dingo@ir Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 I am interviewing at silver state helicopter school of san diego tomorrow. I would like to Know if anyone has anything good to say about them. So far all i have heard is negative comments on their school and their owner Jerry airola. Is there a better way to go for someone who is going to work full time while they train? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhotoFlyer Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 Any other school would be a good way to go... Lots of people work full time and go to flight school, I did, I just finished my CFI. There are lots of schools out there, and most of them don't have nearly (if any) controversy surrounding them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frmersshstdnt Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 I am interviewing at silver state helicopter school of san diego tomorrow. I would like to Know if anyone has anything good to say about them. So far all i have heard is negative comments on their school and their owner Jerry airola. Is there a better way to go for someone who is going to work full time while they train? there are a couple heli flight schools around carlsbad you should look into as well. if you cant drive there several times a week then SSH is your only other option. but if I were you I would not let that be my determining factor because remember that you are talking about probably a couple hundred thousand dollars after interest. And dont think for one minute that you will complete your training in less than 2 years, especially if you are going to be working. SSH's marketing scheme is highly directed towards working people, but it also contributes to the biggest fraud developing from the company. SSH does this because they know working people will not be able to put the time and effort to their training compared to their ideal of a "typical" student....one who has infinitely deep pockets and does not work. In turn, when these students are not able to complete training in a prompt manner, SSH points the finger and says "your work schedule didnt allow you to fly enough". But all of us students and former students know better. We all know now that it was not because of our work schedules but it was in fact SSH's failure to plan properly for what it was getting itself into. I, however, think that this whole scheme was their plan all along. The knew working people would: A) either take a long time to complete their training thus reducing SSH's overhead and liability in the long run or these students would get fed-up with the lack of progress and quit, then SSH would (like i said) point the finger and say to the student "your schedule wasnt good enough for us" and they would take their fat contract cancellation fees and over-priced "revertted" rates (because the student quits he does not get the "special" rate anymore) or some contracts dont let you get ANY refund. so lets say you are in training for one year and get your private license...and you decide this crap is taking way too long....you are 50-70 hrs down the hole = $15000-20000 plus contract cancellation ($3000, $6000, $10000, or full remainder). And dont even think about getting a job when you are done, unless you suck really good ding-dong. They already have waaaaaay too many promises to fill as it stands. So do yourself a favor and either move to another location where there is a good honest school or stay out of the heli business. Just like hundreds of others, I am beginning to wish I had never stepped into this mess, but hopefuly my taste wll change once I do find the right school. So far all SSH has done is put a very bitter taste on many peoples perspective of the heli industry (expect for that very select few who suck really good Airola ding-dong). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShockandAwe Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 I am interviewing at silver state helicopter school of san diego tomorrow. I would like to Know if anyone has anything good to say about them. So far all i have heard is negative comments on their school and their owner Jerry airola. Is there a better way to go for someone who is going to work full time while they train? One word.......RUUUUUUNNNNNNN! I sat through Jerry's seminar with 1200 people and I have never seen so many red flags flying as I did that night. Jerry sets it up like some mass job fair "Need a job? Spend $65,000 and I'll hire you!" That's pretty much all I heard. Of course the 90 minute meeting turned out to last 2.5 hrs of nothing but Jerry telling the crowd how much money he has made in the last 5 years and not giving a damn that people were standing in the freezing open air of a hanger. He was a joke! I wouldn't buy a fricken used car from this crook. He's the kind of guy that stands in front of a mirror and draws his gun and screams "Freeze MF" at himself, you know the type. I did fill out a "Resume" which happened to be 5 pages long and 4 of those were a credit application. Being that I had great credit and could get financing I was called back for a follow up interview! Thank God I ran across this forum to save me the gas from driving to the middle of nowhere to have the "High" pressure sales I am sure I was headed for. After looking into other Flight schools I have found a fantastic one near me that is $20,000 less and they are all upfront with me. I would tell you where I am if SSH didn't have all my credit info which at this point scares the S*#T out of me because there is no telling what kind of orginized crime "Jerry" is a part of.Keep looking and don't look back, you will see Jerry's demise in the very near future....It's inevitable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huey Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 Try Civic in Carlsbad. Just get in the clique, don't let them send you on frivolous flights, and keep a wary eye on the owners' daughters' games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skiddz Posted February 3, 2006 Report Share Posted February 3, 2006 (edited) Try Civic in Carlsbad. Just get in the clique, don't let them send you on frivolous flights, and keep a wary eye on the owners' daughters' games. Frivolous flights? been there a year and have yet to be sent on anything "frivilous". haven't seen any "games" played by the owner's daughter either. There's a clique there? Not from what I've seen. A bunch of good folks, top-notch maintenance and well maintained ships. The instruction is top notch as well. I started with SSH San Diego (BIG mistake) and got my private, but left partway through SSH's <cough choke> "instrument ground school" to continue my training with Civic - Early 2005 to be precise. *STILL* haven't received all my money back and have a paper trail of lies and more lies like you wouldn't believe. The best is the voicemail I got from Chastity Maley on 9/21/2005 (a Wednesday) that PROMISES my refund check would be sent out "this Friday (That would be the 23rd of September) I didn't see a dime until mid October when they sent a $500 payment to the bank. That was followed the following week by $29,000 - Which took an attorney and several hundred dollars in long distance phone calls to make happen. Actually, the best is the e-mail I received from Jerry asking if my place of employment had anything to do with me wanting my money back! Our CEO almost slapped them with a libel suit over that one. The original amount they agreed to refund IN WRITING was $38,164.50 and was on the SIGNED final statement I sent to them in late June of 2005. Even though a half dozen of my classmates who quit and signed the EXACT same contract were only charged $200/for R22 time, I was told that was the "wholesale rate" and the rate I was going to be charged was $285/hour. I have final statements from several other students from my class and *ALL* of them show $200/hour for R22 time. To say SSH excretes bovine excrement would be an understatement. My attorney finally did get their attorney to agree to pay interest from April through October on the full refund amount, but I've yet to see a dime of that either. Looks like I'll be standing in front of a judge with my trail of BS to get my money back. If anyone wants to see copies of e-mails or hear Chastity's voice mail, drop me a line. I'd be more than happy to shoot it off to you along with original headers (So Jerry and his cronies can't tell me it was forged.) If you're with SSH, don't bother asking. Chastity, Jody and Steve all have copies already. Go ask them. Edited February 3, 2006 by skiddz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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