In this video Kenny Keller responds to a Helicopter Online Ground School member who, after 42 hours of R44 training, is considering quitting due to what he describes as “crappy” instruction. The student recounts a dual cross‑country flight that lacked any pre‑flight briefing: no weight‑and‑balance discussion, no fuel or route planning, no airport or traffic‑pattern information, and the instructor simply told him to go. Keller uses the story to highlight a pervasive problem in helicopter training— instructors throwing students into flights without proper preparation. He condemns the practice, calls it “ridiculous,” and stresses that both pilot and instructor share responsibility for safety. Keller advises anyone experiencing such neglect to confront the instructor, but more importantly to switch to a different flight school or instructor, emphasizing that training is expensive and students deserve proper instruction. He also touches on a related question about whether students should be allowed to film dual instruction. Keller acknowledges potential privacy concerns but argues that filming can be a valuable learning tool, while also recognizing legitimate reasons a school might restrict it. The video ends with a call for viewers to share their own horror stories and opinions on filming policies.
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So, quick video here. Heather's been communicating with a Helicopter Online Ground School member, and he's thinking about giving up his training. And he said, Well, update on my flight training. I ended today with 42 hours in an R44. It sucks, but it's exactly what Kenny talks about— crappy training. I just did my dual cross-country and still can't believe how bad it was. No discussion on weight and balance, even though my new instructor weighed 250 pounds. There was no discussion on how much fuel would be needed. Helicopter was already fueled. No discussion on how long it would take, where to go if something were to happen, what's the airport elevation, where's the runways, what's the traffic pattern, radio frequency. Let's just go. Let's just get in and go. It will be fine. And stupid me went along with it. No more. I'm done. I'm majorly bummed out. Not sure what to do now. Lots of money down the drain. I'm sure Kenny would love hearing this. Feel free to talk about this in a video. Hopefully it wouldn't happen to someone else, but it probably will. It's the same old horror story that we hear all the time. This is an example of where this guy's thinking about giving up, and we hate to see that because I hate to see anybody give up on a dream. And yeah, he's 42 hours in, so he spent a lot of money in an R44, obviously. But from this, just taking this at face value, this is the kind of shit we talk about. I mean, the guy walks in the door, you throw him in the helicopter. Come on, we're doing a full cross-country. That there was no planning involved at all. Like, it's just frickin ridiculous. And this isn't this. We know this happens. These kinds of things happen all the time. Yeah. If you were in a situation at a flight school where they're just throwing you in the aircraft and go, go, go, just go to another school. I would go right to the school and confront them, number one. And you're probably not going to get anywhere. If they try to make it right, great. But I would say go find another flight school. We know how expensive this is. And this gentleman knows that these things should have went on. It's a responsibility for both the pilot and the instructor, whether he's a student or advanced student, whatever the case is. This is the two sitting down together before ever climbing in the helicopter. And this gives me goosebumps. It just really actually pisses me off because we hear this kind of thing all the time. And one of our instructors that was helping us before he went on to another job, Adamant about the same thing, walking in somewhere and they just, oh, helicopter's on the ramp, come on, let's go. No pre-flight discussion of any kind. And the last time that happened to him, he flew that day and said, he walked out the door and said, I'm done. I'm never going back to that place. Anyway, point is, if you have a feeling that you're not getting proper training, like in this case, move along. Get another instructor. Go to another flight school. I get it. It's unhandy. But, if you're in this specific case, like many, they're not doing their job. Whether it's laziness or they're just trying to make the helicopter payment, who knows? There is never a reason for you to walk in the door on a— getting ready to do a cross-country trip and the helicopter's already fueled and the instructor says, ah, come on, let's just go, it'll be fine. And then, you go fly a cross-country trip. Absolutely ridiculous. There's no, there's not even any, I don't care who you are, you can go in the comments and tell me how I'm wrong, but I don't see, I don't see how this would ever be right, ever. You know, and that's why we here, what we do is when somebody's coming here, so important is to come in, sit down, how you doing today? Did you have breakfast? Did you get any sleep last night? How you feeling? What's going on? What have you been doing? Well, what are we going to do today? That's a half an hour discussion right there. And then actual getting ready to go, what you're talking about, what you're going to do, planning out a cross-country. That's a couple hours minimum for someone who's a student at 42 hours minimum, a couple hours that could actually take half a day or more to properly plan a cross-country trip. If you're just jumping in the helicopter with none of these discussions of any kind and no planning, it's ridiculous. So for those of you struggling and you think you're getting the runaround, guess what? It happens all the time, all over the place. And we just, every time we get a new, a new story like this, we go, well, don't feel bad because it's happening and it's happening all over the place. So, for those flight schools that do a good job, kudos to them. There are good flight schools out there. There are great flight schools. And, there are plenty of great instructors out there. So, for those of you spending the money, you need to find those. And, if you feel like you're not getting the proper training, talk to them about it, number one. But, I highly recommend different instructor, different flight school. If you think you're getting a runaround, end it. Move on. It's your money. And, I hope this gentleman decides to figure out a way to continue because I hate seeing somebody get 42 hours in and get that frustrated. But we all get frustrated. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. You find a way, you keep charging, you never give up. So hopefully, I hope this helps, and I hope he goes and finds another flight school and gets started again. So let us know your horror stories down below. Heather's got something she wanted to say. Quick thoughts on You had one videoing your flights? Oh yeah, and she had another member who emailed. This gentleman had been recording his own flights, or the flights with his instructor, and he was really enjoying it, and he liked to watch it back, and because he could, you know, relive that experience. And I think That's probably a great way to learn. And he wanted to know, like, well, his question was, well, some of my instructors don't want me filming. First time I've really been posed this question. If they don't want you filming, I guess number one, I would ask why. I mean, I can understand why somebody would say no, they just plain don't want to be on camera, but I don't know, it's a hard one for me to be really specific on because I think I think it can be a great tool, but I could also understand why a school wouldn't want you filming. I mean, it does make you first go, oh, well, is there something wrong? Is there something wrong with the aircraft? Is there something there that's not being taught correctly? Is this instructor— is this instructor not confident? It makes you think that, but there could be other reasons. There could be other valid reasons. So, let us know about that down below in the comments. Give us your thoughts on— Do you think flight schools should allow you to film your dual instruction? Because I do believe it could obviously be a great, great help. So put a comment down below and we'll see you in the next video. Peace out.
