Private Pilot Training cost?

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Firemanhouston

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FiremanHouston
Given the fall in automotive gas prices recently, should I expect to see a decrease in the cost of obtaining a license in the near future? If a price decrease is expected in the next 3-6 months will it make a significant difference in the overall cost to complete training?
 
Firemanhouston said:
Given the fall in automotive gas prices recently, should I expect to see a decrease in the cost of obtaining a license in the near future? If a price decrease is expected in the next 3-6 months will it make a significant difference in the overall cost to complete training?
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I doubt it.

Just like the airlines, flight schools are going to pocket the extra.
 
No.

besides, oil prices are not going to stay this low for an extended time. Short time, think a year at most, possibly 18 months. Interesting news article that JetA is at the lowest price in many, many years, yet airline ticket prices are going up.
 
Would if you bought a plane to train in.
 
nope. Plan on spending $10k. If you get it for less, it's gravy.
 
Place where I rented from a month ago just dropped their hourly rates by $5, thanks to cheap gas.
 
I hate hate hate saying this, but if you have to worry about training costs you haven't got what it takes to stay in the game. It doesn't get any cheaper, not one bit.
 
mtuomi said:
Place where I rented from a month ago just dropped their hourly rates by $5, thanks to cheap gas.
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Even at $5/hr cheaper (which is pretty darn good), the savings are peanuts over a complete PPL training course.

At 70 hours, it will be $350 cheaper (if that $5/hr discount holds). If you're renting the plane for $120/hr, 70 hours of rental would be $8050 instead of $8400. Tack on instructor hourly, I doubt the numbers would be what the OP is looking for.
 
steingar said:
I hate hate hate saying this, but if you have to worry about training costs you haven't got what it takes to stay in the game. It doesn't get any cheaper, not one bit.
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Agree. $10k is just the starting micro-drop in the private pilot flying game.
 
The President should just by executive order make all flight training FREE. :rofl:
 
As a wise man once told me, "Fuel is the least expensive part of flying."
 
Don't let the cost get you down. Don't let the naysayers that claim you need a wad of cash saved up to even contemplate flight training get you down. Do what you can with what you have. I know a guy that took 3 years to get his PPL. It's probably going to take me over a year to get mine. Just do what you can, when you can. (Within the limits of testing dates, medical etc.) Is it expensive? Well, yeah. But if you have the dream and desire, you learn to save money better, not buy the latest whatever and put that saved cash towards lessons. (My desire for an xBox One and buying nice watches every so often has dropped off greatly since I decided to try and get my PPL.)

Don't let anyone tell you YOUR time frame to train. I firmly believe that flying is not just in the realm of the wealthy.
 
FlyingIsGood said:
Even at $5/hr cheaper (which is pretty darn good), the savings are peanuts over a complete PPL training course.

At 70 hours, it will be $350 cheaper (if that $5/hr discount holds). If you're renting the plane for $120/hr, 70 hours of rental would be $8050 instead of $8400. Tack on instructor hourly, I doubt the numbers would be what the OP is looking for.
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Hard work and diligence will pay off way more cutting 30 hrs off the training.
 
Henning said:
Hard work and diligence will pay off way more cutting 30 hrs off the training.
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Exactly.
I've never understood the "it will take 70 rather than 40 hours"-people. If you work hard and fly often with a good CFI, I just can't see anyone needing 70 hours to complete the PPL.

Or if they do, well, flying is not everyone.
 
BigBadLou said:
That.

If you want to take advantage of lower fuel prices, you must buy your own. Otherwise you are just paying for the flight school owner's Lexus.
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I'm not sure I've seen a flight school owner driving a Lexus, at least not one less than 10 yrs old.:rofl:
 
BigBadLou said:
[snip] the flight school owner's Lexus.
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That reminds me of this (told to me by a banjo player): "What's the one sentence you'll never hear?




That's the banjo players Ferrari."

John
 
Henning said:
I'm not sure I've seen a flight school owner driving a Lexus, at least not one less than 10 yrs old.:rofl:
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I know plenty. Well, not stupid enough to actually buy one, but have the money for it.
They are the ones who know where the money is, and how to get it. 99,9999999% of US flight school/plane rental operation owners don't.
 
Henning said:
Hard work and diligence will pay off way more cutting 30 hrs off the training.
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Absolutely! Spending time studying and chair flying outside of formal lessons can go a long way in cutting your training costs down. I spent four months in training and got signed off at @45 hours - saving a fortune over "average."

Also, once you're in solo mode, get checked out in a Cessna 150/152, and use it for solo work (if possible), that will knock off another $30-$40/hr for some of those solo hours. Heck, if you can swing all of your training in a 150/152, you'll save a bundle.

It may cost an "average" of $10k or so for PPL training, but you can do it for a lot less if you're competent, diligent, and study hard.

Don't get discouraged by cost. If you want it bad enough, you'll quickly realize how many things you already spend money on could be cut back in order to fund training.
 
Depends where you live but I'd budget 15K to be on the safe side. Another 10k for instrument and 5k for commercial.
 
15k for private? JesusChrist... There are some limits on how far on the safe side you should be. 15k is beyond any reasonable estimate.
I would say 10k is a good safe number. Work hard, fly often, and you should easily stay under that.
 
Captain said:
PPL is $10K????

Holy crap! People pay that??
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My thoughts exactly. I'm figuring 6K.. maybe 8K tops for mine. If I'm spending 10K a) I'm an idiot and shouldn't be flying b) my wife would kill me.

Actually... I just ran some numbers. Let's say I can get the C150 and CFI from the flight club for ~$133/hour (which is sort of what the rate is now - thank you fuel price drops) and it takes me 70 hours - that's $9,310.00. Granted 70 hours is probably high - it will probably be closer to $7,980.00 for me. Tack on the $300 or so I've spent on ground school and misc. books and then (and I'm not certain about this yet) the cost of the written test, checkride person and the plane rental for THAT.. and, yeah, looks like it might be close to 10K.

Shhh... don't tell my wife.

BTW - The checkride folks just charge if they aren't actually employees of the FAA, right? The people who charge $ for that are the ones the FAA designates to give checkrides, correct?
 
I completely agree that studying hard, "chair flying", flying often, etc. will cut costs the most...

JMac1773 said:
BTW - The checkride folks just charge if they aren't actually employees of the FAA, right? The people who charge $ for that are the ones the FAA designates to give checkrides, correct?
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Yes, the Designated Pilot Examiners (DPE)'s can charge what they want, but you're not likely to get an FAA person to do a checkride unless it's for a CFI checkride.
 
kevmor99 said:
Yes, the Designated Pilot Examiners (DPE)'s can charge what they want, but you're not likely to get an FAA person to do a checkride unless it's for a CFI checkride.
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Well crap. I was hoping since I live in the DFW area that I might luck out and not have to pay for a DPE. Oh well...
 
Mine was just under $8k, a couple of years ago. It varies quite a bit depending on where you are, also.
 
JMac1773 said:
Shhh... don't tell my wife.
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Flying in no way shape or form is a cheap hobby. Don't know what type of student you are but some people finish in 40 hours, some in 140 hours. As mentioned, being diligent in your study, flying time is the best money saver. Not actually flying is a much better method of saving because post PPL you either buy a plane or continue to rent for $100+ an hour. You decide to fly somewhere you're $500 into it before you know it.

I bought a plane because I still tend to fly a decent bit. About 10 hours a month and it's winter. This summer I'll easily double that.
 
OkieAviator said:
Flying in no way shape or form is a cheap hobby. Don't know what type of student you are but some people finish in 40 hours, some in 140 hours. As mentioned, being diligent in your study, flying time is the best money saver. Not actually flying is a much better method of saving because post PPL you either buy a plane or continue to rent for $100+ an hour. You decide to fly somewhere you're $500 into it before you know it.

I bought a plane because I still tend to fly a decent bit. About 10 hours a month and it's winter. This summer I'll easily double that.
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I'll probably end up buying a plane at some point. If not, I'm OK with that. Right now it's study, study, study. I haven't even taken a flight lesson yet but I do a LOT of couch flying along with my ground school. I've read, in many different places, that a good study ethic at home can go a long way to saving some money. But when I do start flight training, I intend to fly as often as I can.

I may not be the pilot that flies from Texas to Alaska in a plane I own but if I can be the pilot that flies from my home airport to a good cafe a few counties away in a rental once in a while - I'm OK with that. :D
 
A good study ethic is required, but only part of the equation. You really should be doing the ground stuff concurrently with the flying stuff, because neither makes complete sense without the other, so it makes the learning process longer and more confusing; worst is when you think you have something right and don't, now you have unlearning and relearning to do, and that wastes time and money.
 
Henning said:
A good study ethic is required, but only part of the equation. You really should be doing the ground stuff concurrently with the flying stuff, because neither makes complete sense without the other, so it makes the learning process longer and more confusing; worst is when you think you have something right and don't, now you have unlearning and relearning to do, and that wastes time and money.
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True. I'm only two chapters in to the ground school, however. And I plan to start the flight training as soon as this cold/sinus/allergy attack/whatever I have goes away. :mad2:
 
If you're like me and have to work for a living, have kids, etc... it will likely take 6-8 months to get it done...and that's flying at least once or twice a week. I came into my training very prepared as I had already flown about 25 hours and solo'd, etc... earlier in my flying career. Granted, that was almost 20 prior to this most current time around (got my PPL in Sept 2013) but compared to folks coming in not knowing anything...I was definitely ahead of the game. I went to my checkride with 64 hours but I had probably 8 or so that I didn't 'have' to have. I had my own plane so I flew a couple extra XC's and did several hours of solo pattern work just for fun. From what I've seen 60-70 is about average to get a PPL for those that stick with it.

Like I said, plan on spending $10k and if you do it for less then it's gravy. I have no idea exactly how much mine was...probably less than that by a decent amount since I bought into a plane (so, not counting the plane share purchase and only factoring in $35/hr for my CFI and about $50/hr for gas). But, I bought a few books, Sporty's video's, bought a Zulu headset (that was $900 bucks), etc...

This ain't a cheap hobby. :)
 
Ten thousand dollars. Ten thousand dollars. OMG, ten thousand dollars.

I have over ten thousand hours and that's over a months pay for me. TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS. That's enough money to feed like 12,000 kids in Africa for a year. Holy smokes, ...ten thousand dollars.
 
JMac1773 said:
Shhh... don't tell my wife.
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If your wife is not interested in things aviation it is best to not talk about the costs and go ahead and ask for forgiveness later :lol: Once you have it she will appreciate it though once you can take her places but even so best to not talk too much about how much it costs... ;) I have an unwritten agreement with my wife. I don't talk too much about my flying costs and she doesn't talk about the purses, shoes, jewellery, other assorted crap she buys all the time. I have the better deal. :rofl:
 
Captain said:
Ten thousand dollars. Ten thousand dollars. OMG, ten thousand dollars.

I have over ten thousand hours and that's over a months pay for me. TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS. That's enough money to feed like 12,000 kids in Africa for a year. Holy smokes, ...ten thousand dollars.
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So what's your point? Besides sounding bitter :lol:
 
Captain said:
Ten thousand dollars. Ten thousand dollars. OMG, ten thousand dollars.
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Assume a rental costs $100/hr.
Assume the average student takes 75 hours[1].
Assume 60 hours are flown dual with a CFI who charges $35/hr.

75hrs*$100/hr + 60hrs*$35/hr = $9600

Now add in all other expenses....

[1] https://www.faa.gov/pilots/become/deaf_pilot/training/
"Though the regulations require a minimum of 40 hours flight time, in the U. S. the average number of hours for persons without a hearing impairment completing the private pilot certification requirements is approximately 75 hours."
 
Mine was 5k over 6 months in 2011. All-in

When people ask me how much it costs to get your license, I don't respond with the total amount. What I like to say is.. can you spare at least $500/month ? Expect it to take 7-12 months.

Thats with our local flying club. Instructors about $30/hr and 152's rent for $75/hr or a warrior for $100/hr
 
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sixpacker said:
If your wife is not interested in things aviation it is best to not talk about the costs and go ahead and ask for forgiveness later :lol: Once you have it she will appreciate it though once you can take her places but even so best to not talk too much about how much it costs... ;) I have an unwritten agreement with my wife. I don't talk too much about my flying costs and she doesn't talk about the purses, shoes, jewellery, other assorted crap she buys all the time. I have the better deal. :rofl:
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HA! Perfect! We talk about the cost (kind of) but my wife is VERY supportive. She's using my training as guide to holiday/birthday gift buying. I'm not complaining. She's talking now, however, about getting me a headset for Valentine's Day. I'm trying to (nicely) tell her that headsets are very personal etc. etc. She's was a little disappointed when I told her a buddy of mine was giving me a headset for free. I tried to explain to her that it would make a GREAT passenger headset... ;)
 
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