Budgeting cost of Instrument rating

azpilot

azpilot

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azpilot
Hey everyone, I'm trying to make a budget for the cost of getting my instrument rating.

Here is my current situation. I have:

just over 200 hours total time
81.8 hours of cross country
12.4 hours simulated instrument
I have purchased the Sporty's instrument course, and just need to finish it, and take the written test.
Access to an IFR capable club Archer II at $100/Tach hour
My old CFII was charging me $50 / hour. I'll check to see if he's still available.

Based on the requirements of 14 CFR 61.65, I still need to:

1) take the written - $175

2) At least 27.6 more hours of simulated instrument time - I'd fly this all with the CFI, so that's $4,140 (of course I recognize that it may be more than this. If I need to get up to 50 hours of simuilated instrument time to nail everything down, this could be up to $5,640

3) Still need to do the 250 NM cross country, but that would be part of #2.

4) Checkride fee - How much are these now? $500? $600? (I'll be flying out of KCHD [Phoenix area] if that makes a difference)

That all adds up to between $4,815 and $6,415.

Does that seem like a reasonable estimate? Am I missing anything?
 
See above, but if anything at a 20% or 30% margin to that on the upper side. If you can get an Archer for $100 tach that's a bargain

.. it's a good rating, not traditionally 'fun' but it's a good intellectual exercise and rewarding to get the ticket
 
Seems reasonable, but you forgot to factor in the mastery/proficiency. You MAY do that in 40 hours total, but it could take longer. I have no idea what you have been doing under the hood for 12 hours. So worst case assume that you need another 40? If that isn't true, it isn't going to matter because you will want to chase actual as soon as you get the rating anyway. The IFR ticket is just the beginning.
 
Tantalum said:
If you can get an Archer for $100 tach that's a bargain
Click to expand...

I'm in an equity based non-profit club. The Archer is $125 / tach hour. That averages out to ~$100 / Hobbs hour. On top of the hourly rate, you pay a monthly fee. I'm not including that in my price estimate.
 
So, I'm nearly done with my instrument rating. You have a couple points up on me because with your higher time, you probably already meet the 50hr PIC minimum. I have to build the PIC XC minimum into mine, so it's a little more complicated, but here's the real pricing on mine so far (post-PPL)

Instrument written = $175
Instrument Instructor @ $55/hr x 15 = $825
Aircraft for IFR time @ $80/hr wet x 19.3 (to date) = $1544
Safety pilot (Club member) = $0
Safety pilot (instructor) @ $50/hr x 4.5 = $225

I still need 11.5 PIC XC and 17.7 Instrument time (part Safety pilot, part instructor time) so I estimate that I will need about another 25 hrs of aircraft time which equals $2000 plus the instructor time still needed will be about an additional $150. Local DPE charges $500 for the checkride, plus throw in an extra $200 for the aircraft that day. This brings my total post-PPL cost of obtaining my instrument rating to around $5600. Additionally, I flew a number of PIC XC flights for fun that doubled as time builders for that section, so round up and I'm looking at between $6000-$6500.


TL;DR After I got my Private, it's going to cost me $6000-6500 to get my Instrument Rating.
 
My checkride was 500 a bit over a year ago. I had 3.1 under the hood from private. I went to the checkride with 43. I did all 40 with my cfii, and I only felt comfortable and confident for the last 2 or 3. I don't see anything big you're missing. Maybe $100 for charts & plates. Like the private rating, it's best to knock it out as quickly as possible.

Also like the private rating, the skills atrophy quickly, so plan on spending time (money) shooting approaches at least monthly to stay proficient. I found it to be fun (once I got over the hump of the learning curve) and still do. It's magical to punch through a layer and see the sun on a rainy day. Also magical to break out underneath and find yourself perfectly aligned for landing. Makes traveling by GA MUCH more practical. Good luck!
 
One thing that may make this more expensive than you planned - for IFR training, the entire flight is not hood time. I did a lesson yesterday that was 1.5 hours total, but 1.1 hood. So you are paying for airplane / instructor for time with every lesson that is not under the hood.

Also, I'm assuming based on your post that your instructor only charges for time the engine is running. That is pretty rare these days, and also assumes zero ground work with the CFI.

Based on these, you might reasonably expect to go 25-50% over your original budget.
 
samiamPA said:
One thing that may make this more expensive than you planned - for IFR training, the entire flight is not hood time. I did a lesson yesterday that was 1.5 hours total, but 1.1 hood. So you are paying for airplane / instructor for time with every lesson that is not under the hood.

Also, I'm assuming based on your post that your instructor only charges for time the engine is running. That is pretty rare these days, and also assumes zero ground work with the CFI.

Based on these, you might reasonably expect to go 25-50% over your original budget.
Click to expand...

Plus he isn’t going to realize a 20% Hobbs savings estimate at the power setting used during the time he is under the hood.
 
I paid 700 for my checkride last year. I paid a lot less for the rating than that, but I already had a lot of hours and was very comfortable in the plane before I started.
 
samiamPA said:
One thing that may make this more expensive than you planned - for IFR training, the entire flight is not hood time. I did a lesson yesterday that was 1.5 hours total, but 1.1 hood. So you are paying for airplane / instructor for time with every lesson that is not under the hood.

Also, I'm assuming based on your post that your instructor only charges for time the engine is running. That is pretty rare these days, and also assumes zero ground work with the CFI.

Based on these, you might reasonably expect to go 25-50% over your original budget.
Click to expand...
That's a good point. My experience was more like 10-20%.

In the Archer IIRC I flew approaches at 2200 rpm, so that's about 10% below the tach time which counts at 2400.

I didn't keep close records, but I think I spent around 8-9000. My club gets $70/dry tach hour. Add to that fuel at maybe 8-9gph X $5.50 (gas is high at my home base), I was closer to $115 wet, so you should be quite a bit less than me.
 
wow, this is interesting....
and all over the map between $6k and $10k ballpark.

Back in the early 1990's I paid ballpark $3k for my PPL and about $3k for instrument. This was in line with some common rules of thumb I'd read about in magazines or whatever...

when I checked a handful of years ago it seemed that the number was the around about $6k

Plugging $3k into one of those online inflation calculators puts it at around $6k in today's dollars...ok, lines up with what some of you are reporting

But based on my observations Seemed like something happened around about 21 years ago now where it seemed like rental rates made a huge jump up....and they don't corelate
If I plug in what I used to pay to rent a rather nice cessna 172 for example, I get that it should be just under $80 now..... but around here anyway a piece of crap 172 that in my opinion should be grounded is $140-$165/hour...and a little bit nicer one is pushing $180/hour
those sorts of rental rates would put my $3k for a rating up in the $13k-$15k ballpark now
 
I must live too close to Chicago. All in I spent 13k. About 46 hrs in the plane (with instructor), the rest was ground, stage checks, materials (incl Cessna/King course, some exam guides, Sheppard). It was a 141 program where planes (172M) were going for $145 /hr Hobbs. Instructors were 60-80 /hr if I recall. DPE was 600.
 
ja_user said:
Seems reasonable, but you forgot to factor in the mastery/proficiency. You MAY do that in 40 hours total, but it could take longer. I have no idea what you have been doing under the hood for 12 hours. So worst case assume that you need another 40? If that isn't true, it isn't going to matter because you will want to chase actual as soon as you get the rating anyway. The IFR ticket is just the beginning.
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Very good point. I see students vary by a huge amount at the time required for sign off. On the low end I have had several just waiting for 40 hrs to go by and took the ride right at 40 hrs. On the high end, I have had few over 100 hrs. Some people learn at different speeds and it also depends on the airplane complexity and automation. Not really an easy thing to set a price for with so many variables.
 
FWIW
I spent close to 12 grand plus the cost of a used 172 to get mine. Took me about 15 months, 3 different instructors, 4 different airplanes, at 2 different airports and 2 different flight schools.

I finished it in my airplane, at my home airport with a older retired comair pilot that was great to finish with. So worth it no matter what the cost, IMO.
 
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Clip4 said:
Plus he isn’t going to realize a 20% Hobbs savings estimate at the power setting used during the time he is under the hood.
Click to expand...

In my experience, most of the savings on Hobbs vs Tach time comes from the time spent at idle taxing and waiting to take off. But you make a good point.
 
Figure $10k for IFR, ground study material to final check ride cost.
 
kaiser said:
I must live too close to Chicago. All in I spent 13k. About 46 hrs in the plane (with instructor), the rest was ground, stage checks, materials (incl Cessna/King course, some exam guides, Sheppard). It was a 141 program where planes (172M) were going for $145 /hr Hobbs. Instructors were 60-80 /hr if I recall. DPE was 600.
Click to expand...

Instructor rates up at Waukegan is $45/hr and hourly rates for the airplane are lower too, and the instructors don't overcharge ground time, so that's a huge savings overall.
 
Here in north Atl in my club I’m paying instructors $50/hr clock time (ground or air), and $130 per tach hour for the 172M.

Much less than what the local school now charges.
 
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If airplane or CFI availability, weather, work, holidays, or pandemic cause some time-gaps in training, you may be underestimating the total time needed.

Plus see comment above in 1.4 Hobbs = 1.1 hood.

If a $1,500 difference in estimate causes you concern, then budget for $10k to be safe.
 
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