Flight schools best rates

T

Trcpilot

Pre-Flight
Joined
Jan 7, 2021
Messages
71
Display Name
Display name:
Cjayfly1
I’ve recently come across two flight schools that have really great rates for training and rental.

A/c hourly rate:

Rocky Mountain flight school with c150 and c172 ranging from 90 - 135 dollars an hour KBJC

North Little Rock air: pipers ranging from 85 -125 an hour. KORK


What other flight schools and flying clubs have great rates similar to the ones listed above?

Please post location for the school and airport!
 
I think flying clubs will skew the data. too many variables to muddy the water there....

But interesting question! I'd love to see a comprehensive database of rental rates.
rates alone might be misleading though.... condition of the aircraft and equipment are variables to compare. not just the type.​
 
Above^^^, but Also think about availability. Good rate attract a lot of pilots. The Negative on good rates: what is the maintenance like? Besides, a good rate on an old flight school dog doesn’t mean much if it is in the shop all the time. Just things to think about.

a long time ago I flew with an outfit that only had one valid airworthiness certification between 5 Cessna 150s. We’d put the cert in the plane when we went for our check ride. I once tried to do a multi at the same place. Only half the engines worked at any one time, but the price was good.
 
Cheap rates attract cheap pilots and time builders ,depending on the size of the fleet an aircraft may not be available when you want it.
 
Trcpilot said:
I’ve recently come across two flight schools that have really great rates for training and rental.

A/c hourly rate:

Rocky Mountain flight school with c150 and c172 ranging from 90 - 135 dollars an hour KBJC

North Little Rock air: pipers ranging from 85 -125 an hour. KORK


What other flight schools and flying clubs have great rates similar to the ones listed above?

Please post location for the school and airport!
Click to expand...

Personally I have no desire to instruct in bottom end rentals. If you can find some fool who will, go for it.
 
Trcpilot said:
A/c hourly rate:
Rocky Mountain flight school with c150 and c172 ranging from 90 - 135 dollars an hour KBJC
North Little Rock air: pipers ranging from 85 -125 an hour. KORK
Click to expand...
Are those wet or dry rates?
 
Skymac said:
You can not maintain a 172 for $135 wet and maintain it correctly in a rental environment.
Click to expand...
The 172(s) I teach in is about $150/hr. The 172XP has been at another location for a while but I recall it was about $165/hr. But flight instruction is primarily provided as a service and as part of the agreement with the City in exchange for the FBO lease and operation of the fuel pumps.
So I assume the company is purchasing fuel at wholesale price. Their bread and butter is charter work and some maintenance as their shop does some work outside of the company. They do a great job maintaining the airplanes as it is the same mechanics that are maintaining the Charter planes that are doing the trainers. They also operate Charter and Training operations at 2 or 3 other airports.
Now the planes don't have Shiny new paint jobs or the latest avionics, But they keep everything airworthy and promptly, even proactively, fix issues. When the do fix or replace equipment they tend to replace it with higher end stuff. Like instead of just fixing an original fuel guage, they replaced them with a nice digital fuel level indicator system. Same with the Tach, it was replaced with a nice digital Tach.

Brian
CFIIG
 
Skymac said:
You can not maintain a 172 for $135 wet and maintain it correctly in a rental environment.
Click to expand...

Eh, depends on fuel cost. We bill partners $85/hr dry for our 172 w/GTN650 and dual G5s. About $25/hr goes to engine reserves, about $15/hr for maintenance (we do an annual + 2-3 100hrs/yr) about $5/hr goes to databases. Amortized out, hangar and insure are about $15/hr each. We don’t have to turn a profit though so excess goes to capital improvements.
 
Wet Rates: Fuel is between $6-$7/gal
PA-28R-201 Arrow III, IFR, Non-WAAS G530, no autopilot, $249/hr
C-182T, Skylane, IFR, G1000 Non-WAAS, KAP140 autopilot, $289/hr
Warriors, $215
Skyhawks, $229
 
Starting February 1st, our rates are going up. New rates:

Cessna 150: $120/hour
Cessna 152: $135/hour
Cessna 172: $155/hour

Primary instruction: $60/hour (I am not aware of any increase in my share of this new rate)
Advanced instruction or instruction in your airplane: $65/hour
Evaluations (stage checks): 80/hour

These increases are based on a survey of other Wisconsin flight training facilities that actually list their rates. Some do not. We believe we will still be on the low side of the average.
 
Wow $180 an hour for C150 and instructor. In 1974, it was $15 per hour dual wet. Solo was $10. 80 octane was only 30 cents a gallon though, and a 0 200 overhaul might run $1500.
 
rhkennerly said:
Above^^^, but Also think about availability. Good rate attract a lot of pilots. The Negative on good rates: what is the maintenance like? Besides, a good rate on an old flight school dog doesn’t mean much if it is in the shop all the time. Just things to think about.
Click to expand...

I am familiar with plenty of high-priced aircraft rentals that are also poorly maintained.
 
schmookeeg said:
I am familiar with plenty of high-priced aircraft rentals that are also poorly maintained.
Click to expand...
Me too, unfortunately. Enough poor maintenance discovered that it forced me to quit learning altogether at a flight school; it wasn't worth the potential notoriety of ending up on kathryn's report as an NTSB statistic.
 
Man a couple flight schools around here are around 260/hr on a 172. . Nice all glass cockpits though it struck me as extremely overpriced compared to a few others.
 
tlglenn said:
For historical comparisons this might be useful: https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

The 45 per hr wet rate I paid for a C150 in 2002 is about 76 today. I think it would be difficult to find a decent C150 for under 100 today.
Click to expand...
The historical trend of rental prices has had me puzzled for a while
It seemed to me that there was an unexplainable leap upwards in rental rates right around the year 2000. I've had that impression since then, but of course, my memory is fuzzy on some of the particulars and there were some moves to different cities involved

I really wish that I had saved notes on what I have paid through the years, but I do have a pretty good handle on it. Now I'm curious, so I'll think this through....

Back in the early 1990's when I was most active in my flying, at KJGG in Virginia I'm pretty confident that I was paying something like
- $35/hour wet for a C152, I think it was $32/hr on block rate (adjusting for inflation, that's $85.14/hr today, or $77.84 block)​
- & I think the C172N was in the $42-$45 range (adjusted $102.17 to $109.47)​
- I really wish that I could remember what I paid for renting the Piper Apache, the C177RG, and the Mooney M20F​
* aircraft decently equipped and maintained​
A couple moves to other cities later, I'm fuzzier on what I was paying in 1999, but in the Atlanta are at KRYY.
- C-172N and 172P, for a similarly equipped 172 I want to say I was paying something in the ballpark of $65/hour (adjusted $121.65 today)
- I don't recall what I was paying for the C152, the C172RG, or the C182 there
Another move landed me in the Jacksonville FL area, a couple years later, in 2002
- C-172N - I remember a similarly equipped and decent 172N eating up most of Ben Franklin...say $85 (adjusted $147.56/hr)
- C-177RG - I want to say it was in the $140 ballpark (adjusted $243.04/hr)
- C182P - memory is a lot fuzzier, but maybe $150 to $160 range ($260-$278)
Today, 2024
- C172N - poorly equipped and poorly maintained dogged out piece of garbage rents for $165/hr. I want to say it was around $145 about 4 years ago, so holding steadier for a while)
- C150 - I don't know the condition, rents for $125/hr

all of these are wet rates
(THe inflation adjustments are according to the first calculator google served up to me, https://www.amortization.org)
1707051793126.png
 
I sometimes wonder if all those people that proudly proclaim that "they were paying $16/hr when Orville was teaching them to fly" are truly that unaware when it comes to inflation or if they just want to troll us.

One of the flight schools in my area has actually been reducing their prices (slightly), when you take inflation into account. Their 150s rent for about $125/hr, and the 172s for about $175/hr. They were around $110 and $140 6-7 years ago. Wet prices, add sales tax. With everything else going up (parts, supplies and so on), that is quite surprising. I think they were adding a fuel surcharge though at some point, not sure if they still do.
 
Brad W said:
It seemed to me that there was an unexplainable leap upwards in rental rates right around the year 2000. I've had that impression since then, but of course, my memory is fuzzy on some of the particulars and there were some moves to different cities involved
Click to expand...

I noticed a jump in rates in 2002 when flight school owners began receiving their insurance renewal offers following 9/11.
 
Skymac said:
You can not maintain a 172 for $135 wet and maintain it correctly in a rental environment.
Click to expand...
My experience says you're wrong.

Our club maintains three 172S models for just under $135 wet. Our base hourly maintenance is about $85/hr and fuel making up the rest.

Two of them were purchased new by the club about 15 years ago and all of them are paid off with well over 10k hours plus dual G5, GTN650, and a King AP. They get regular 50 and 100 hour oil changes with squawks addressed, engines overhauled every 2-4 years. The director of maintenance does not hesitate to ground a plane if there's a safety issue, but that's rarely needed. Our dispatch rate is very high.

Maybe you meant to say "you cannot maintain a 172 for $135 wet in a rental environment and make money off it too". Still not sure I'd agree, but I wouldn't argue it either.
 
TCABM said:
Eh, depends on fuel cost. We bill partners $85/hr dry for our 172 w/GTN650 and dual G5s. About $25/hr goes to engine reserves, about $15/hr for maintenance (we do an annual + 2-3 100hrs/yr) about $5/hr goes to databases. Amortized out, hangar and insure are about $15/hr each. We don’t have to turn a profit though so excess goes to capital improvements.
Click to expand...
And if engine fails before TBO, the airplane fairy will put the money under your pillow. The same fairy that is giving you an interest free loan on the aircraft.
 
Last edited:
You pay more in the 152 for not having to hold the flap switch on the right of the instrument panel while looking at the indicator on the left door frame.
 
I rented an Archer from the FBO in middle-of-nowhere Iowa for $65/dry in 2020-2021. Granted, it was full steam gauge panel, so no expensive glass. The only maintenance issue was when the seal under the fuel cap cracked one time during the year and change that I was flying it. At the time, avgas was $3.48/gal, and I thought it was expensive when it went up to $4.80. Solo, I was all in for just less than $100/hr. My instructor charged me $35/hr for dual - though after I took my checkride, she admitted that her planned rate was $45/hr and she gave me a discount because I was her first student and because she liked flying with me.

It hurts to have to pay over $125/hr for a Skycatcher now, but the upside is, there's no such thing as a 5*F preflight!
 
tlglenn said:
I noticed a jump in rates in 2002 when flight school owners began receiving their insurance renewal offers following 9/11.
Click to expand...
That might correlate with my observations.... the gap on my graph between 1999 and 2002...one of my ground-bound rusty pilot periods during the move and new job.

I didn't actually say this, but my memory and intuition has the curve between the points on my graph as being S-shaped...
- rather flat through the 1990's, just a slight upward trend that would be expected and understandable
- then an abrupt increase somewhere in that late 1999 to 2002 period....2001 tracks
- then from that point a continuation with the slight upward trend that would be expected and understandable....except now it's offset to a higher level than it was before

OK, so insurance went up 2001?
Does anyone know what the avgas price curve over time might look like? was there any noticeable shift in the curve?
what other variables might have shifted?

I wonder if any of these variables that bumped up were temporary and came back down... I mean did the market show that folks would pay more, so even after it could have readjusted back down to a normal trendline, the business owners decided to keep rates up based on market allowances or "perceived value"?

I did find this...seems to be showing gasoline pricing and not specifically 100LL and not AVGAS of any other grade either but AOPA was using it, so maybe there's a correlation...

1707150008719.png
(source: https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2022/april/pilot/avgas-pricing)

So flat pricing through the 1990's but then the slope steepened for several years. The trend ultimately started back down around 2015. Maybe rental rates matched that as I have not been very active in much of that time.
 
Bathman said:
How come the C150 is 15 dollars cheaper than the C152?
Click to expand...

Guessing from my own experiences, but partly 152 is 24V and the 150 is 12V, and partly cheaper Conti overhauls vs the Lyc?

24V accessories and batteries are more expensive in general. Despite the O-200 being an 1800 hour motor and the O-235L2C being 2400, my experience has been they will both soldier on about the same. The O-200 will be a cheaper overhaul. Both have a lot of boneyard spares.
 
in my experience 150's and 152's seem to bring about the same money. My guess is that one has a GPS and the other doesn't...or something like that.
 
Brad W said:
in my experience 150's and 152's seem to bring about the same money. My guess is that one has a GPS and the other doesn't...or something like that.
Click to expand...
Our 150 and 152 have similar equipment. No GPS. Single VOR receiver (almost worthless here) and single com radio.
 
In my experience the C152 is cheaper to run. Largely because the engine is more robust.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top