Training in Sacramento

sactown77 · February 8, 2008

There's a small school I rent from in Auburn. Look up flysierravista.com The owner is a great guy, and the R-22 is well maintained. It's worth checking out.

THE_COYOTE · February 8, 2008

Do not fly in south Lake! I know the guy and worked with him, please don't even think about it! Try blue sky aviation in Tulare, included housing, DPE on site, honest and fair owner, and a 300 hour program. Good luck. P.M. me if you have any questions.

claudio · February 10, 2008

Do not fly in south Lake! I know the guy and worked with him, please don't even think about it! Try blue sky aviation in Tulare, included housing, DPE on site, honest and fair owner, and a 300 hour program. Good luck. P.M. me if you have any questions.

dear Wyley,

may be you have forgotten the sad times when you were a rookie, a mediocre student and a underdeveloped CFI,

and were in constant search of tutoring, coaching and help in general.

You got it from me and the DPE you mentioned in your super smart comment.

It blows me off the thought that someone like you can cause so much damage to a reputable school, and for absolutely no reason.

Would be very interesting to see if you got the guts and give me a call, and even better if you would explain such an unforgivable behavior.

I can still boast an average part 141 private check ride at 35 hrs. AND 100% pass rate at first attempt as of today.

Looking forward to hear from you,

cheers

THE_COYOTE · February 10, 2008

Dear Cladio,

Thank you for replying. If you remember correctly I took over many of your students. You may be right about me being less than perfect, but you sure made me look good. As I remember I never asked for your help, but it was shoved down my throat every chance you got. Lets see if I can remember what happened to the school that you were partners in...... Students screwed over, bad reputation? I don't want to see anyone get screwed over like that again. I will admit that your knowledge of many ground subjects was excellent, but you did do any favors for your students when you flew with them. Thank you for showing an young instructor how not to be. This forum is for information to help the industry, so I will not be replying to any more personal attacks Cladio. Good luck and fly safe. And yes a phone call would be too scary for me.

claudio · February 10, 2008

Dear Cladio,

Thank you for replying. If you remember correctly I took over many of your students. You may be right about me being less than perfect, but you sure made me look good. As I remember I never asked for your help, but it was shoved down my throat every chance you got. Lets see if I can remember what happened to the school that you were partners in...... Students screwed over, bad reputation? I don't want to see anyone get screwed over like that again. I will admit that your knowledge of many ground subjects was excellent, but you did do any favors for your students when you flew with them. Thank you for showing an young instructor how not to be. This forum is for information to help the industry, so I will not be replying to any more personal attacks Cladio. Good luck and fly safe. And yes a phone call would be too scary for me.

Yes Wyley,

may be you should really grow some cojones, and get the fact straight about the school I was never partners with.

It went down all on its own, as you can certainly read from other students comments. The guy that sinked the school

still owes many thousands of dollars to students, fbos' mechanics and especially me. You are more than welcome to come by

when you want to learn how to be a great CFI and not flunk check rides like you did...

Good luck to you on your next 25 years as a second in command.

Dano · February 11, 2008

check out www.flysierravista.com out of Auburn, CA. They just added an R22 to the fleet a while back. The CFI (John) is a good guy.

Walt · March 2, 2008

Wiley,

I'm surprised you would make such comments. I was one of Claudio's students when both you and he were instructing at the same company. You and I talked many times. As a student who earned his license with the help of Claudio's I can't imagine a better instructor. He is a grumpy guss most the time and comes off hard but I remember firsthand how Claudio helped you. Claudio helped you and was not getting paid for that time. He did it because he wanted you to be a great CFI and keep your students safe.

I've flown with Claudio in Fresno, Placerville and Tahoe. The Placerville school was a mess. The primary owner there is not a good person. I'm not going to take it any further than that. But as far as Claudio is concerned, he was a victim just as much if not more than the students they had. I would not hold this against Claudio. I'd have to commend Claudio for taking the initiative to start a new company on his own without any partners or support. He has made it work and still had time to help others.

Since I earned my license I've flown with a dozen other CFI's across the nation and they have all made comment to the quality of my flight skills and the procedures I follow instinctively. I'd like to take all the credit for that but I can't. I own most if not all of it to the quality training provided by Claudio.

I've even flown with some of Claudio's students who are now CFI's or even beyond. It's funny because we all recognize each other not because we have met, but because we all fly the same. One of them made the comment to me "you can tell you were trained by Claudio". This was a huge compliment as the CFI was clearly relaxed knowing I was flying the ship the way they would.

I would HIGHLY recommend Claudio as an instructor to anyone!

His R44 is awesome and the view when flying in Tahoe is amazing. I did my R44 transition and really enjoyed the training. It was like going through basic training all over again. He pointed out my mistakes and once again helped make me a better pilot.

Wiley, I hope you can forgive Claudio for being so hard on you in the old days. I remember he could be an ass sometimes but he clearly only wanted to help you not hurt you.

Good luck you two! I hope you both work it out!

adam32 · March 16, 2008

All this talk about Gunner Aviation got me doing some research. I'm pretty sure they used to be Rancho Rotors and flew yellow 47's. They wrecked both of them and also a Hiller. I guess since they couldn't get approved as a 141 school as Rancho they renamed it Gunner Aviation?? Someone please correct me if I'm wrong...hopefully someone with Gunner will reply.

Just checked, Gunner and Rancho also have the same address.

Edited March 16, 2008 by adam32

Sundowner · March 17, 2008

Sorry, but is that 300USD somewhat a norm in the US, per hour in two-seater ?

I just send questions about prices and equipment to all 5 (!) flight schools offering PPL(H) training here in Poland... 2 reply, one with a phone number (no time for that right now), and second with a nice description and a price tag... 850USD per hour - but on an R44 (no other helo there). If those prices won't go down I'll have to visit the States to get my license... wonder how it is in Canada (no Visa needed there).

NorCalHeliKid · March 18, 2008

All good points, and I totally agree, but my main point was the:

"P.S. its a small world, so all of the Nor-Cal flight schools talk to each other... keep that in mind."

I guess I missed this back when. Let me clarify what I meant. If you visit/ call a flight school in Fresno, for example and then you visit another school or two close bye, be careful what you do or say and how you come off when meeting and conversing with CFI's, students, recruiters and the like...word will get around very fast. I tell this story because I have seen it happen and you dont want to have a bad rep in this biz. Thanks for making me clear that up BFG!

adas191 · March 18, 2008

sorry if its off the subject but since this is about nor cal schools anyone have any experience with American Helicopters in Fresno.

treasure.man.1 · March 27, 2008

sorry if its off the subject but since this is about nor cal schools anyone have any experience with American Helicopters in Fresno.

This was the last post to that siteby rossloudon:

This school is the greatest. I just received a private helicopter add on at this school. I submitted a proposed schedule a couple of months ago that was very aggressive. I proposed to complete my 40 hours of training in 12 days spread over 4 trips to the area. This was important to me because of the travel time and expense to get to the school from Reno, NV. They accommodated my proposed schedule with no exceptions. They treated me like family. They gave me rides to my hotel and picked me up each morning. They took me to lunch and dinner and an occasional party or BBQ. They allowed me to park my experimental Pitts Special airplane in their hangar because it has no tie downs and put one of their expensive twin aircraft outside on the ramp. The owner and all of the instructors are extremely nice, competent and accommodating. If you would like to mix in more than one instructor to experience differences in styles and techniques, they are happy to do that for you. They will not just teach to the test requirements but will take you well beyond to more complex levels that will challenge you and make you a better pilot. You will learn every aspect of the mechanics of the helicopter as any helicopter pilot should. There are no hidden fees for books and no extra costs for ground school. They have plenty of helicopters and they are all well maintained. If anything is not 100% safe, they fix it immediately. It is a very friendly and enjoyable place to be and they let you set your own pace to make sure you get the most out of your time. After talking to nearly every helicopter school in the west, this is the only one that even considered working with my schedule. Now I can't picture going anyplace else. No matter what your training needs and objectives are, this is the only school you should be looking at. These guys will make it a fun and educational experience beyond anything you can imagine.

BOATFIXERGUY · March 27, 2008

treasure.man,

Glad you had a good experience! You are in the majority of people that have been to American in Fresno. Seems like they have a really good operation going down there!