I live in south florida (Palm Beach County to be exact), but I'm planning on going to a helicopter school, it's just that I really don't know of any. Please any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanx! Here are a few for you to look into:
http://www.heli.com/
http://www.tomlinsonaviation.com/
http://www.palmbeachhelicopters.com/
You can find flight school listings on this website:
http://www.verticalreference.com/helicop...
Vertical Reference is also a great site for the helicopter industry in general, and the forum in particular is a good resource for many of your questions.
I also recommend this website for additional information about training, etc. I especially recommend the section on "Avoiding the Rip-Offs".
http://www.helicopterflighttraining.net/
Choosing a Flight School:
There is no one best school out there. There are many good ones, and there are some bad ones. It will be up to you to find out if the school is good or bad, and you should do A LOT of homework before starting. Consider the following:
- There are many schools that allow you to pay as you go. Avoid the schools that require full payment for their entire program up front.
- Make sure the school will have enough aircraft and instructor availability to meet your needs. You don't want your training to take longer because you are unable to fly as often as you like.
- Many schools hire their own graduates, but do not assume that you will automatically get a job with them after graduating. There may not be enough positions available to accommodate all graduates.
- Many schools do not require a 70k contract to begin training. The school should work for you, not the other way around.
- Meet the instructor you will be flying with. Often being compatible with your instructor is more important than being compatible with the school.
- You don't need to fly airplanes to be a helicopter pilot.
- Consider the type of aircraft they fly. The Robinson 22 and the Schweizer 300 are the most common. Investigate the differences between the two. Some people prefer one or the other. Look beyond your initial training and consider that first instructing job too. Robinson's are more common, but sometimes meeting insurance requirements is harder. I personally recommend flying the Schweizer.
- Plan ahead carefully for the expense of training. Paying is the hardest part of civilian training. Some schools are set up for Sallie Mae or other loans, but make sure you understand exactly how they work first.
- With regard to safety, you can always check if the school you plan to attend has any accident records. Go to the NTSB website, and do a search with the name of the school, and see what comes up.
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/query.asp
- The military is an awesome route for many people. It is not "free", but they do pay for your training. If you think it might be for you, just make sure you do your homework on this option too before you start.
CAVEAT EMPTOR, when looking at ANY flight school. You're making a huge investment in time, effort, and money. Give this decision the careful consideration and research it deserves. Aviation is an awesome and rewarding career, but you can get burned if just dive in head first. Talk to pilots, research schools, get information from several different sources, figure the costs, and go into it fully prepared and knowledgeable about every possible path towards your goals. Don't start until you can prove to yourself that the path you have selected is the right one.
Good luck and have fun! Embree-Riddle nor do i Silver State Helicopters has 4 locations in Florida:
Fort Lauderdale, FL Flight Academy
2011 S. Perimeter Rd
Suite D
Ft Lauderdale, FL 33309
954-670-5999 Office
954-938-7265 Fax
Jacksonville, FL Flight Academy
855-3 St John's Bluff Rd
Jacksonville, FL 32225
904-493-8250 Office
904-483-2917 Fax
Lakeland, FL Flight Academy
Lakeland-Linder Airport
3131 Flightline Drive,
Suite 202
Lakeland, FL 33811
863-577-2280 Office
863-701-0896 Fax
Melbourne, FL Flight Academy
1383 General Aviation Dr.
Melbourne, FL 32935
321-775-0104 Office
321-775-0111 Fax |
