Just poking my nose in to set you right regarding schooling costs.
The instructors are almost certainly NOT "1%-ers"
Start with the premises....capital cost, maintenance, heat ,light, insurance....Heck! you know what it costs to keep a home going...would be as cheap to rent a motel-room.
Loss of capital...if it's tied up in training, it can't be used to buy materials, labour, machine tools etc. th produce parts which make a profit.
Cost of people to actually work out and collate what needs to be done, when, and how.
Liability insurance....a biggie in the lawyer-led claim culture.
The staff to administer all these activities and liaise with people like yourself.
they made the profit on the initial sale and they make a profit on spares, but how many years is that profit spread over? the fact that there aren't many billionaires in the Heli-manufacturing industry,and,unlike banking, it's not crowded with fat-cats, would suggest the pickings are fairly lean.
Yes, it's a substantial sum, but compared with the cost of an annual, the longer you use what you've learnt, the cheaper it becomes.
I wonder how much it would have saved you if you'd done the Course BEFORE you purchased your machine?...you have had a very expensive and frustrating learning-curve so far....don't be "penny-wise, pound foolish"....just to add, I've no dog in the fight whatsoever.