MY PPL COST BREAKDOWN

I paid way more than that, don't want to add it up or even say it out loud. Things that would have helped me were flying more often and being slightly more controlling in my own training. I trusted my cfi too much. I also had three cfi's due to various personal reasons they had come up. I don't think they took advantage of me but, I could have owned my situation a little more. Doing the mountain flying added to it as well but, was fun and worth it.

btw, getting the night flying in during the summer months is a pain.
 
I spent about $11k 2 years ago in northern california, including $300 checkride and random supplies (not including my Bose headset). I wasn't in a hurry and likely flew more hours with the CFI than I absolutely needed to.

Here's the thing that I don't get- I spent a ton of money but the CFI was constantly broke, the owner the plane was broke, and the FBO changed hands while operating in the red.

Where does all the $$ go?
 
uncreative said:
I spent about $11k 2 years ago in northern california, including $300 checkride and random supplies (not including my Bose headset). I wasn't in a hurry and likely flew more hours with the CFI than I absolutely needed to.

Here's the thing that I don't get- I spent a ton of money but the CFI was constantly broke, the owner the plane was broke, and the FBO changed hands while operating in the red.

Where does all the $$ go?
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I have an FBO that's a customer of my business and the owner told me it's dang hard to make money in his business.
I suspect there's a nice lease payment to the airport that starts things off and CFI's may get a good hourly rate but likely are not anywhere near 40 hours billable in a week.
 
I know some of you have said don't add up all the expenses, just live the journey. I remind you that there are many aspiring pilots for whom this thread is beneficial. There are many ways to pay for a license. I for example, bought my own plane because I didn't want to pay a school, wait for a plane and I paid my instructor more than the school was paying him even though they charged students $50 an hour.

Afterwards I had to deal with those people who were envious or jealous that I bought my own plane. Some of them drive cars and/or trucks that were substantially more expensive than my plane. I drive a 10 year old truck so I can own a $31K airplane. It works for me.
 
Timbeck2 said:
I know some of you have said don't add up all the expenses, just live the journey. I remind you that there are many aspiring pilots for whom this thread is beneficial. There are many ways to pay for a license. I for example, bought my own plane because I didn't want to pay a school, wait for a plane and I paid my instructor more than the school was paying him even though they charged students $50 an hour.

Afterwards I had to deal with those people who were envious or jealous that I bought my own plane. Some of them drive cars and/or trucks that were substantially more expensive than my plane. I drive a 10 year old truck so I can own a $31K airplane. It works for me.
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I would say it's mostly in jest. I keep telling my wife that my PPL will only cost $100 and she just rolls her eyes at me. I'm sure I'll be many years into flying and still stick by my $100 budget number to ensure all flying gets approved. :)
 
Timbeck2 said:
I know some of you have said don't add up all the expenses, just live the journey. I remind you that there are many aspiring pilots for whom this thread is beneficial. There are many ways to pay for a license. I for example, bought my own plane because I didn't want to pay a school, wait for a plane and I paid my instructor more than the school was paying him even though they charged students $50 an hour.

Afterwards I had to deal with those people who were envious or jealous that I bought my own plane. Some of them drive cars and/or trucks that were substantially more expensive than my plane. I drive a 10 year old truck so I can own a $31K airplane. It works for me.
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That is a good point. I'm in the don't add it up crowd, but threads like this one were helpful to me to see what I was stepping in when I had no idea. Once you figure out if you can afford some monthly expense for flying, doesn't really matter to me much if its training flying or other. I suspect the 'other' will be more fun, when I get there I'll find out.

The rental fee isn't going anywhere.(unless you buy)
 
Timbeck2 said:
I know some of you have said don't add up all the expenses, just live the journey. I remind you that there are many aspiring pilots for whom this thread is beneficial. There are many ways to pay for a license. I for example, bought my own plane because I didn't want to pay a school, wait for a plane and I paid my instructor more than the school was paying him even though they charged students $50 an hour.

Afterwards I had to deal with those people who were envious or jealous that I bought my own plane. Some of them drive cars and/or trucks that were substantially more expensive than my plane. I drive a 10 year old truck so I can own a $31K airplane. It works for me.
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Been there,,,, got the Tee shirt,,, and am FAR ahead of the game...:wink2:
 
Blueangel said:
I spent way more than 10k getting my ppl. Hopefully my instrument rating won't cost as much.
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Think my instrument was around $2500.. But that was just CFII, tests, some red bird hours and the DPE. Guess you could calculate an hourly rate of my plan for 27 hours if need be.
 
I get the "how much did it cost" question a lot from people who are interested. I just say 9-10K as a general rule, and that you could possibly do it for 7-8K if you were very frugal... like borrow books and headsets, get a little free "dual" from a non CFI in the form of a ride, etc.... Checkrides here are $400.. I passed the first time around, so I'm not sure if a retest fee is a thing or not.

Now at 230+ hours, the certificate itself is a drop in the bucket compared to what I've spent on aviation in total. Rentals, gas, buying an airplane, avionics upgrades, database currency, ipads, insurance, oil changes, misc parts and mx, major overhaul, hangar rent... I better stop now before I get mad:)
 
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