Fiasco Posted February 5, 2008 Posted February 5, 2008 (edited) Channel 5's leadins tonight are all Silver State Helicopters. Tune in tonight to KSDK at 10:00 PM Edited February 6, 2008 by Fiasco Quote
Clay.Kent Posted February 5, 2008 Posted February 5, 2008 Channel 5's leadins tonight are all Silver State Helicopters. Tune in tonight to KSDK at 10:00 PM Wish i could see it! but its not local for me :/ I don't think AZ is running any stories yet... oh but they will soon... I'm gona hound the hell out of them! Quote
67november Posted February 5, 2008 Posted February 5, 2008 here's their web site http://www.ksdk.com/ Quote
RotorWeed Posted February 5, 2008 Posted February 5, 2008 http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx...mp;provider=top Quote
BOATFIXERGUY Posted February 5, 2008 Posted February 5, 2008 Here's another story that ran last night from KVBC in Las Vegas: (w/ Video) http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=7821941 Quote
67november Posted February 5, 2008 Posted February 5, 2008 Here's another story that ran last night from KVBC in Las Vegas: (w/ Video) http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=7821941 I wonder if Duncan has found this site yet? Quote
arlnepilot Posted February 5, 2008 Posted February 5, 2008 I live in St. Louis, and saw the report. I fly at the other helicopter place at Spirit of St. Louis airport. Sorry to hear what happened to you guys. About a year ago I tried to talk a guy out of going to Silver State, but he still signed up. All the best to you guys. Quote
BOATFIXERGUY Posted February 6, 2008 Posted February 6, 2008 Here's another Vegas station: FOX 5http://www.fox5vegas.com/video/15218992/index.html Quote
icqa Posted February 6, 2008 Posted February 6, 2008 The local paper here in New Braunfels, TX has two articles on the closing. http://herald-zeitung.com/story.lasso?ewcd=d514a479ec544fe3http://herald-zeitung.com/story.lasso?ewcd=8488aaeaaf08afa0 SSH was due to move their HQ out here as well as having their ATC school which turned out their first class late last year. Quote
Clay.Kent Posted February 6, 2008 Posted February 6, 2008 Once again.. To all SSH students and Staff. My contact info clay.kent@cox.net AIM: MavricK2421 MSN: claytk@msn.com if you want my phone number ask on here or any of the others. I need to start collecting info so we can get together. For those of us in Mesa I thought it might be a good idea if we did meet at the IWA on Friday and I have told Dan S. at channel 5 that it might be a possibility. Tell as many people as you can! Quote
Clay.Kent Posted February 6, 2008 Posted February 6, 2008 Just got off the SSH myspace group website and found out that if you have AES to give them a call and they have a list of students that are being affected by this and to tell them to put your name on the list. SO CALL THEM and tell them to add your name, if they don't know then there is someone that does, so make sure you have it done! Quote
Cha Cha Posted February 6, 2008 Posted February 6, 2008 Just got off the SSH myspace group website and found out that if you have AES to give them a call and they have a list of students that are being affected by this and to tell them to put your name on the list. SO CALL THEM and tell them to add your name, if they don't know then there is someone that does, so make sure you have it done! Def calling AES tomorrow.Also, as long as we are on the media thread. Earlier this evening in Jacksonville they did another story on the 11pm news on channel 12? They will also be covering our friday meet. Quote
KeysCapt Posted February 6, 2008 Posted February 6, 2008 This was posted on AVwebBiz this morning:Silver State Leaves Long List Of Creditors Hundreds of creditors are named in court documents obtained by AVweb relating to the bankruptcy of Silver State Helicopters. The aggressive Las Vegas-based training company, which had 34 locations, closed them all earlier this week, leaving a trail of unpaid bills. “We were caught flat footed like everybody else,” Robinson Helicopter Vice President Kurt Robinson told AVweb. “They had several helicopters on order. We’re going to scramble and figure out what to do.” Silver State purchased more than 100 Robinson R22 and R44 helicopters from the Torrance, Calif., manufacturer since beginning its flight training operations in 1999. The company closed Sunday afternoon and is blaming external factors for its demise. Company president Jerry Airola did not return phone messages left for him at Silver State’s headquarters on Tuesday. A prepared statement said the action was the result of “a rapid, unprecedented downturn in the U.S. credit markets, which severely curtailed the availability of student loans for the company’s flight academy students and resulted in a sharp and sudden downturn in new student enrollment.” Airola, a former police officer, became known throughout the industry for using aggressive sales tactics to recruit students to the program, including radio ads that aired in major U.S. markets as recently as two weeks ago. Quote
Thanatos Savehn Posted February 7, 2008 Posted February 7, 2008 First, I'm a lawyer in Houston who was retained to sue SSH before this happened. Second, I'm not trolling for business - I just want to tell you what I know. This appears to have been a classic Ponzi scheme. SSH was selling dreamings. It was taking your $$$, skimming off the top, and plowing the rest back into expansion plans so it could skim some more. Like all Ponzi schemes it eventually came to an end. By the way, do any of you seriously think there was a $100,000/yr demand for 6,000 Robinson R-22 fliers annually? If you do, there are several Nigerians who need someone to cash their inheritance. Anyway, the owner of SSH is likely headed to jail. That leaves you on the hook to pay all those loans. However, if you believe that either the banks or Robinson, which makes its money mainly by selling to these schools, was profiteering by loaning money to finance this Ponzi scheme, please post your thoughts as I'm very much interested in them. Thanks in advance. Quote
BOATFIXERGUY Posted February 9, 2008 Posted February 9, 2008 Well, LAS VEGAS channel 3 is claiming an exclusive with an employee inside the office. Here's the link to the video...you've got to see this... http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=7839745 Quote
RWAZ Posted February 9, 2008 Posted February 9, 2008 Wish i could see it! but its not local for me :/ I don't think AZ is running any stories yet... oh but they will soon... I'm gona hound the hell out of them! For those in AZ, there will be a meeting at Tuscon ,Casa Grand 2 pm this Sunday Holiday Inn with lawyer Randall Stone-480-730-0665. This is the laywer with the lawsuit for now 41 Mesa students. I spoke with him today to listed my name on the lawsuit. I have filled a complain with AZ Attorney General ,Consumer Information & Complainis also with the US ATTY General. We need to have the authorities step in to assist us on this matter. You out there go and fill a complain too. Here is part of lawsuit..Arizona_Law_suit_detail.txt Quote
RWAZ Posted February 9, 2008 Posted February 9, 2008 First, I'm a lawyer in Houston who was retained to sue SSH before this happened. Second, I'm not trolling for business - I just want to tell you what I know. This appears to have been a classic Ponzi scheme. SSH was selling dreamings. It was taking your $$$, skimming off the top, and plowing the rest back into expansion plans so it could skim some more. Like all Ponzi schemes it eventually came to an end. By the way, do any of you seriously think there was a $100,000/yr demand for 6,000 Robinson R-22 fliers annually? If you do, there are several Nigerians who need someone to cash their inheritance. Anyway, the owner of SSH is likely headed to jail. That leaves you on the hook to pay all those loans. However, if you believe that either the banks or Robinson, which makes its money mainly by selling to these schools, was profiteering by loaning money to finance this Ponzi scheme, please post your thoughts as I'm very much interested in them. Thanks in advance. Since you said you are a lawyer ...I have a question for you. I read that the SSH owner sold 60 of company share to an investment firm for $30 million. I'm not a busieness person but if I would buy a company I would like to see the balance sheets to prove how profilt this company is. So now this investment firm has a rodden fruit in their hand. Are they going to sue SSH also for misleading then too... Quote
Helopel Posted February 9, 2008 Posted February 9, 2008 I live in St. Louis, and saw the report. I fly at the other helicopter place at Spirit of St. Louis airport. Sorry to hear what happened to you guys. About a year ago I tried to talk a guy out of going to Silver State, but he still signed up. All the best to you guys. Thanks for the kind words. You don't see that much. Everybody seems to think it's our fault. BY the way, I'm a CFI over at SUS.Stopped by the other day to talk to charley. I have had a bad time with SSH from the very beginning but what could I do. I paid the money and I got through it. Now that I've got my hours I still have to live down the reputation, hard to find a job. PM me and we'll talk. See ya Quote
fry Posted February 9, 2008 Posted February 9, 2008 First, I'm a lawyer in Houston who was retained to sue SSH before this happened. Second, I'm not trolling for business - I just want to tell you what I know. This appears to have been a classic Ponzi scheme. SSH was selling dreamings. It was taking your $$$, skimming off the top, and plowing the rest back into expansion plans so it could skim some more. Like all Ponzi schemes it eventually came to an end. By the way, do any of you seriously think there was a $100,000/yr demand for 6,000 Robinson R-22 fliers annually? If you do, there are several Nigerians who need someone to cash their inheritance. Anyway, the owner of SSH is likely headed to jail. That leaves you on the hook to pay all those loans. However, if you believe that either the banks or Robinson, which makes its money mainly by selling to these schools, was profiteering by loaning money to finance this Ponzi scheme, please post your thoughts as I'm very much interested in them. Thanks in advance. Never mind going after the lenders with a class action based on some kind of complicancy...that's not working in the sub-prime mortgage arena. Go after Orix Financial, who has a security interest in $33 million of aircraft. How much of that $33 million actually went into SSH and how much went to fees to Eos, Orix and Jerry? How did sophisticated investors like Orix and Eos not see a business failure a mere six months after they invested. Was the whole Orix-Eos-Airola transaction just paper shuffling in order to monitize the assets that had been purchased with the students' advanced loan funds. It's rather insensitive to point out to suckers that they got suckered and declaring SSH to be a Ponzi scheme three years after that term was used to describe them right on this board is just 20-20 hindsight. Skip the simplistic observations andshow us what all that expensive legal education your parents paid for is good for...follow the money lawyer-man! Quote
fry Posted February 9, 2008 Posted February 9, 2008 Since you said you are a lawyer ...I have a question for you. I read that the SSH owner sold 60 of company share to an investment firm for $30 million. I'm not a busieness person but if I would buy a company I would like to see the balance sheets to prove how profilt this company is. So now this investment firm has a rodden fruit in their hand. Are they going to sue SSH also for misleading then too... For someone who is not a business person that is a very astute observation. Why would NY MBAs pay $30 million for 60% of a business that is broke six months later? Certainly SSH's balance sheet would have showed no cash (even though the students paid in advance), $40 million in aircraft assets and a huge liability for training yet to be provided to enrolled students. No net worth. What were they paying for? Something's not right in that whole Orix-Eos-Airola transaction. Quote
gordathug69 Posted February 10, 2008 Posted February 10, 2008 The Tomball, Tx Silver State school is featured on Channel 13 News, Houston, Tx.http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=...&id=5940725 gordathug69 Quote
BOATFIXERGUY Posted February 10, 2008 Posted February 10, 2008 This Las Vegas news article shows where all of the money went from SSH students: http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=7839745 The office worker saw all of the checks and where they were going...not for the students training! Quote
mechanic Posted February 10, 2008 Posted February 10, 2008 Hey,I read this over on JH alt, if I read this right? Orix has seized all the physical properties of SSH's and SSSC to cover the 33 mil revolving account. It lists how many helicopters the company held and such. It really looks grim for the students..... Link Quote
advguy Posted February 10, 2008 Posted February 10, 2008 Posted in the wrong thread......sorry mods I'm moving it. Quote
ndrasheta Posted February 12, 2008 Posted February 12, 2008 Please spread the word that a new website to help Silver State students can be found at www.silverstatestudents.com This will help keep these forums clear of having to be used to disseminate info that applies to just SS students. Thanks!! Quote
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