Helicopter junky

[SkYfEvEr]

Hi guys, am Skyfever,

I am very interested in helicopter flying and would like to start from scratch up to my cpl (H) and onto my FI. I started farfing about with 152's but could not supress my wanting to fly helicopters....I wanted to fly from since the age of 6 and am now 26.....My stumble block at the moment is funding for study.

I have been around great guys at BHH and must say they are great!! It looks like I entered a family, the warmth, the friendlyness....They are great......They are even helping me put together info to approach the bank......trrouble is which bank or financial intituition do I approach?


Anybody with info, please give a line

Cheers in advance

Skyfever:cool:

Ps. I apologise or not knowing if this has been discussed previously.....

A brother in need

[Heliport]

Click this link: Here (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=122944)


Good Luck,
Heliport

PS: It has. ;)

[TheFlyingSquirrel]

and anyone thinking about going all the way, make sure you read the VAT thread I made a couple of weeks back. It has some great replies from the regular knowledgeable and considerate ppruners. Flying schools generally do not give advice in this area, simply because they don't care and only want your money.



VAT thread (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=172125)

[Whirlybird]

I hate to be old and cynical, but....

Of course they're friendly; it's their job, and you're paying their salaries. Of course they'll help you borrow money, if it means you'll carry on paying their salaries.

Ask yourself the following questions:

Would they still be so friendly and helpful if you decided to train in the USA and wanted advice? Would you get impartial advice about that, do you think?

Would they still be so friendly and helpful if you made a mistake and damaged one of their helicopters?

Suppose you fell out with them for some reason, would you still want to be a helicopter pilot? And are you really sure you want to borrow all this money, bearing in mind that you're going to be in debt for years and years, and getting jobs at the moment is not easy, and it may never be.

I'm not in any way saying don't do it. It's just that your enthusiastic post set off alarm bells in my head. Been there, know how it is...and I know that it may change. :(

[VeeAny]

Whirly I understand your cynicism however, as a freelancer I am sometimes asked questions of this nature whilst on site for a company. I think that impartial advice can be given even about approaches to banks and how to save money during training by some instructors / companies.

I also see where you are coming from, with regards to people being helpful if they think there will be a personal or business gain to them.

I'd still talk to a guy whos interested and wanted to go and train in the states, why would anyone not want to, other than if they really are too busy.

I can understand anyone perhaps being a little unfriendly if a student damaged one of their helicopters (and it was the students fault).

The reason I comment is that I have had this conversation many times in schools around the south of England and when some of us give our opinions its not to have someone elses trousers down, its down to earth genuine advice. What's in it for me at the end of the day, nothing usually. I may never see the student again, or work at that FTO/RF/TRTO again, but we should all look after each other in this game.

Thats not to say that being careful with money is not a consideration and that also is part of the conversation I would usually have with a prospective student.

[Whirlybird]

VeeAny,
I too have given impartial advice, and I'd hope that you and I aren't the only ones. But I've also experienced or witnessed some of what I warned about, eg people being put off training in the States because the school didn't want to lose them. Hence my cynicism, but OK, maybe you're right to present the other side too. I'd still warn anyone to be careful and not assume everyone is as they seem though.

[VeeAny]

Whirly you are in that respect absolutely correct, there are unfortunately too many sharks in our industry !

[Whirlygig]

You can also apply for a Career Development Loan (I think they are still available). I think all the major high street banks do them It is basically £8k interest free (or low interest).

Might help?!

Cheers

Whirlygig