Oregon vs Colorado, Weather and loans (help)

[alpine_wonder]

Hi, I am 28, spent 4 years in the Navy, 4 yrs in college, a year skiing in Lake Tahoe.

 

I moved to Oregon 3 months ago, and I am looking to start flight training in the Spring at Hillsboro. One of the main reasons i decided on moving to Oregon was because i had read so many good things in these forums. With that said, i guess the constant cloud cover has somewhat gotten to me. (I am originally from SoCal/Long Beach) I keep telling people that one of the reasons I moved here was: "If I learn to fly in this crappy weather, than anywhere else i travel in the world, will probably just be easier."

 

It is late on a Saturday and I was thinking.. well i'm not exactly tied down yet, what about Colorado?? I never really read much about Colorado flight schools though like I do Oregon flight schools. Overall I feel that I am in the right place but figured it cant hurt to ask questions and field opinions. I love to ski, so i want to explore the Northwest, Whistler!! Vancouver, Seattle etc. but Colorado has Vail, Aspen on down the line not too far away.

 

Precision vs Hillsboro.. I hear a lot people that are into Precision cause Hillsboro is so big, but then i read that it is better to train in Robbies over Schweitzers because most places you go, they train in Robbies and you would have more flexibility in that sense, any opinions?

 

Also, I met a young girl here working at Starbucks that was able to get a loan and it kinda inspired me, because if i can help it I DO NOT want to have to get a cosigner!! But i do have 15K of College student loans i need to start on pretty soon, i'm thinking of keeping them in forebearance until i start training cause you just pay the interest in the beginning anyways.

 

I guess that was a rather large post but if anybody can help me and give me some opinions/advice, I would appreciate it. Thanks!

[AngelFire_91]

Well, I was born and raised in Colorado, Did a lot of fixed wing training in Colorado, but never any Helicopter. I can't speak too much for the Helicopter training side, I am with you, haven't heard too much about any of the CO schools. I have trained in MN and OR for helicopters and both places have great schools. From what I've heard about some of the CO one's mainly Rotors of The Rockies, they seem to be afraid of the mountians, which kind of sucks, compaired to OR where almost all my flying has been in the mountians. So sorry I can't be of much help there.

 

The weather is great in CO, usually sunny a lot of the time, there are weeks where it's dark and gray, but not usually more then about a week, then it will be sunny for two. If it does snow then it's usually gone by the next week which is kind of nice in compairison to MN where once it snows, it stays till May.

 

Now, Skiing. Most everyone has heard of Vail and Aspen, and honestly, they are good places, but not the best in CO. it's just those are what everyone has heard of. They are way overpriced for the type and amount of skiing, the people tend to be stuck up and always "I'm better then you, cause I have money!" and the videos you see on TV are cool and all, but usually shot in the extream back country that really shouldn't even be considered Aspen or Vail. There is very good skiing though, and if you talk to a lot of Locals most will say places that are much cheaper and less well known for their favorites. Send me a PM and I'll fill you in on a couple great places to go in CO, if that's what you were looking at. I love skiing and have been doing it almost all my life, so I'll try to help you out as much as I can, and of course these are just my opinions and so take them as you wish. Let me know how Lake Tahoe is, I've been there before but I've always wanted to go there to ski and haven't had the chance yet.

 

Hope that helps some,

Kevin

[bellpilot]

You should find out about Leading Edge Aviation, part 141 VA approved flight school. located in Bend, Oregon. Over 300 days of sun in the Cascade Range/High Desert. WEB address: www.leadingedgeavn.com or www.flybend.com.

 

bellpilot

[alpine_wonder]

My one BIG question is... are hours just hours??? does it really matter what school you go to in the long run? I came here cause i heard such good things about Oregon schools, but now i'm starting to wonder, when your looking for a job how much weight does what school you trained at really have?? If i dont get a few answers back on this one i may have to post it as a seperate topic.

 

Bell.. yeah.. when i was in Tahoe, it was between Portland and Bend, I figured Bend would be like Tahoe, which was AWESOME!! but being small town the only two things that lacked were no money and no women. I've been just getting by for at least the past 5 years, now i have my BA coupled with military experience, held a national security clearance and all that, now it is time to make some city money while i train... hopefully. I hear Bend is sweet though, I do want to take a trip down there pretty soon when i get a better job than the initial one i found up here and save some money.

 

Kevin, you sound pretty cool, been flying since you were young and you hit the slopes. I've done extensive research on Colorado, i just threw Vail and Aspen out there because people know them. The only place I've had a chance to go to though was Steamboat which was awesome. I wanna check out Telluride, then Vail, Breck, Keystone and on down the line. I hear the locals like A-basin and Loveland though. Tahoe was sweet, i was like a normal guy living a rich mans life. Lived on the mountain in Squaw Valley (in a house where the swedish ski team once lived during the Olympics) working for the village our 3 bedroom condos would go for 1700 a night. I could stay in thousand dollar a night rooms when i wanted, free demo skis/snowboards, free cruises on the lake, fine dining once in awhile, kayaks, my friends sister owned "Uncorked" in the Village, so free wine tasting, and the list goes on, (since we referred a lot of business around the lake, and on top of that everyone knows everyone) it was a pretty cool experience. I like Tahoe too cause half of riding to me (though i mainly ski) is the ambiance of the resort, and i love flying down the mountain with that huge big blue lake view out in front of me. Tons of great resorts to check out. Little known is Homewood, slow old lifts, small, not to extreme, but AMAZING lake views, feels like your skiing into the lake and it's only a litltle over 20 bucks midweek compared to 70 something at other resorts. I could break down every resort for it's specialty though. Locals in the North shore like Alpine Meadows, for it's hiking and back country, they have an open boundary policy, but i'll stop boring the rotor heads with all this talk. haha.. but yeah... i'm excited to start training in the near future, just need to get my stuff together.

[southernweyr]

Denver area schools don't fly in the mountains. They fly next to them over the flat prarie. The high altitude experience is good and it's valuable on resumes. I have not sensed that the school or schools that I have trained at have mattered too much but recently have had a few potential employers ask what schools I attended.

 

Having flown at Premier (robbie school) and Rotors of the Rockies (Schweizers) I would not recommend leaving where you are to train with them. There is another Schweizer school at Centennial Colorado called Elite Helicotpers. I dropped in and said hi and they seemed nice enough but I have never flown with them.

 

Here are a few helicopter myths:

Tailwind landings are forbidden.

The Schweizer has a 1 degree lateral mast tilt to compensate for translating tendency.

[apiaguy]

HOURS ARE JUST HOURS

 

especially in the robinson or schweizer or any other training helicopter. The school name means NOTHING.... just look at all those SSH pilots getting jobs! haha.

 

Biggest thing is if you get along with the people and attitudes at the school you go to..... it is also nice if they have enough aircraft and instructors for your time.

[Witch]

Oh Alpine,

 

Bend is not a small town with no women. Au contraire mon ami-that's french-Bend has grown quite a bit during the last two decades to become a large city. Add Redmond, Sisters, La Pine, and Sun River, and you have... well...a lot of towns in the high desert. It may not be L A, but it does have its own flavor that draws many visitors every year.

 

I don't want to live there because like the wet weather in the valley. Plus Corvallis is a lot closer.

 

If the weather is a problem for your psyche, I'd say go. Maybe Florida or Arizona?

 

Later

[Hovergirl]

Yeah, the low ceilings up here can suck, definitely. But it's not as cold -- you Colorado folks, is icing a problem down there very often?

 

HVG

[alpine_wonder]

Hmm, i seem to get conflicting information about if the reputation of the school is important or if hours are just hours. (i know it matters most who your CFI is and all that, but resume wise)

 

Yeah witch, If i would have thought about florida or arizona, i'd just go back home to Long Beach, lots of schools around there, just a higher cost of living, and i'm having fun experiencing new things and places. I liked colorado and oregon for their varied activities in the summer and skiing in the winter.

 

Who knows though witch and Bell... it does rain a lot, it's not a big deal, but before i start training i do want to take a few trips, check out Bend and Bachelor, maybe i'll fall in love with it. I just want a decent job while i train, i'm sick of being poor and I have the resume to land a real job. If i can get anything 35 to 45k while i train, i'm there! So 15 minutes outside bend towards bachelor, is the forest just as good as the rain forest environment around Mt Hood?

 

Yeah, i'm not hearing anything good about Colorado, except mountain/elevation training is beneficial.

[bellpilot]

Alpine, Bend is on the east side of the Cascades and gets little rain. Bends rainfall is around 11 inches Not Bad!!!! The forest around Bend is not even close to the west side of the Cascades we have no underbrush, looks like a park. The air is clean the people are nice and there in not traffic jams!

 

 

Bellpilot

[Witch]

Except on Hwy 97 during most of the day near the mall area most of the summer and rest of the year.

 

Later

[bellpilot]

That must come from your Beaver Coach years working on the North end of town? Sorry you had to move to Eugene.