silver state helicopter training

[italianshady]

I recently attended a silver state seminar and thought what a great career. The training to be a pilot is 12 to 18 months, costs 70,000K for everything, and they say that in Phoenix, Arizona (which is where I am) they hire 100% of their graduates. Graduates start at 52k per year. This sounds excellent to me. However, is it too good to be true? Is there something that theyre not telling me. I just dropped out of law school cuz i knew it wasnt for me. I want to be a pilot. What would be the best route

[FUSE]

I recently attended a silver state seminar and thought what a great career. The training to be a pilot is 12 to 18 months, costs 70,000K for everything, and they say that in Phoenix, Arizona (which is where I am) they hire 100% of their graduates. Graduates start at 52k per year. This sounds excellent to me. However, is it too good to be true? Is there something that theyre not telling me. I just dropped out of law school cuz i knew it wasnt for me. I want to be a pilot. What would be the best route

 

search and read, search and read, then do some more searching and reading..... There is enough information about SSH on just this site to keep you busy for days, let alone if you google the place...

[Goldy]

I want just a lil bit of what the Italian has been smoking....

Edited October 12, 2007 by Goldy

[RotorWeed]

I want just a lil bit of what the Italian has been smoking....

 

 

...........Be careful, don't say anything negative about SSH........

[jsmith13]

search and read, search and read, then do some more searching and reading..... There is enough information about SSH on just this site to keep you busy for days, let alone if you google the place...

 

 

Me too!!

 

Also was wondering did the word "Cuz" appear on the LSAT?

Edited October 12, 2007 by jsmith13

[Helihead]

I want just a lil bit of what the Italian has been smoking....

 

Hahahaha

[RotorWeed]

I recently attended a silver state seminar and thought what a great career. The training to be a pilot is 12 to 18 months, costs 70,000K for everything, and they say that in Phoenix, Arizona (which is where I am) they hire 100% of their graduates. Graduates start at 52k per year. This sounds excellent to me. However, is it too good to be true? Is there something that theyre not telling me. I just dropped out of law school cuz i knew it wasnt for me. I want to be a pilot. What would be the best route

 

 

Here is some interesting reading.

 

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Consumer-Rights...yramid-scam.htm

[IFLY]

Here is some interesting reading.

 

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Consumer-Rights...yramid-scam.htm

 

Looks like "Falcon" didn't read the contract before he signed it and he didn't check out the school first either. The internet is full of misinformation from disgruntled people that did the same thing including this site. It's only a good deal if you plan on finishing what you start...no matter what.

 

If you are the type of person that goes to a store and buys somthing and then takes is back for a refund often (maybe after using it) then you probably shouldn't be trying to fly for a career. I would like to see these people take responsibility for their actions. If they didn't understand the contract then they should have taken it to a lawyer BEFORE signing it not after.

 

Put this investment into perspective, you will spend more money (3X+) buying a house with the same type of contract but knowing its normal to put all the money up front. Are all of you going to complain the same way and slam that company if you back out of that contract?

 

As a SSH student I have a better chance of getting hired as soon as I get my CFI and 200 hrs than most other schools. I wasn't looking for a school to learn to fly at, I was looking for a flying job.

[wannabe heli pilot]

Itialian, I would do so resaerch into what type of flying you want to do after you finish the trainning. Then I would look into the requirements to get into that job i.e. # of hours make of aircraft. Look at a few schools take a demo ride or two. I didn't look at other schools and singed up with SSH. After I singed up I was surfing the web and found numerous negative comments about the school. My heart sank thinking I possibly made a terrible decision.

However, eventhough my decision was rash I believe that the schooling I'm recieving is good. My instructor was a student at SSH just as the 7 others there. I wasn't told that everyone gets hired that could be different but I doubt it. If you research and still decide to enroll bring up any concerns at the interview process if you don't hear the answers you want choose elese where.

Edited October 13, 2007 by wannabe heli pilot

[fry]

It's only a good deal if you plan on finishing what you start...no matter what.

 

Put this investment into perspective, you will spend more money (3X+) buying a house with the same type of contract but knowing its normal to put all the money up front. Are all of you going to complain the same way and slam that company if you back out of that contract?

 

You're absolutely correct, anyone who is not unequivocally sure he will go all the way to a thousand hours and a flying career should not even start with SSH. Did SSH mention that during the seminar?

 

Don't be silly...paying SSH $7k a month is not the same as buying a house. With a house the buyer has a tangible asset he can sell. SSH is a service contract and payment for such an arrangement should be (and is everywhere else including other flight and vocational schools) paid as the service is rendered. To do otherwise is just foolishly risky.

[IFLY]

You're absolutely correct, anyone who is not unequivocally sure he will go all the way to a thousand hours and a flying career should not even start with SSH. Did SSH mention that during the seminar?

 

Don't be silly...paying SSH $7k a month is not the same as buying a house. With a house the buyer has a tangible asset he can sell. SSH is a service contract and payment for such an arrangement should be (and is everywhere else including other flight and vocational schools) paid as the service is rendered. To do otherwise is just foolishly risky.

 

What I mean is if you back out on a contract your going to get slammed no matter what the contract was for. If you sell the house then you fulfilled the contract with the seller/bank, if you change your mind and decide not to sell/buy after you have signed you will get penalized and/or sued for breach of contract.

 

That goes for a contract job after you get your 1000 hours also. Anybody have experience with a pilot backing out of a contract job?

[RHS1]

Itialian, I would do so resaerch into what type of flying you want to do after you finish the trainning. Then I would look into the requirements to get into that job i.e. # of hours make of aircraft. Look at a few schools take a demo ride or two. I didn't look at other schools and singed up with SSH. After I singed up I was surfing the web and found numerous negative comments about the school. My heart sank thinking I possibly made a terrible decision.

However, eventhough my decision was rash I believe that the schooling I'm recieving is good. My instructor was a student at SSH just as the 7 others there. I wasn't told that everyone gets hired that could be different but I doubt it. If you research and still decide to enroll bring up any concerns at the interview process if you don't hear the answers you want choose elese where.

Edited October 13, 2007 by RHS1

[RotorWeed]

Looks like "Falcon" didn't read the contract before he signed it and he didn't check out the school first either. The internet is full of misinformation from disgruntled people that did the same thing including this site. It's only a good deal if you plan on finishing what you start...no matter what.

 

If you are the type of person that goes to a store and buys somthing and then takes is back for a refund often (maybe after using it) then you probably shouldn't be trying to fly for a career. I would like to see these people take responsibility for their actions. If they didn't understand the contract then they should have taken it to a lawyer BEFORE signing it not after.

 

Put this investment into perspective, you will spend more money (3X+) buying a house with the same type of contract but knowing its normal to put all the money up front. Are all of you going to complain the same way and slam that company if you back out of that contract?

 

As a SSH student I have a better chance of getting hired as soon as I get my CFI and 200 hrs than most other schools. I wasn't looking for a school to learn to fly at, I was looking for a flying job.

 

Ok...............Sure.............Whatever you say Jerry.

[captkirkyota]

Everyone I've met from Silverstate are quite nice and competent pilots. SSH also has to follow 141 rules as well. I just did a tour/Q&A at our FSDO and someone asked about SSH and the FSDO guy said they were a great school and produce fine pilots. He also said that since they are so large that their accident #'s appear high, but if you were to take most schools and balloon them up to that size, their #'s would be right on average to. IE, he said all the data they have does not lead to any need or even seen added rules regs or whatever because the data does not show anything wrong. He said though that he has heard about there biz practices and financing and such and that the FSDO does not get into that.

My question and what led to my ultimate decision to NOT attend SSH as I originally intended to do was that fact that WHY do they need a contract? No other schools require it. I have lived long enough to know that life is what actually happens in spite of your plans. I could not know for sure what curve would or may still come my way and as such felt it would be foolish on my part to enter into a contract with the only school that requires one, that was clearly sloped to favor them and hurt me tremendously if I were not able to go all the way to completion for some reason.

While I do not share Fry's undying hatred for SSH, I do not particularly like the way they set up their finance structure and the whole contract thing, if they would just kank that part and just be the school they are right now without the shady contract stuff these types of threads would be gone.

[Copterpilot213]

Captkirkyota, I think that's one of the most well written, intelligent posts about SSH I've seen here. You put the facts that you gathered from your research without any unnecessary hatred or unsubstantiated facts intermingled.

 

So many people bash SSH without any actual hands on knowledge. I can guarantee I'd never do that. I would only tell potential students the actual facts, then present the rest of the information as "something I heard" or "something other people have said".

 

In the end it all comes down to this. If you are looking into signing up for ANY flight school, do the research! It's great to ask questions on forums such as these, but back that up with research of your own. Talk to FSDO's, look at the flight hours the school has compared to the accidents they have, talk to the tower at the location of the flight school you're researching, talk to current students, find out as much as you can any way that you can before you spend the huge amount of money this traning will cost you.

[IFLY]

Thanks Captkirkyota and Copterpilot213, thats what I was trying for.

BTW I didn't like the contract thing with SSH either but I made the decision to go with it and finance it my way not using the financing they offered. I have a better chance of getting hired with them than the other local flight schools simply due to their size and the fact the other schools are fully staffed and the instructors don't look like they want to move on and make room.

 

Jerry

[doanut99]

I recently attended a silver state seminar and thought what a great career. The training to be a pilot is 12 to 18 months, costs 70,000K for everything, and they say that in Phoenix, Arizona (which is where I am) they hire 100% of their graduates. Graduates start at 52k per year. This sounds excellent to me. However, is it too good to be true? Is there something that theyre not telling me. I just dropped out of law school cuz i knew it wasnt for me. I want to be a pilot. What would be the best route

 

 

are you serious? another one of these threads?

[jehh]

While I do not share Fry's undying hatred for SSH, I do not particularly like the way they set up their finance structure and the whole contract thing, if they would just kank that part and just be the school they are right now without the shady contract stuff these types of threads would be gone.

 

I agree... however, if they did that, they wouldn't have what they do now... They need the contract to keep people enrolled due to their lack of helicopters, and thus lack of progress. We get one or two people a month from SSH walk in looking at changing schools, when I point out the terms of their contract (which they didn't bother to read), they are simply unable to afford to switch.

 

There is nothing wrong with a contract, if the terms are fair and reasonable to both parties. Colleges have enrollment contracts, however they are required to do something as well to honor their end of the contact, and if not you get something. If Silver State's contract read "SSH guarantees that you will be able to average 2 flights a week each month, or you'll be entitled to (something)", it wouldn't be all that bad.

 

It is just too one sided...

[wannabe heli pilot]

Jehh, What are the term that your're reading?

[jehh]

Jehh, What are the term that your're reading?

 

Terms? What, SSH's terms?

 

Their contract states that they earn 10% of the program price per month that you are enrolled in the program. After 10 months they have fully earned their $70K, regardless of your progress in the program.

 

If you could fly 5 times a week and finish within a year, that actually wouldn't be so bad. The problem is they tend to have too many students and not enough helicopters, so it can take awhile to get through the program.

[wannabe heli pilot]

Terms? What, SSH's terms?

 

Their contract states that they earn 10% of the program price per month that you are enrolled in the program. After 10 months they have fully earned their $70K, regardless of your progress in the program.

 

If you could fly 5 times a week and finish within a year, that actually wouldn't be so bad. The problem is they tend to have too many students and not enough helicopters, so it can take awhile to get through the program.

 

I was reading my contract and as far as I understand it, as long as the student attends the required courses during the 18 month duration, they (SSH) will provide services to meet their requirements but... if I don't attend the classes as asked, they may discontinue services.

 

On weather - If weather or maintenance cancellations occur, they'll continue services beyond the 18 months as long as I'm meeting all of my obligations.

 

This is what I understood of my contract. But I'm no lawyer.

[jehh]

I was reading my contract and as far as I understand it, as long as the student attends the required courses during the 18 month duration, they (SSH) will provide services to meet their requirements but... if I don't attend the classes as asked, they may discontinue services.

 

On weather - If weather or maintenance cancellations occur, they'll continue services beyond the 18 months as long as I'm meeting all of my obligations.

 

This is what I understood of my contract. But I'm no lawyer.

 

You are correct. As far as I know, they have never enforced the 18 month provision in the contract, you can continue to attend until your 200 hours of flight time are used and/or you obtain your CFI.

 

The question I'd be asking is, how many students are at your location and how many helicopters and CFIs are there. Some locations are better than others.

 

Keep in mind that if 50 students are going to start in a Silver State class and finish within 18 months, that is a total of 10,000 hours that must be flown, or 555 hours per month. It takes 6 helicopters to fly that many hours. If a location has 150 students, then it should have 18 helicopters, and so on.