Dakota Rotors, LLC. | Application Preview
Dakota Rotors, LLC is applying for government grants to support the establishment of a flight school. The goal is to cultivate future pilots in South Dakota and offer them a structured career path over the next ten years. This path involves obtaining a commercial pilot license in approximately two years, followed by 4-8 years of experience as tour pilots, with opportunities to transition into Emergency Medical Services and Fire Fighting roles.
The business plan focuses on integrating a full flight school into their existing tour operations at three locations in South Dakota. This expansion aims not only to grow their business but also to create a reliable pipeline of trained pilots. Recognizing a gap in the professional training of pilots from smaller operations, the two owners, who collectively have over 50 years of helicopter experience, have shifted their focus from identifying the problem to becoming part of the solution. They have been successfully developing qualified pilots for larger organizations over the past three years and now seek to enhance this process by providing foundational training.
Despite competition from various flight schools, including Southern Utah University, Dakota Rotors emphasizes their commitment to quality training over profit, which they believe is often overlooked by other institutions. Their competitive advantage lies in their financial stability, allowing them to offer affordable flight training while continuing to operate their tour services and ensuring students receive the education and career guidance they deserve.
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General Information
Business Registration Number: DL021333
Location: CUSTER, SD, United States
Length of Operation: 11plus
Number of Employees: 11-25 Employees
Annual Gross Income: $500k to $1M
Annual Gross Expense: $500k to $1M
Open to Loans: NO
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Funding Usage
Adding a flight school to the operation to bring future pilots into the South Dakota area and then providing an in state career path for them for the next ten years. The path of a pilot is about 2 years for a commercial pilot license then about 4-8 years as a tour pilot and then into the Emergency Medical and Fire Fighting positions.
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Business Plan
The addition of a full flight school to our current tour business of 3 location in the South Dakota area will greatly grow our business as well as provide a great pilot pipeline to for these future pilots. Some helicopter pilots also transition into the airlines. The two owners of Dakota Rotors LLC have over 50 years of combined experience in the helicopter world and made the change to owners with the sole purpose of providing better pilots to the larger operations they have been a part of over the years. We saw a true lack of professional training of pilots coming from the smaller operations throughout the United States and wanted to change that. After running large 135 tour operations for years we made the decision to quit complaining about the problem and become the solution. In the last 3 years we have begun to send very qualified pilots up to these larger organizations and are being recognized for it. The next step for us to to get these pilots right from the get go and provide them with the proper schooling to and direction to commercial pilots.
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Self Identified Competition
There are several flight schools around the US but on of the largest we see pilots from is Southern Utah University and we are not impressed with the quality of eduction they are receiving. It is clear money is more important than the students they are training. We have the financial stabilization to provide affordable flight training while still running our tur operations and giving the students the education and career path they deserve.
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Contact Applicant
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