs or while teaching ground, no students means you are basically unemployed. Find a job using your degree, then take your time training. The industry is overflowing with Cfis looking for work, so its going to take a long time to become commercially employable. As for good schools in your area, know this, its not the school, its the instructor. Find an instructor you "click" with, and who's teaching style works for you. The other thing you have to know is, never pay up front! You never know how long that school is going to be around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apiaguy Posted February 16, 2010 Report Share Posted February 16, 2010 Hi Michael,I graduated from UNT with my bachelor back in 2000. If you're from the area, stay there and utilize things like parents. All American or Longhorn are both fine schools. Absolutely no reason to go further south to any of the other schools. Have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADRidge Posted February 17, 2010 Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 It couldn't hurt to look at all the schools in the area. Obviously you've got All-American and Longhorn up at KDTO, but you've also got Sky helicopters down in Garland. They're a pretty good operation as far as I can tell. I've been flying with em for a few weeks, just building time and knocking the rust off. As you look more into flight training, you'll discover two schools of thought on the matter... those who like the Robinson helicopters and those who do not. All-American and Longhorn, far as I know, are in the "do not" school of thought. Sky is definitely in the "Robbie" crowd. Getting time in both will definitely help your career as far as versatility goes. Another option might be Epic Helicopters in Ft Worth, although I tried calling them a few weeks ago. Got the voicemail, and told them I wanted to give em a few thousand dollars worth of business. They never returned my call. basically, there are three really good schools here. You can't go wrong no matter what. But don't just limit yourself to Dallas unless you have to. If you want to go professional with this thing, look to the north. Go fly near mountains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yzchopper Posted February 17, 2010 Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 Michael, glad you made it here from runryder. Welcome to the world of great people but most of all great helicopter pilots. The pilots on this forum are always willing to help including myself. So if you got questions, well we may have answers and if not we can get you answers. As you can see already lots of great replys Good luck Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael88997 Posted February 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 thanks.. well im not looking for a job immediately after flight school and i see if im only flying 4.5 hours per week there should be no reason i couldn't work as well, then once i get to my cfi i still should be able to work while doing that... since i have a job i can make my own hours at ... thanks for all the info, can't wait to start flying... maybe i will have an advantage by having a bachelors, being 21, and having awesome reflexes lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r22butters Posted February 17, 2010 Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 I forgot that Sky Helicopters was in Dallas , last I heard they had 6 R44 news choppers. To get in good with them, that would be awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miloe Posted February 17, 2010 Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 You've seen/flown the 300s. Take a trip to Sky and check out the Robbies. You might as well see both sides of the training aircraft world. You've been to All American, go a little further south on the airport and check out Longhorn, you owe it to yourself to check out all the local guys before spending a ton of money. I prefer Longhorn myself but my personal opinion shouldn't be your deciding factor. Check out all three local schools and go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodoz Posted February 17, 2010 Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 basically i would like to go to a school where i can train as fast as possible and be able to turn around and teach students to build up hours to become commercial Look around on this forum and you'll see that there are many others who have trained fast and planned to turn around and teach to build time on their way to bigger and better things. And the oversupply of flight instructors and down economy has gotten in the way. Talk to schools about how they can actually get you to a career as a pilot, not just to 200 hrs, some certificates (which turn out to be pretty useless unless you can get to ~1200 hrs), and many years working a non-aviation job to pay off your loans. Also, from what I've seen, the advantage of having a college degree or time in multiple piston aircraft is marginal. Flight schools hire from within most of the time, so you're better off leaving your money with one school. Now the degree will help you when you aren't getting paid to fly, so it's good to have that as a Plan B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael88997 Posted February 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 what about training in the national guard? besides them paying for the training is there any benefit into getting a commercial job after your done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael88997 Posted February 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 so by the looks of it, out of the 3 schools, longhorn and sky have the best programs to become commercial... are the commercial programs good or is it better to just get my certification then fly to build hours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r22butters Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 Get a job in the "real world", then get your ratings, then, if you can afford it, fly to build hours while you wait for a flying job to open up. I seriously doubt any schools "program" will get you a job any time soon. Its all about being in the right place at the right time, or you have to "know" the right person. As for the National Guard. Any military flying will give you a better chance at a commercial job, since most of the entry-level ones require around 1500hrs, 300-500 in turbines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apiaguy Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 I don't think any school's "program" is any better than another... one might have a better brochure.. or outline, that's about it. Everything will depend on you, your attitude, drive, and pocketbook to make something happen in aviation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADRidge Posted February 19, 2010 Report Share Posted February 19, 2010 Everything will depend on you, your attitude, drive, and pocketbook to make something happen in aviation. This is true. Go bust your butt and meet everyone you can along the way. Make friends and maintain a good attitude. Jobs are few and far between, but this helicopter thing is still a blast. And I guess if you're not gonna fly in the mountains, Dallas is a pretty neat place to do it. See ya around the Bravo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael88997 Posted February 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2010 one more question... ok i spent some time with all three schools on the phone today and i think that i like sky the most basically because how they spoke on the phone and as well as having two helicopters to fly in... i know weight of a person affects fuel and all that but would it affect enough to be a hiring decision? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DynamicallyUnstable Posted February 19, 2010 Report Share Posted February 19, 2010 Weight is definitely going to make a difference but it's not going to crush your chances more than likely if everything else is good. If you weight a lot, you'll be limited in who you can train (based on their weight) and how much fuel the two of you can carry. An R22 is going to be a lot more sensitive to this than an R44 or a c300. I would recommend visiting each school you're considering before committing to one of them. You're looking at a major investment and making a decision based on a phone call is insane IMO. I would also recommend being as versatile as you possibly can. Go to a school that flies the R22, R44, and s300. That way you will be qualified for a lot more jobs once your training is completed. Watch the job ads, see how many of them want R22 AND R44 time. Sometimes you'll see a need for an R22 AND s300 pilot. Don't limit yourself, try to make yourself qualified for any CFI job that comes along, not only the "r22 CFI needed."Good luck. BTW, yes there is an overflow of CFI's right now but the only way that is going to get better is if more people like you step up to the plate and pursue a career in flight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael88997 Posted February 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2010 ya thats why i chose sky because of how they talked and because of they have r22, r44, s300's... also because they do alot of the news coverage in dallas as well as other things, so they seem to be the most diverse... on the weight thing i asked because when i talked to them they said i would be a excellent r22 pilot because im 5'7 130lbs ... thanks for the positive info i plan on stepping up and hopefully finishing my private this summer and instrument by the end of the year so i will be closer to being done by the time i graduate... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r22butters Posted February 19, 2010 Report Share Posted February 19, 2010 I have seen a number of employers limit the weight of their instructors to 185lbs in the R22. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael88997 Posted February 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2010 Well I got a good barrier since I got 55lbs on that rule Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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