An SSH Student Finally Speaks

[lv@1stflite]

You Helped Me!!!! I've made my decision NOT to sign with them. Thanks for sharing Clarity. I put up a new post asking for suggestions on alternatives. If it's any consolation, I got promised the world by an Aeronautics school in the mid '80's..... no names but they were the only one in Tulsa..... I signed and ended up with a useless, partial education and $30,000 debt...... I was close to going in to SSH, but, after reading everything that actual pilots and students have to say about them,..... Anyway, Thanks again Clarity, it took some courage to put that out there!

[toad]

aright man, I guess I’m an idiot for trying to speak out and help other people,, I think your totally misinterpreting the intention of this post and attacking my personal judgment and intelligence for doing something against my better judgment. Your a piece of sh*t dude, seriously I’m trying to help others that would indebt themselves thousands of dollars to a sheisty endeavor, and instead of being applauded, I have you trying to blast me with your illogical reasoning. If you’re ever in Tampa FL message me and I’ll be glad to meet you and then you can get your mouth broken as you try to explain to me why I’m such an idiot.

 

Good on ya clarity!!!! Even though I made my decision not to go with SSH before your post, it was post like this that solidified my decision. Probably just like all the others that are not pilots yet but dream of the day we will fly (legaly lol) we are prone to go to great lengths to make our dream a reality. Lets face it, paying for training is comparable to other college degrees, but for us that are financialy challenged(lol) it still is a big nut to crack. So thank you once again for sharing your situation.

 

 

TOAD

[dogdaddy]

LISTEN, ALL OF YOU! We are all pilots or student pilots. This is supposed to be a SUPPORT group. "clarity" chose to post his experience for the purpose of warning others. Why are you saying, essentially, "Ha ha you deserved it"? Don't you think he already feels angry and perhaps ashamed? He could have simply not posted and gone on with his life. But he chose to come back here and post in order to hopefully save someone else from making the same mistake he has already admitted to making.

 

Do you have children? Have you warned them not to play in the street? What if the child does this anyway and suffers harm? What if the child playing in the street gets hit by a car? Do you attend to his medical needs or do you tell him he's disobedient and "that's what you get for not listening to me!"?

 

What about when we hear of crashes? Do we say, "Well that pilot must have been a dummy; he should have known better!"? Or are we saddened, and do we try to learn from their mistakes?

 

ANYONE can make a mistake. Anyone can be conned and ripped off. But it takes a MAN to admit it publicly.

[clay]

it was a dumb mistake . im done with this thread. its gotten way off topic

Edited August 29, 2007 by clay

[rookie chopper]

GROUP HUG

 

 

 

GROUP HUG! You said it. I am in the early stages of flying and I have been reading all the helpful information this site gives. Thanks to Clarity for sharing. Clay has a point as well. With everyone here we need to stick together. Dogdaddy (can't type your name without laughing) Great point! This is a support group for all of us. Nice to see everyone has an opinion and everyone can move through it together. Now lets get a beer and move on.

 

GROUP HUG! Too Funny!

 

Rookie

[doanut99]

the MODS need to lock this one up.....

[clay]

LOCK IT UP!!!! (reminds me of wedding crashers)

[ADRidge]

As in everything... caveat emptor.

 

Nuff said. Rough deal with the 8 grand, man. I'm sorry to hear that. They almost got me initially, but this place actually saved me from making the same mistake.

[KMWK]

I'm with the FAA and I'm here to help you.....................Now gimme a hug!

[Copterpilot213]

I think it's good that you shared your story.

 

Any potential helicopter student or anyone looking to invest such a large amount of money should research everything about any school and read contracts carefully and do whatever they can to make sure they're making the right decision for their needs and situation. Unless they're filthy rich of course.

[puravida]

I'm gonna be a little juvenile

 

IBTL (in before the lock)

 

...you should here the financial "advisor's" at the corporate level. They just basically don't care. I had a conversation with one when they moved that department to the new building. One girl just basically laughed that a guy with bad credit went the distance and pulled a loan through them which i calculated out to be over 200k in the end.

 

Its a business. If you return items in my company there is a 20% restocking fee.

 

Really any contract is worth paying a lawyer 2 hours to make sure your not going to get hosed. Because then they are liable =p

[Marc D]

Isn't there a contract to sign? Didn't you ask "what if I change my mind half way through"? Was this information not available before you started?

I'm serious here. Was none of this information made available beforehand? If you "researched it" didn't you even ask them, "what if I want out because I decide I don't like flying?" Didn't you ask what the "terms" of the loan were. Heck, even Verizon has a long term contract! If you want out, it will cost you $175 bucks, period. No arguments, it's in the contract.

Remember, the borrower is servant to the Lender. If you 'ain't got no money' and you come and say teach me to fly and pay for it, "I'll pay you back I promise", well, they OWN you.

 

I mean this seriously, not to insult, but to follow up on the original post. To the next person to enroll at a flight school. DO YOUR RESEARCH. NOTHING IS FOR FREE! And nobody is going to loan you money without the opportunity to make money.

 

Marc D.

[clay]

Isn't there a contract to sign? Didn't you ask "what if I change my mind half way through"? Was this information not available before you started?

I'm serious here. Was none of this information made available beforehand? If you "researched it" didn't you even ask them, "what if I want out because I decide I don't like flying?" Didn't you ask what the "terms" of the loan were. Heck, even Verizon has a long term contract! If you want out, it will cost you $175 bucks, period. No arguments, it's in the contract.

Remember, the borrower is servant to the Lender. If you 'ain't got no money' and you come and say teach me to fly and pay for it, "I'll pay you back I promise", well, they OWN you.

 

I mean this seriously, not to insult, but to follow up on the original post. To the next person to enroll at a flight school. DO YOUR RESEARCH. NOTHING IS FOR FREE! And nobody is going to loan you money without the opportunity to make money.

 

Marc D.

 

 

be careful Marc D. of what you say.. if you push him to far or point out his mistake, he'll beat you up when you go to Florida. I learned to stop talking about it. .

[KMWK]

If you’re ever in Tampa FL message me and I’ll be glad to meet you and then you can get your mouth broken as you try to explain to me why I’m such an idiot.

 

 

WOW..................that's what the FAA does to people?..................I'm goin to truck drivin school. Anyone got a CB radio for sale?

 

[wannabe heli pilot]

WOW..................that's what the FAA does to people?..................I'm goin to truck drivin school. Anyone got a CB radio for sale?

 

Careful now, ol' boy is golden gloves ya know. I've really have no place to say anything,but... We all learn. Clarity, what did the 150 hour newbie not teach correctly? 1700 students 500 jobs 1 company...... Work harder than your fellow student or try another school? Congratulations on the new job though.

[clarity]

yo,what is with the pointing out of someone else's obvious mistake? don't you think an 8 grand bite get's that point across much better than comments from strangers? I am fully aware of what happened with my situation, and the mistakes that i made, thanks for the "constructive criticism" to put it lightly, but i'm all set with that. I didn't come on here to get questioned and bombarded with " why did you do this? and "man, what were you thinkin?" No,,,The point of this was to illustrate a scenario, FIRST HAND, oh how a particular school operates, and this could happen to ANYBODY... you join, and have every intention of finishing (like i did), but then god forbid, a loss of a loved one, a medical condition, your wife land a six figure job in another state..... WHATEVER....something happens, life changes. So this story, my story, is to re-emphasize what a couple members here have soo kindly pointed out... don't sign a contract.

 

 

I didn't come here looking for sympathy, i'm a big boy, but i sure as hell didn't come here looking to be of some great amusment to strangers in Houston Texas. or anyone else for that matter..

 

all that said,, i am sure that all this will definitly be of some great assistance to other would be students, and that was the original intention, soo, mission accomplished i guess.

 

 

good luck

[shuvelhead]

I'm sorry to say it, but you are a moron. After all the bad things you heard about SSH, you still went and signed up. I have no simpathy for you. When are you people gonna wake up? Stupid, stupid, stupid!

[nicepants]

[another SSH story]

 

I'm sorry to hear that you are now in the unfortunate situation that you're in. Whether you got yourself into it or not, you're stuck there and that's no fun. I'm not sure what state (geographic) your contract is in, and I am not a lawyer, but if you could find a lawyer to take the case, he or she might be able to get your money back, but you'd end up spending a good percentage of it on legal fees.

 

I'd say, if you got an offer for a job that you really want, that will pay for all of your training....that job is worth way more than the $8k you'd lose walking out of SSH. I know it's gonna sting, but if you look at the $200,000 or so after interest that you'd spend to get your training at SSH vs the paid training, it would be WELL worth it to walk away from the $8000. That would be much better than finishing the training, ending up with $200k in debt, and having no way to pay it back. (it would cost a lot more than $8,000 at that point)

 

(I didn't come up with the $200k number, I think I saw someone else mention that...so substitute in the correct number if that's wrong)

 

I'm currently waiting for a supermodel to come by & say she wants me to be her personal helicopter pilot and cover the rest of my training. Until that happens, I'm doing my training bit-by-bit. Buying R22 by the 10-hour-block, and instruction in blocks of 3. At least this way I'm not digging myself into debt with the hopes that I'll be able to get myself back out. If anything happens that forces me to walk away from my training, at most I'm out a few rented hours in the robbie.

[DeezNutz]

Your lucky to make 10-15 dollars per flight hour anywhere else, when SSH pays flight, ground, and pre and post instruction. If you show motivation to be a CFI, and willing to work hard, I can assure you there is a CFI, and many others behind him, at your location willing to work hard for you.

 

I don't know where you are getting your averages... but my company pays their instructors $20 per hour to start, with raises and bonuses, for flight and ground and some pre-post when warranted.

 

I see you are in Oakland... does SSH have a school there? Are you a current student with SSH?

 

Its been my experience with ex SSH students and CFIs that the average guy that acutally makes it to CFI with them takes 2 years to get there. My first two CFIIs took about 10 months...

 

So in the 2 years you are connected to the SSH Kool-aid IV there in CA... everyone who went to a reputable place got done, got 1000+ hours and is working somewhere as a "REAL" pilot... not some blood sucking instructor who is willing to overlook the exceptional moral and ethical depravtiy that SSH is unleashing into our small community, taking advantage of the dreams of other human beings and their trust in someone who is supposed to be a mentor.

 

there is no word in the english language that can describe how sickening this situation is to me...

 

D

[DeezNutz]

When you sign up, Silver State is not only paying for supplies like books that will be given to you right away up front, but they are taking your word that you will fill a spot in a ground class, and fill a spot for a CFI.

 

I will address this and then I am out of this thread... its been done enough already.

 

According to recent reports on many forums... SSH gets all the cash (around $70,000) up front once the contract is signed and approved, and 10% becomes non-refundable per month.

 

SSH is not fronting the student anything... its the other way around... sounds to me like you are the ignorant one who either did not read/understand the contract, or you are choosing to ignore a mistake that you made as well... either way, your immediate attack on someone who is a new-comer to this industry does not look good... and if you maintain your current level of professionalism it will not help you get into the stable and better paying jobs in this industry... in fact it is detrimental to the industry on the whole.

 

Good luck Mr. UnderTheHood, seriously... I wish no-one any harm in this SSH debacle...

 

D

[Goldy]

SSH reminds me of a song...The Eagles...Hotel California..."You can check in any time you like but you can never leave". !!

Edited September 1, 2007 by Goldy

[NOETIME]

I knew full well they're reputation, and what I was getting myself into, and I can't explain it, but for some reason, I really did have some ominous feeling about going thru with it.

 

 

Hey Man,

It's unfortunate that you had to learn a hard lesson like that but the positive side of it is that you now know a bit more about using your own intuition! People can tell you anything but if you use your intuition and do some reasearch you can save yourself alot of headache. You've just got to learn how to trust it. Anyway, I hope everything works out for ya! Peace

 

P.S. It's ok to be upset with yourself for screwing up and wanting to do better but when your done kicking your own a**, make sure you laugh at yourself! After that, it won't matter too much what others think.

 

 

My .02

[clarity]

Hey Man,

It's unfortunate that you had to learn a hard lesson like that but the positive side of it is that you now know a bit more about using your own intuition! People can tell you anything but if you use your intuition and do some reasearch you can save yourself alot of headache. You've just got to learn how to trust it. Anyway, I hope everything works out for ya! Peace

 

P.S. It's ok to be upset with yourself for screwing up and wanting to do better but when your done kicking your own a**, make sure you laugh at yourself! After that, it won't matter too much what others think.

My .02

 

 

well said, thank you.

[clarity]

I'm sorry to say it, but you are a moron. After all the bad things you heard about SSH, you still went and signed up. I have no simpathy for you. When are you people gonna wake up? Stupid, stupid, stupid!

 

 

my previous message to "clay" totally stands with you....

 

 

email- clarity4@gmail.com

 

aol sn- orionsm101

[clarity]

your immediate attack on someone who is a new-comer to this industry does not look good... and if you maintain your current level of professionalism it will not help you get into the stable and better paying jobs in this industry... in fact it is detrimental to the industry on the whole.

 

Good luck Mr. UnderTheHood, seriously... I wish no-one any harm in this SSH debacle.

 

 

 

 

 

=====thank god i'm not the only one noticing things=======

Edited September 2, 2007 by clarity