Walter Mitty?
 

Check out Fly Siam - quite an extensive web prescence for someone purporting to operate out of Leicester. Rumour has it from the social scene at Leicester that this ex RAF failed wannabe has only just finished ground school and has not yet got a licence. Anyone got some decent info??

Best Wishes

SSH :{ hope not
Quote
"If you wish to attend one of our Helicopter Career seminars"

Well it looks like just another wheeler and dealer trying to make some cash, by doing the extra marketing and charter services for helicentre aviation, he / she will get their little bit of cash once helicentre has got the punters cash.
Must admit that these guys are probably the best at marketing themselves to bring in students and the charter side will come, some interesting ideas they have to sell the 'Dream' , and it looks like it is working. There are still the typical profile of the 25 to 40 year old who wants to change his life and live the 'Dream', and if that means selling his house or getting a rather big bank loan, with the promise of an amazing career...... What could possibly go wrong :}

Fluffy

This sound familiar?

Silver State Helicopters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It would appear to be some sort of facade in front of helicentre?

SASless - hmmmmm.....thanks for the link. Interesting, perhaps this person is aware of this and copying the format but I doubt it. You never know though eh?

Best Wishes

KryptonJohn - The "Legalities" section on this page specifcially states he is a front for Helicentre, but there are lots of charter brokers who do this sort of thing, so he's not unique. Quick internet search also finds

• SiamShrinksYourBills.co.uk
• HowNotToLoseYourShirt.com
• 1,438 friends on a very unsecure Facebook page
• Lots of different things listed in his LinkedIn profile - Helicopter Pilot, Commodity/Forex Trader and Gold/Silver Expert
• Not from Leicester - Some profiles (eg LinkedIn or Blogger) say based Norwich, others say Kettering like this 4Networking group that meets in the Premier Inn there
• One of his YouTube videos shows an Aston Martin with his private plate, although the plate is not on any car right now (thanks to Vehicle Search app on my iPhone)

Is there a way of determining which RAF Squadron he was attached to - all I can find is his commissioning as Acting Pilot Officer in November 2005 (his LinkedIn profile says he joined RAF January 2004, though?) and as member of an RAF Martial Arts team in 2007.

Yep, if I had a pound for every guy who was good at marketing, flash cars and many different fingers in pies that has come to play in the aviation civilian chater / training market, there have been many entertaining characters. Just hope this guy does not fall by the wayside that so many have, because it is quite a nice website.
Hey do you guys remember some of the first smooth talking bunch of marketers, aviation consultants in the Uk back in the 90's. They came across the first good story of live the 'Dream'. The good old PLH, the two Neil's that would hold seminars and career days, the foundation of why all the company's now follow their 'be a career helicopter pilot', if I remember rightly they just disappeared one day with a load of peoples cash.

Fluffy

Anyone becoming aware of some Fish heading towards the net might want to throw a few Rocks in the Pond in an effort to steer them away towards a more conventional route to Utopia in the Helicopter Industry.

To any Fish that are reading this Thread.....Always pay as you go....in Arrears....certainly not in advance by Lump Sum!

There are no Guarantee's in the Helicopter Industry beyond lots of Up's and Down's, lots of expense, way too little recompense, and a host of ways to get tripped up on your run to riches!

If it is Gold you seek....better you buy a Gold Pan and head to Skagway!

Seconded!

if they want your money in advance, it's an interest free loan - for them.

I booked some training, at a "northern" UK flying training school (one of the oldest established here), for a professional fixed wing licence. I was to be there for three weeks, living on site.

They wanted me to pay everything up front on the first day. I declined their kind offer. I immediately suspected they a cash flow problem.

Each subsequent Friday morning I got a phone call from the head of their accounts dept, asking me to clear my account. I did so, the same day, quite happily. This made me suspect even more that they had a cash flow problem.

Not long after I completed my training, they went under. I don't know if anyone got caught by paying up front and not receiving the training, but it wouldn't have been unusual if they had.

Just been reading the website in more detail.

Unless the RAF training has been cut down dramatically.... it stood out that all that was achieved in such a short time; at least two re-roles, too.

Quote:
"if they want your money in advance, it's an interest free loan - for them."

I couldn't agree more, if a flying school is encouraging you to put down funds in advance of providing training, there is an increased chance that they have cash flow issues. Your "loan" becomes more of a gift when they go BUST. Recent example: the scabs at Cranfield/ previously Elstree.

Stick to reliable schools who have a good track record and are prepared to let you pay as you fly. I used to go and look at a school's fleet, if it looks tidy, then they are probably maintaining their aircraft properly and not struggling to find cash. Such schools won't be the cheapest but what is a saving of £5 per hour if you lose £10,000?

Seems like he's choosing his words carefully - "became one of the youngest officers and trainee pilots"... says nothing about ever being a qualified pilot. As for having "flown" lots of things - if you've held the stick once then you can claim to have flown it.

As for his claim that their "Plan B" service is unique - well that's just laughable - there are plenty of operators out there who will help their pax make alternative arrangements if they can't fly.

I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole
OH

OvertHawk, yes, he's choosing his words carefully - so was I ... ;)

Bearing in mind the helicopter types on offer for charter, a 'Plan B' is needed in case it gets dark before you want to fly home.

Why would you go through a broker just for local pleasure flights? This appears to be the main target market he is aiming for, and using R22, R44 & Bell 206, he is hardly aiming for the high-end executive.

A very flash website with very little, apparently, to back it up.

If you're bored try the Robert Weaver/Skyferry thread on Bizjets/GA forum.I might be wrong, but some striking similarities here, 164 pages and growing....I'll leave anyone interested to read the whole story, but basically scamming people with the same type of stuff, mostly plank, but does also offer rotary.....excellent reading for a bored touring pilot.....anyways I'm off to pack for another tour early morn.....:(

Flying Schools asking for money in advance
 

As a Flying School / FTO and I hope a well respected one, I would like to add to the thread and reply to Cylinder Head and Shy Torque.

While I understand that it may be perceived as risky to pay up front for training, whether it be the whole course, or blocks of ten hours etc, it does not necessarily mean that the flying school has cash flow problems.

We offer a discount if the student wishes to pay up front, this negates any accusation of the student providing the Flying School with an interest free loan. If a student pays up front it saves time and resource chasing payment.

IMPORTANTLY the student can also pay as you go, there is absolutely no pressure put on the student to pay up front.

We will however seek payment after each flight, as we have already been bitten by students who build up arrears who then disappear.

PLEASE DON'T TAR ALL FLYING SCHOOLS WITH THE SAME BRUSH !

Slightly off topic I admit, so mods feel free to start a new thread.

One of the problems at the small end of the industry is exactly the tendancy of third parties broking flying services and wanting to take too much of the available profit with no real risk. Whilst charter brokers operate on a reasonably consistent %, the trial lesson type products are all too often marketed by third party brokers such as experience voucher companies at unrealistic rates. I know of a couple of punters who managed to get a T/L £40 cheaper from the voucher company than the supplier was charging the Voucher company. Obviously they won't stay in business very long but this behaviour corrupts the market.

Letting brokers set the price artificially holds prices down to suit the voucher companies and prevents market prices from rising to reflect increasing costs. If voucher companies are not made to charge a premium over our operators' prices, returns to flying schools will continue to be eroded! Voucher companies used to add their profit on top of operator prices, now they want massive discounts and they set flying schools off against one another by claiming that each school is more expensive than the next.

Check out the grammar and spelling on the website.

Do the Royal Air Force really employ people with such a poor grasp of the Queen's English ?

Buzzy.....we are addressing our concerns to the newly started operation that seeks payment in total in advance for multiple licenses and which then promises good paying jobs post training.

There is a whale of a difference between well run business operations and one being promoted by a Snake Oil Salesman.

Silver State Helicopters was the prime example of the Snake Oil version....and might just be the model extant.

Buying a block of flight time.....say Ten Hours at a time is one thing....but a full course of instruction worth is a whole nut her thing.


Does the RAF have folks lacking Proper English.....well at one time several Squadrons of them....some of which were the high scorers in the downing of German Airplanes as I recall.....plus just more than a few who tripped across the Channel to Germany in bombers.