Upper Limit Aviation

[Selino631]

Thought you guys might be interested in this. A few of the guys in my Co. are gonna be going to this school in the spring. Its extremely Veteran friendly. Kinda got me interested in it myself. I only have 11 months left in my Active Duty contract. thinking about going Reserve or National Guard and learning how to fly Helicopters here!

http://www.upperlimitaviation.edu/

[saggs]

I did some mechanic work there, it's where I did my Airframe certificate RTS (internship) last year. 

Also, I am still in touch with one of the their flight instructors.    PM me if you want my opinion... ...

[flight17]

Without me looking into this specifically, Unless helicopters are different for some reason, the GI BILL will not pay for your initial rating of a Private license. It will only pick up flight training after you get your private license, at least in fixed wing that's how it works.

Helicopter training is about three times as much as fixed wing training on average, so you will be dishing out a lot of money for that private rating, assuming it is indeed like fixed wing.

[Maverick]

No chance of your going aviation in the Army? Having Uncle Sam pay for the fling wing lessons would be cheaper.

[B4Buster]

Selino,

whether you decide to go with this school or another one - be prepared to dish out the cash for your Private Pilot Helicopter license out of pocket. As of now the GI bill won't cover that, though I have heard rumors of it possibly covering the private license in the future.

Also - make sure any school you look at is a part 141 flight school so you can take advantage of your GI bill.

Thanks for your service!

[colmbo]

An option is to get the private in fixed wing then switch to rotary wing.

[Selino631]

Right now I'm undecided on what i want to do. a few of my NCO's recommend that i reclass from Infantry to the Aviation branch and become a Crew Chief on Blackhawks. (which would be pretty awesome). but then other people i know say i should try out ULA. I would prefer to stay in the military though.

[pembquist]

I don't know about Upper Limit Aviation but in general beware, unfortunately GA sometimes seems to attract a seamier class of businessman and rotary for some reason seems to excel at being sleazy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_State_Helicopters

http://www.bendbulletin.com/article/20091227/NEWS0107/912270402/

In gener,al for profit education is a very attractive field to carpetbaggers if they can get their hooks into money streams from the GI bill and student loans.

I'm not saying all flight schools are bad by any means.  I am saying don't trust anybody who has a financial interest in getting you signed up for something.  They might be friendly but they are not your friends.

[saggs]

I pm'ed Selino with some private stuff.  But let me throw this out there for public consumption.

For rotorcraft training, I personally would look for a school that does NOT use Robinsons as trainers.  They are twitchy, fragile, and very unforgiving when mistakes are made.  Even Frank Robinson himself said that he never designed it as a trainer.  I'm not bashing on Robinson here, I think they have their place, they have completely taken over the on the tuna boats for example, and are great for livestock roundups, sightseeing tours, etc.  But as a trainer, I believe a Hughes/Schweitzer 300, or an Enstrom are much better.

Not to mention, Upper Limit is at KSLC, which can get to around 6-7,000" DA in the summer.  Which makes the Robinson grossly underpowered.