Flight school bankruptcy - Manassas, VA

ArrowFlyer86

ArrowFlyer86

Pattern Altitude
PoA Supporter
Joined
Jul 17, 2019
Messages
1,912
Location
Chicago suburbs
Display Name
Display name:
The Little Arrow That Could
Saw this on AOPA... Abrupt flight school closure impacts students.

1723944967659.png

How many of these outfits are there out there? Do you think many of these flight schools over expanded in recent years and will develop underlying financial issues if their student pipeline spigot turns off? That'd be a vulnerable position for a lot of kids in training.

And damn... Signing up students and taking their money up to the day you close promising a full curriculum with no capacity or intention to deliver? That's just like an outright money-grubbing scam masquerading as a legitimate business.
 
Flight schools are no different from other businesses. Some great, some not, and run by everything from savvy business owners to well-meaning people who fail to outright lying thieves. I would never advise anyone to pay up front for training. I got taken in by an offer to pay a lower rate up front for a block of hours… then the school closed abruptly a few days later. Found out my CFI never got paid a penny for the hours we flew. I was lucky and was only out a few hundred bucks, but this kind of thing happens all the time and people lose a lot of money.
 
DaleB said:
Flight schools are no different from other businesses. Some great, some not, and run by everything from savvy business owners to well-meaning people who fail to outright lying thieves. I would never advise anyone to pay up front for training. I got taken in by an offer to pay a lower rate up front for a block of hours… then the school closed abruptly a few days later. Found out my CFI never got paid a penny for the hours we flew. I was lucky and was only out a few hundred bucks, but this kind of thing happens all the time and people lose a lot of money.
Click to expand...
That's unfortunate.

Something feels really unscrupulous/unethical if you know your bankruptcy filing paperwork is already in the mail but you're still accepting $100k from students.

And yeah... I used to buy block hours, 10 at a time because it was a 15-20% discount. But that was the most I was willing to risk back then.
Luckily the school didn't wind down for a few more years and did so in an orderly fashion, though not without a bit of internal drama.
 
Makes me glad that I did my flight training at a pay-as-you-go place.
 
The person pictured is reported to have paid $100,000.00 in advance.

The school's owner, Kevin C. Rychlik, filed personally for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, citing business debt (between $10 million and $50 million.

Hopefully Virgina has laws to put Kevin in jail for this, but the story says he suffered a stroke.
 
Last edited:
Really sad story about the woman in the aopa story. She was clearly a 'mark'. They not only talked her out of 50k for a commercial/CFI package but also another 50k 'loan to the flight school. You would think that someone with a MBA has the financial literacy to spot that kind of risk, but oh well when there is a dream ....
 
Last edited:
2-Bit Speed said:
Really contextualizes the value of an MBA...
Click to expand...

Or the strength of salesmanship and emotion.

I used to be based at KHEF a few hangars down from that school. They were big on selling block time. At one point one of their former students offered me to sell you $18,000 worth of helicopter lessons for $10,000 as he was unable to get a medical. I spoke to the school management at the time and they would have transferred the block (knowing that I would probably need more hours beyond that). I ended up not doing it, but selling big blocks up front at a discount is just how they operated.

I don't know wheter they were a VA school. That's how the VA apparently pays the flight schools for commercial helo tickets. All cash up front.
 
Clip4 said:
The person pictured is reported to have paid $100,000.00 in advance.

The school's owner, Kevin C. Rychlik, filed personally for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, citing business debt (between $10 million and $50 million.

Hopefully Virgina has laws to put Kevin in jail for this, but the story says he suffered a stroke.
Click to expand...
He pled guilty to tax fraud Friday. Not sure when the sentencing is yet.
 
jbarrass said:
He pled guilty to tax fraud Friday. Not sure when the sentencing is yet.
Click to expand...
Also looks like he sold a $1.4 million home with heliport in January. Virginia Airborne Search and Rescue Squad and a company named Critical Tech Solutions also went black on the web when his other businesses did.

Also appears he was a sworn Rappahannock County Sheriff deputy.
 
Last edited:
GaryM said:
Yeah. It looks to me like it had an asymmetric flap deployment in the tie down.
Click to expand...
Nope, if you look through the window you can see the flap on the other side is down also.
 
Similar thing happened to a buddy of mine with a helicopter school in Jacksonville Fl
 
Doc Holliday said:
Memories of Silver State Helicopters...........
Click to expand...
I had the same thought. Which sent me looking up Jerry Airola. Turns out he’s still a crook. He somehow managed to go into law enforcement, working for several departments (that apparently don’t do background checks, or that have no standards). He was recently indicted for official misconduct.

Once a crook, always a crook.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top