First of all what does the FAA Require? If you have started your search you will notice that most of the flight schools out there will quote the following or something close
40 Hours of flight time ( or airplane Rental )
20 Hours of flight instruction( Instructor in the airplane with you) Also known as dual instruction.
10 hours solo flight time
In many cases that may be it. They wait for you to start flying and all of a sudden where did my money go?
The statement above is somewhat true but you need to know what you are getting into. I have been teaching pilots for 17 years and have had many frustrated students come to me to finish their training. I always have the same response " I wish you had called me sooner".
If you look at the FAA Regulations for Private Pilots and scroll down to section 61.109 / aeronautical experience.
FAA Regulations Online( It takes a little time to Load )You will see that the above hours stated are the first line of the Regulation. One other spot you need to look at is the student pilot requirements part 61.87 and solo cross country requirements 61. 93. At first look at these regulations you may say wow that is a lot of stuff to learn in just a few hours. In all of my years teaching, the closest one of my students came to the 40 hour minimum was about 45 hours. That student flew every day until it was finished. Most people can't do that. I would recommend at least two flights per week.
The fact is all flight instructors in the industry are regulated by the above regulations. Even if you are looking at a part 141 school( This is a school that has had its training syllabus approved by the FAA) The training syllabus that is used at any flight school will normally be about 45+ hours. If you plan to be a dedicated student and fly at least twice a week, you can plan on 45 to 55 hours. The national average for private pilots is somewhere about65-70 hours. Many students will start and stop again and again.
So back to the question how much will it cost me. So Lets break you training down into a few sections that are a little easier to understand.
Presolo Flight Training
So lets look at what the instructor is required to teach you and you are required to be proficient at. I will include the ground training that is required. Most is just reading the books, If you do your homework you won't have to pay your instructor for 10 hours of ground. A few hours of review will do for you to pass the pre solo written test. The big cost is the flying that breaks down to the list below
(1) Proper flight preparation procedures, including preflight planning and preparation, powerplant operation, and aircraft systems;
(2) Taxiing or surface operations, including runups;
(3) Takeoffs and landings, including normal and crosswind;
(4) Straight and level flight, and turns in both directions;
(5) Climbs and climbing turns;
(6) Airport traffic patterns, including entry and departure procedures;
(7) Collision avoidance, windshear avoidance, and wake turbulence avoidance;
(8) Descents, with and without turns, using high and low drag configurations;
(9) Flight at various airspeeds from cruise to slow flight;
(10) Stall entries from various flight attitudes and power combinations with recovery initiated at the first indication of a stall, and recovery from a full stall;
(11) Emergency procedures and equipment malfunctions;
(12) Ground reference maneuvers;
(13) Approaches to a landing area with simulated engine malfunctions;
(14) Slips to a landing; and
(15) Go-arounds.
In my training syllabus I have the above broken down into 13 flights. I pride myself on knowing that my students can face anything and get back on the ground safely. I have seen many instructors bragging about soloing students in less than 10 hours. I personally haven't seen a student with 10 hours that fully understands everything that is going on. Close but not good enough.
So this phase of training with a final flight with another instructor should be somewhere around 17 hours. I do also for my own reasons teach my students one spin awareness lesson that demonstrates different entries and recoveries. This is not full spin training but an awareness lesson that I believe the faa should put back in the requirements.
So we are up to 17 hours or so with a flight instructor (dual instruction) Depending on the airplane you are using the cost will be different but I will use the aircraft and instructor rates I am charging. Cessna 172 @ $98 per hour and I charge $45 per hour. So dual instruction would be $143 per hour and ground instruction would be $45 per hour
So 17 hours dual would be $2431 and say 5 hours of Ground instruction would be $225. Books will depend but say you can get a private pilot kit for $185 That would be a total cost of $2841.00
I will include all of your solo time in the final estimate. The FAA Requires 10 but I find that students still want 15-20 hours of solo before they tke their flight test.
Now lets look at the Cross country requirements for student pilots to do solo cross countries. Without making this difficult you must remember that a certified flight instructor must sign your logbook and medical certificate. That means that the instructor must find you proficient in the maneuvers required. This does bounce back and forth between the student pilot regulations and the private pilot regulations. But since we are looking at Private pilot certificate as the final goal we will use those regulations.
In this phase of training you are looking at a few items beside cross Country flight training. You need 3 hours of night flight training and 3 hours of simulated instrument training. Many instructors will try and combine these two but I think doing this is not good for the final outcome of the student pilot.
In my syllabus I have two dual cross country flights and they average about 2.2 hours each. The FAA requires 3 for the private pilot certificate but I personally think that students need two different cross country flights and about 2- 3 hours of ground instruction. So if we add this up we get
4.4 hours Dual instruction for cross countries
3 hours night flying Dual instruction
3 hours simulated instrument instruction.
2.5 hours of ground instruction
Total of 10.4 hours at a cost of $1487.00
2.5 hours of ground instruction $112.50
TOTAL $1590.50
Flight Test Preparation
This is the final phase of your flight training you are getting close to having a pilot certificate. The FAA Requires that you have 3 hours preparation for the flight test. And you will probably have an average of 7 hours ground instruction to be ready to answer all the questions from the flight examiner.
3 hours Dual Instruction $429.00
7 hours ground instruction $315.00
The final stage of you flight training is the flight test. The rates for flight tests around the country will vary but I will use what the going rate in the phoenix area is $350 Plus you will need to pay for the aircraft. An average flight test will be around 1.5 hours so that will cost $137.
So now lets add up everything including your medical certificate and written test.
Presolo training $2841.00 Remember I included your books in this phase of training
Aviation Medical $85.00
Cross Country Phase $1590.50
15 hours of solo flight $1470.00
Flight Test Preparation $744.00
Flight Test $487.00
FAA Written Test $85.00
Total Cost $7302.50
Now remember this is still an estimate but this should help you be a little more realistic about what it is going to cost you before you get started. My suggestion is that if you are going to go for it. Make sure you finish. I probably have a list of over 100 students alone that started and then rean out of money or something else got in the way. Make sure you are going to do it and commit to it before you even start. Just remember once you get the private pilot certificate, it is good for the rest of your life.
Please post a response to this post if you have any questions
Airfreddy
Learn To Fly, Airfreddy's Private Pilot License Guide
Arizona Flight Training and Instruction
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