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Posted

Hi everyone,

 

I just took an intro flight at Golden Gate Helicopters (formerly part of Diamond Aviation) in San Carlos, CA. They are one of the schools I am considering for my training. Does anyone have any opinions they are willing to share on their instruction or company in general?

 

Other schools I am considering are Nice Air (San Jose) , Makin' Air (Hayward) and Bristow Academy (formerly HAI) in Concord. Any experiences with these would be appreciated as well.

 

GGH is a pay-as-you-go school, which I like, and I am wondering if the other schools are the same, or if they are the all-up-front type.

 

Thanks in advance for any responses.

Posted
Hi everyone,

 

I just took an intro flight at Golden Gate Helicopters (formerly part of Diamond Aviation) in San Carlos, CA. They are one of the schools I am considering for my training. Does anyone have any opinions they are willing to share on their instruction or company in general?

 

Other schools I am considering are Nice Air (San Jose) , Makin' Air (Hayward) and Bristow Academy (formerly HAI) in Concord. Any experiences with these would be appreciated as well.

 

GGH is a pay-as-you-go school, which I like, and I am wondering if the other schools are the same, or if they are the all-up-front type.

 

Thanks in advance for any responses.

 

 

Hi green,

 

most schools are Pay-as-you go, and I've only had experience with Bristow in Concord myself. I took an intro flight there, & everyone was very friendly! I'm starting training once I get my loan approved :).

Posted

All of the schools you are mentioning are vastly different from one another. You should visit and talk with people from all of them. If you are flying full time consider traveling out of the bay area. Good Luck in your searching and learning.

Posted
All of the schools you are mentioning are vastly different from one another. You should visit and talk with people from all of them. If you are flying full time consider traveling out of the bay area. Good Luck in your searching and learning.

 

Of course I'm planning on talking with all of them in person. I just wanted to hear about other people's experience with those schools. Since I'm very new to all of this, I wanted to make sure none of them have bad reputations that I should be aware of.

 

Unfortunately, not having a trust fund dictates that I need to continue working while learning to fly, so the schools within 1/2 an hour from Mountain View are really my only option.

Posted

I am attending Specialized Helicopters in Watsonville. It may be a little farther than 1/2 hour from you. It is also pay as you go. I am currently training for my CFI with the owner Chris Gularte and the training is excellent. We put more into an hour of flight training than I ever thought possible; and I am learning a lot from his expertise. I know how you feel, I was in your shoes not to long ago....it can be very difficult to choose were to spend your hard earned money. All I can say is keep doing your research and try to get a feel for every company you look into.

 

Good Luck! :D

Posted
schools within 1/2 an hour from Mountain View are really my only option.

 

There are people in MV without enough money for flight training???.... :lol:

Posted
There are people in MV without enough money for flight training???.... :lol:

 

Apparently yes, at least one. <_< I can't say I'm eating ramen every night, but definitely couldn't afford to take lessons without both my wife and I working full time.

Posted

Try Cameron at Bay Helicoptours. http://www.bayhelicoptours.com/

Tell him i told you to call, he'll laugh. very nice guy though, extremely knowledgeable, always willing to talk helo's, and most importantly . . . been around a long time.

Posted

Thanks for another option Clay. I'll definitely look into that.

 

I talked with the people at Nice Air in San Jose, and it seems they have sold their helicopter operations to Silicon Valley Helicopters, also located at Reid-Hillview in San Jose. Anybody know anything about them? I'm going to call them in a bit, so I'll let you know if I learn anything useful.

Posted

GreenMachine,

 

Have you decided on a school yet? I'm seriously considering Golden Gate Helicopters because of their proximity to SF, and because I'd like to learn on a Robinson. I haven't visited or spoke with them yet. What is your opinion on them based on your intro flight and conversations with them?

Posted
There is another one: Sirius Flying at Palo Alto.

 

They only fly R44s, so it's a bit more expensive: 420$ per hour plus 80$ for instruction.

 

http://www.siriusflying.com/Home.htm

 

Thanks Ficl. Palo Alto would be really convenient as it's only 10 minutes from where I live. I think those rates are going to prevent me from training there though. It's just a bit more than I can afford. Too bad they don't have a few R22s.

 

I've scheduled my Discovery Flight with Silicon Valley Helicopters for June 28th. I'm excited to experience a Schweizer 300CB so I can check out the differences from the R22. I've read all the debates about them, but I think checking it out myself is the best way to decide.

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