Cheapest place to get a helicopter license

I totally agree with John's statements. I took some lessons with a major
school and the instructors were all foreign nationals here to build hours
and not very interested in instructing. Although I had successfully flown
my Safari helo before, I had about 6 hrs. in their Schweitzer 300CB and
wasn't sure that I had ever had the controls all to myself. We also had to
fly some 25 miles to the practice area. I dropped out and found the
operator at Chino. Although he only had one ship flying, I was able to get
one-on-one instruction which included what amounted to free ground school. I
was also able to get as much time/per day that I could stand. The
instructors weren't just trying to build time. I had all of the controls on
the first lift off and I knew it. I learned more in the first hour than I
had at the previous operation in 5 hrs. The first operation was a giant
commercial helo instruction center (which now resides in Florida somewhere).
Quantity vs. Quality. The two sound similar but have hugely different
content and meaning.
Stu Fields Safari Builder, and Pilot.
"John Roncallo" wrote in message
. com...
Craig Welch wrote:

On Sat, 06 Dec 2003 12:59:55 GMT,
wrote:


Where is the cheapest place to get dual training in an R22 helicopter?


Who cares? Why are you not asking 'where is the *best* place to get
dual training in an R22 helicopter?


I thought I found a flight school web site that advertised $150/hr,
but I didn't save the link and can't find it again so I'm starting to
wonder if I just dreamed it.


Are there individuals with their own R22 and a CFI license that can
train you for less than the schools charge?


You're mad. I can only hope that I never have to share the same
airspace as you.


In some cases I agree with this and in some cases I dont. These days I
find most flight training facilities having large turnovers of both
instructors and aircraft that I have found it most important to find a
place where you can get in and out of quickly. That being said the
student should never stop learning and find a good flight instructor to
brush up on things once in a while after getting a license.

I recommend camping out at Ocean Helicopters in West Palm Beach FL. They
have relatively inexpensive condos for rent and will get you scheduled 2
times a day to get it over and done with. Because of the intensive
training schedule and airport setup, the course will be completed in
minimal hours. Plus the staff was well experienced and gave very good
quality instruction.

The key things you need to look for at a facility are.
1) Availability of Aircraft
2) Availability of Instructors
3) Proximity of training area to helipad (dont pay to fly a helicopter
to a training area)
4) Reputation of school to get ratings done quickly.
5) Take a good look at the rules and make sure there is nothing too
restrictive to slow down your progress.