Mr. Chairman, you are absolutely correct. Its is a crock, and it is the Mc Donald’s of flight training. HAI ‘s student base is mostly foreign, tons of Pome’s and lots of Scandys. During the early 90’s it had quite a good rep but these days it is a mill, and certainly one for the funny talkers.
As far as quality of training , I don’t think so. Do you want to go to a school that charges you for tons of ground instruction that you can read and learn your self? Where to 150 hour instructors where applet’s, black trousers and white shirts ( what do they think they flying some s76 in NYC?)? Where you get charged flight time when you are in the helicopter waiting for your instructor who is yacking it up, and still charging you for post and preflights when he blows you off to rush for the next student so he/she can get another .8? Where you only get in the aircraft when you fight to get on the schedule because there are way to many students vs. a/c.
As a national or even some one with a J1 who wants to work as an instructor in the here why would you train in a H300? Besides HAI there are maybe 2 schools that are busy with 300’s , 95 percent of the flight training in the US is done in R22. Due to the sfar and insurance if you don’t train in the r22 , it is highly unlikely you will find a job in one. Most of the other non flight training entry level work is also done in the r22 (photo/rides/patrols/etc).
Now the J1. I agree , why don’t these people do a search here (I am not going to provide the link) but this was discussed late last year. Most people here already know how I feel about that one. I pointed out the frequent abuse it has gotten , especially from the HAI students. Now this M1 J1 thing, sounds a little grey areaish. The intent is to beat the system. Don’t worry the Mighty TSA will eventually catch on.
HAI has a great deal going. They have a pile of students they charge the most expensive flight training , that come over from across the pond. They get there J1, study for a year, then they hire them at a super low wage because they know they only have 1 year to get some experience. Almost all of these students come over budgeted for the 2 years, so working for survival wage is not a factor. This just kills the local guy who is trying to pay rent, car insurance and grocery’s.
Oh and working for pennies, better get used to it. My as well get started washing helicopters. Look at it from this point of view. You are going to hire an instructor, who are you going to hire? The guy scrubbing and sweeping, who has shown interest, worth ethic and commitment to you and his career or the guy who thinks his 200 hours and 50k worth of lic in his pocket are going get him a job? Hmm that’s a tough one. That’s how I got my start, washing that is….
As far as the blind leading the blind instructing , that is just the way it is over here. It realy isnt that bad of a thing, it teaches you AWARENESS, lets you loose weight due to stress and little sleep for the first couple of months , and it makes you sharp. I know a lot of operators who will hire a 1000hr robby instrucotr over an ex military or 300 guy any day. It shows, you have a little finess and understand the concept of POWER Managment.. R22 guys get in a Jet Box or a Astar and tend to fly the pants out of it. Thats how I started and I have ended up ok (some will debate that with you). Alot of that is insurance and customer driven, wether a 500hr guy can due the same job any different than the 1000hr guy is a whole diferent thread.
I would love to see a statistic on how many students at HAI actually go on to become career pilots, or give up after awhile… Flying Squirrel didn’t want to take my bet…!
I love this one:
“By it's very nature the industry has changed to accommodate integrated courses. So many people take that route, and (against all odds apparently..) go on to successful careers. Are all these negative attitudes simply a matter of "if it's not as difficult for you as it was for me, then it's not good enough"?"
Do you really think your going to finish and get a flight instruction job and a career? I don’t see that attitude at all, especially here on Rotorheads. Be ready for tough times, sacrifice and heartache. That’s just the realitly of it.
Ok that’s enough ranting; I need to finish my beer.
Hey Chairman, What’s an Ozzy’s favorite sight in Sydney?
A Kiwi swimming out of Botany Bay with a Pome under each arm.
Rotorboy