Private Pilot LIcense Cost, Understanding the Cost of a Private Pilot License

The First thing you want to do is understand what the private pilot license is going to cost you. If you have looked around my website you can see that I have an entire section on the Cost of learning to fly and the Private Pilot License Training Cost.

I will outline and explain it here in the Private pilot License Course.

Most people don't have unlimited budgets so the most important thing to do is plan ahead so you don't get stuck halfway through your training.

With rising fuel costs, the costs per hour for airplanes is getting more expensive. You don't want to make the wrong choices. You want to research and plan all of your options before you start. Once you have your Private Pilot License, it is yours for the rest of your life. You will have to do a flight review every two years and meet some other requirements to carry passengers but once you get it, it is yours.

So many times I have seen students start and stop and start and stop again. Once they are finally licensed, they may have spent up to three times what they should have if they had committed to it in a short period of time.

First thing is, you need to understand that this is going to cost you more that most flight schools will put in their cost estimates. There is a difference between the FAA minimums for the Private Pilot License and the amount you are going to actually fly.

Many students will just go into a flight school and start flying. Half way thru their training, they will run out of money. Why does this happen all the time?... Because people don't plan. It is really that simple.

First of all you want to get a REALISTIC idea of what it is going to cost you. The quotes from most flight schools are probably at least $2,000 if not more short of what you are going to actually spend. So if you are on a tight budget for your Pilot Training I suggest you do some planning ahead.

If you haven't looked yet, I have broken the cost of learning to fly down into four parts. I do this so you can understand what is required at each phase of your training. I make reference to the rates that I charge for the airplanes and the instructor rates. In different parts of the country this can be cheaper or more expensive. I use the C-172 for my cost estimates. There are many other airplanes out there that you can train in.

I have looked at some articles out there that say it will cost $4,000-$6,000. Maybe ten years ago but not now. If you are in a less expensive part of the country I would say that you may be able to get your license for $7,000 or so if you have a good instructor and stay on track.

Here in the phoenix area, I tell people to plan on $8,000- $9,000. That is on a steady schedule with an instructor who is dedicated and will commit to finish your training all the way through.

As I have said before there are many factors that can change the cost of your training. You have to look at all of your options before you start flying.
So lets take a look at the cost estimates. I have them broken the Private Pilot License Cost into four sections. This way you can understand how the Pilot Training Process works.

Private Pilot License - Books and Materials Cost

Private Pilot License - Pre Solo Training Costs

Private Pilot License - Post Solo Training Costs

Private Pilot License - Flight Test Preparation Costs

I have this broken down this way so you can see what it required of you and the cost associated with it. I will just give you the outline here and you can look at my individual articles about each one.

Private Pilot License Books and Materials Cost: This is the cost of the things you need to study for the Private Pilot Aeronautical Knowledge required and all of the other things you will need for your flight training. There are many industry standard courses out there based on the FAA publications for the Private Pilot License. They all have the same material they are just presented differently.
Private Pilot License - Pre Solo Training Costs: These are the costs that it will take you to get through the Pre Solo Phase of your training. This is the cost of all training required before your instructor can get out of the plane and let you go on your own.

Private Pilot License - Post Solo Training Costs: These are the cost that it will take you to get through the post solo phase of your flight training. This includes your cross countries, night flights and simulated instrument flight.

Private Pilot License - Flight Test Preparation Cost: This is the final phase of your flight training. In this phase your instructor will get you ready for the Private Pilot License Flight Test.

Total Private Pilot License Cost: Here in this section I put everything together so you can get a realistic idea of what it will actually cost for a Private Pilot License.

When you put all of these together, you will see there is a little bit more involved than most flight schools will lead you to believe. When you add all of these up you get a number that is somewhere around $8,500. Remember this will depend on the Aircraft and Instructor Rates but will also depend on many other factors.

Tomorrows Installment is Understanding The Private Pilot License General Requirements

Hope to See You In The Sky

Airfreddy

Airfreddy's Private Pilot License Manual

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