SilverState Helocopters

[avbug]

They're partially correct...from a rotary perspective...hiring has never been better, and opportunities for civillian trained pilots have never been greater. So far as going to work, a year of flight instructing and then into turbine equipment making fifty a year...you're not going to find that in the fixed wing world. The downside for the monitarily inclined is that the wages don't go up in a big way over time whereas on the fixed wing side they can.

 

[Metro752]

Silver State Helo's is at CRG. Or at least there is a company here with this name. What's so bad about them, their helos look nice!

 

[avbug]

Silver State has spread out like a cancer. They have attractive aircaft and do radio ads and publicity presentations that rope in prospective students with promises of work and success. They take sixty grand up front, and then take several times as long as necessary to get students done. Many quit, and they refuse to refund the money. Few students complete the program, and few who do become instructors for silver state. Students are required to sign clauses that over a period of time Silver State gets more and more of the money if the student quits, so that by the time a year rolls around, no matter what the student is owed, SSH keeps it all. Numerous law suits are pending against them.

The owner would travel out of state and appear at seminars for students in his police uniform to lend himself credibility. He's a slick talker who takes but doesn't deliver. I've talked to a number of schools who say he's their best advertising, because so many students leave and go looking for better...usually pennyless, but still wanting better.

It's a shame because rotor wing opportunities have never been better, especially for civillian trained pilots.

 

[Metro752]

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- St. John County officials said two people aboard a small helicopter died when it crash and burned on Ponte Vedra Beach just north of Solano Road.Just before 10:30 a.m., St. Johns County Fire-Rescue personnel were called to put out a fire aboard a civilian helicopter near the waterline.Channel 4 learned that the helicopter is with Silver State Helicopters flying out of Craig Airport in Arlington. The identities of those on board were not immediately available.

 

[KigAir]

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- St. John County officials said two people aboard a small helicopter died when it crash and burned on Ponte Vedra Beach just north of Solano Road.Just before 10:30 a.m., St. Johns County Fire-Rescue personnel were called to put out a fire aboard a civilian helicopter near the waterline.Channel 4 learned that the helicopter is with Silver State Helicopters flying out of Craig Airport in Arlington. The identities of those on board were not immediately available.

It's interesting to note that the local news specifically pointed that the instructor was female and the student was male.

 

[Vsf]

I'm no fan of Silver State, but I have heard of a number of cases where their graduates went on to fly for PHI. Last price I heard was $70K, which included an instrument ticket and CFI. Not a route I'd take, but that doesn't mean it hasn't worked for some folks. The helicopter industry is very, very hard to break into, so I'm in favor of whatever lets chopper pilots follow their dreams. And, yes, I have been a full time helicopter pilot.

 

[NuGuy]

Heyas,

Both Vsf and Avbug are right on the money.

You can get into some decent money fairly quickly depending on how/what you fly. Heilo dollars go up quick at first but then flatten out for the long run. You might make more money at first, but over time the earning power is limited.

As Vsf said, the market is very corporate like to break into. You really need to know the right people if you are going to try to break into anything but the EMS/Oil Rig scene. As for the really big stuff like aerial crane...basically someone needs to die of old age before those jobs open up.

As for looking for the dual rated jobs...I'd certainly not get a chopper rating just to chase those. Those jobs will almost always go the to the heilo guy with some airplane ratings rather than the other way around.

YMMV...

Nu