To start, I suggest reading the section called "Avoiding the Rip-Offs" on this web page. There are some things there you should read before just going to the nearest school. There is a lot of good general info there too, just note that his cost numbers may be a bit dated:
http://www.helicopterflighttraining.net/
To find a helicopter school near you, you can refer to this website. There are some listed in both Arizona and Utah, although I'm in Texas, so I can't give you a personal review of them:
http://www.verticalreference.com/helicopterreviews/showcat.php?cat=2
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.
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. Please avoid the schools that make grand promises about being a helicopter pilot and then require full payment up front for their program. Here are some other things to consider:
- There are many schools that allow you to pay as you go.
- 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.
- Delays will always cause you to spend more money, but try to find a school that will not penalize you for taking a break from flying, or for failing to complete the training for some reason. You never know what is going to happen, don't let yourself get stuck.
- 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
- 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.
On Training Aircraft:
The two main civilian training aircraft are the Robinson 22 and the Schweizer 300. Investigate the differences between the two, as there are pros and cons to each. Some people prefer one or the other. Be sure to look a step ahead and consider the types of flight instructor positions available for someone with experience each one. Once you get to 1000 hours or so and start looking for a "real" pilot position, which one you flew becomes much less significant. Also, you can always consider getting some experience in both during your training.
Aviation is an awesome and rewarding career, but you can get burned if you 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.
Try Silver State Helicopters they're in North Las Vegas.
500 East Cheyenne Ave
North Las Vegas, NV 89030
702-616-1967 Phone
702-212-4061 FAX1
Hobby Town on, I think, Sahara....its in the book......Maybe its Hobby People, one of the two.
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