Question for you SSH guys

[franky17]

ok you pay your money for your 150 hours get your loan and your ready to start. How does it work money wise if you want to get your CFI, instrument, or other raitings with SSH?

[Sparker]

ok you pay your money for your 150 hours get your loan and your ready to start. How does it work money wise if you want to get your CFI, instrument, or other raitings with SSH?

 

They keep it all and you go home sad...

 

Just from what I heard, this is a place to avoid. Just read a few of the other threads on here.

 

Not trying to be rude, but I would rather be upfront about it.

 

try:

 

http://helicopterforum.verticalreference.com/helicopterfor...?showtopic=5524

http://helicopterforum.verticalreference.com/helicopterfor...?showtopic=5289

 

Also... I would be afraid of a loan where ever you go, considering CFIs don't make a ton, and never give your money to the school all at once. What if you move, or the school closes, or your wife/girlfriend gets pregnant... what if you get pregnant? just my .02

Edited March 23, 2007 by Sparker

[ChprPlt]

I'll answer this since I'm currently with SSH. My contract was for 200 flight hours. This should be enough hours to do private, commercial, instrument and CFI. I dont think they do contracts for 150 hours...

[Gerhardt]

I'm curious, how much $ do they charge for your 200 hours?

 

This is just a curiosity question, so please, any naysayers hold your thoughts for now.

[ChprPlt]

$69,000 (when I signed up) for 200 hours plus long line training and turbine transition. Most people end up cashing in the turbine transition for more hours since when you get a job flying tubines they will train you. Instrument training is done in an R44, at least at my school, and that included in the price.

Edited March 24, 2007 by ChprPlt

[Sparker]

$69,000 (when I signed up) for 200 hours plus long line training and turbine transition. Most people end up cashing in the turbine transition for more hours since when you get a job flying tubines they will train you. Instrument training is done in an R44, at least at my school, and that included in the price.

 

 

Do you pay lump sum? just curious...

[ChprPlt]

Do you pay lump sum? just curious...

 

 

Whoever you have your student loan with dispurses three equal payments to SSH. Thats the only part I dont like. They had all my $$ before it was really needed. It would have been nice if I could have controled the money. Pay them like 10K at a time or something.

[Sparker]

Whoever you have your student loan with dispurses three equal payments to SSH. Thats the only part I dont like. They had all my $$ before it was really needed. It would have been nice if I could have controled the money. Pay them like 10K at a time or something.

 

Gotcha... so for instance you sign up with Salie Mae, and they give SSH 30-35k at a time, until you use it, and then they give them more?

 

How long is it going to take you to complete training? Can you pay for part of it while you are training or is it all or nothing?

 

I know a lot of students shoot for CFI in one year or less. I have done the math and I think I can do it in two years, with hopefully no loan. Does anybody know if this is a bad idea to stretch out the training? Then when I am a CFI a year later than everybody else I won't be making $900/mo payments and eating ramen noodles. (although I will be eating Ramen while saving up for training )

 

Later.

[fry]

Gotcha... so for instance you sign up with Salie Mae, and they give SSH 30-35k at a time, until you use it, and then they give them more?

 

Not exactly. As described by another poster who said he's started SSH's program in March, "The way the billing goes is in three draws of 23,000 each. The first draw has been taken at the start of the ground school. The 2nd in may the third in August all in 07."

 

So, apparently, SSH has all of the loan proceeds within six months of the student starting ground school. And the student is accruing interest from the time the money is provided to SSH. So at the end of the first twelve months if no payments have been made, the student's loan is $75,672. And each day after that about $21.25 in interest is added to the loan amount.

 

Compound interest, "It is the greatest mathematical discovery of all time" - Einstein

[ChprPlt]

Sparker Fry is right about the $$. They do $23K dispursments and it happens pretty quick.

 

Training is basically at your own pace. Few people get done in less than a year. Typically it takes 18-24 months. I should be done right around the 24 month mark but I work full time and have a family.

 

There are some people that pay the school as they go. If you have the funds that would be the way to go. Only pay them when you need more $$ for flights. If you have any more questions let me know

[Sparker]

Sparker Fry is right about the $$. They do $23K dispursments and it happens pretty quick.

 

Training is basically at your own pace. Few people get done in less than a year. Typically it takes 18-24 months. I should be done right around the 24 month mark but I work full time and have a family.

 

There are some people that pay the school as they go. If you have the funds that would be the way to go. Only pay them when you need more $$ for flights. If you have any more questions let me know

 

That makes sense... so what attracted you to SSH, considering their rep?

[ChprPlt]

I heard their advertisement on the radio and went to their seminar. I liked the fact that their program was built for working adults. Classes were at night so I could still work full time. I actually didn’t know they had a bad reputation at the time. Honestly I didn’t really research it too much. It sounded good so I went for it and I don’t regret it at all.

[franky17]

any one know how much the average person pays after intrest?

[zemogman]

Doesn't that depend on how much time you take to pay the loan back?

 

If so...find a loan calculator online (there's lots of them) and input the interest rate and the term of the loan and you'll get a monthly payment. You can also see how much you'll pay in interest over the time of the loan. The longer you take to pay the worse it is...

 

Confirm with bank or loan organization about the "compound" interest mentioned above. Any interest against you is bad...but compound interest is deadly. It is basically today's interest charged upon yesterday's interest charged upon yesterday....etc.

 

Hope it goes well with SSH...I opted out of their program before starting...because of the overwhelming negative press...but I came close to jumping in. Now I'm training with Pelican Flight Training Center in Pembroke Pines, FL. I just started ground school on Friday and did an hour in the simulator on Sat.

 

Stay excited...but buyer beware.

 

Remember you are the customer...make sure they treat you that way!!!

 

Z

[fry]

any one know how much the average person pays after intrest?

 

$69,900 deferred for 12 months at 11.25% means the student has a loan of $77,763 when they finish training and start making payments. Monthly payments will be $896 for 15 years. Total principal and interest; $161,299.

[franky17]

$69,900 deferred for 12 months at 11.25% means the student has a loan of $77,763 when they finish training and start making payments. Monthly payments will be $896 for 15 years. Total principal and interest; $161,299.

OUCH!

[brushfire21]

$69,900 deferred for 12 months at 11.25% means the student has a loan of $77,763 when they finish training and start making payments. Monthly payments will be $896 for 15 years. Total principal and interest; $161,299.

 

Holy sh*t Batman

[ADRidge]

yeah... buy a house. It'll feel more worthwhile.

 

In all seriousness though, buyer beware. It's on you to do the research. The one positive thing I can say about SSH is that they get the news out there that civies can fly for a living too. Until I heard their radio ad in Dallas last July, I was under the impression that only military guys flew for a living. They were the ones that got me doing research, and ultimately they were the ones that pushed me to look at other schools.

 

SSH is their own worst enemy, if only you do the research.

[Tenacious T]

$69,900 deferred for 12 months at 11.25% means the student has a loan of $77,763 when they finish training and start making payments. Monthly payments will be $896 for 15 years. Total principal and interest; $161,299.

 

Assuming you don't refinance or pay it off sooner. Or obviously if you stretched it out to 20 years it would be more. The total amount you pay depends solely on your loan repayment strategy.

[fry]

Assuming you don't refinance or pay it off sooner. Or obviously if you stretched it out to 20 years it would be more. The total amount you pay depends solely on your loan repayment strategy.

 

To "pay if off sooner" the borrower would have to have disposable income even greater than the regular $896 monthly payments. Say, for example, the borrower doubles the monthly payment...paying $1,792 a month; the loan would be paid off in a little under 5 years. But where is a newly minted CFI...or even a 1,000 hour pilot in the GOM...going to get an extra nine hundred bucks a month?

 

"Refinance"? How...this isn't a home mortgage, it's an unsecured loan? The only lender who would be willing to refinance is one who will want a higher rate.

 

"Stretch it out to 20 years"? You're right, the total will be greater. And then there's the same issue as a refinance...there are no loan programs to do that except those that will cost even more.

 

You're mistaken to imply that there is a painless alternative to the high cost involved in borrowing for flight training. There ain't...it's a lot of money.

[ChprPlt]

I'm curious for those who went to other schools the SSH. How much did you pay? I'm talking for private, instrument, commercial and CFI.

 

Luckly I have a lower interest rate then what Fry is using in his example. Also I plan on selling my house and probably moving to the Gulf Coast once I have my 1000 hours. Then the student loan will be paid off.

[Tenacious T]

You're mistaken to imply that there is a painless alternative to the high cost involved in borrowing for flight training. There ain't...it's a lot of money.

 

Fry, you assume too much, I did not imply nor do I consider there to be anything "painless" about taking out a loan of that size. As usual you also use an extreme example to counter my point, ie: doubling the monthly payment. Paying as much as $200 extra a month on principal would significantly decrease the amount of interest paid. As far as there being no options to refinance, what about home equity loans, splitting amounts between 0% interest balance transfer offers from credit card companies, or dividing the main loan between other smaller, better interest loans. These are just a few off the cuff examples, I am not a loan counselor.

 

To everyone else: I am not for or against taking out loans of this size, everyone's situation is unique and you are probably adults who can make their own decisions. I merely wanted to present a somewhat less black and white view of the situation then our friend Fry. One point we seem to agree on is that it is a lot of money, what we disagree on is that only a fool would finance his dreams in this way. Maybe his dream is to be debt free.

[dlo22]

i think fry was just saying that there is no way to refinance your current loan, except for the worst. it is an unsecured loan and you cannot re fincance that loan to help yourself out. sure you can always use other means, like home equity lines and putting some of the balance on a cc for lower interest rates, but if this was the case, then why would the guy be going with sallie mae in the first place. might as well just talk a line of credit out on your house...

[ChprPlt]

you cant defer payments on a home equity loan thats why you would want to go with a student loan.

[fry]

Paying as much as $200 extra a month on principal would significantly decrease the amount of interest paid.

 

Let's do the math. Two hundred extra a month would pay off the loan in a little under ten years at a total cost of $128,560. Still a big number.

 

Paying as much as $200 extra a month on principal would significantly decrease the amount of interest paid.

 

Let's do the math. Two hundred extra a month would pay off the loan in a little under ten years at a total cost of $128,560. Still a big number.