OK, it was on a sit-com, but could a private pilot’s license cost $7000? I am certain this did not include the cost of lessons.
I have been looking into what it would cost to get a pilot’s license, and that number seems in the ballpark. I figured I could get the training I needed (flying and classroom) for around $10,000. Some of the local flight instructors have packages that you can get that basically give you a straight track to get your license, and will do every thing you need.
Of course, once you get your license, then you need a plane, or at least partial ownership of one. It was the cost of the aircraft, maintenance, storage, etc. that made me decide now is not a good time in my life to pursue such a hobby. I am looking at getting and learning to fly a powered parachute, though. For around $10k, you can get training and an aircraft. Of course they are experimental and are not really a means of transportation, just a fun hobby.
Do a search for local flight schools and their websites should have info that will give you a good idea of how much it will cost. Assuming you’re asking about the cost of a private pilot certificate to fly airplanes, probably around $4-5k on the very low end, and only higher from there.
A way you could estimate it is that you will pay several hundred dollars for books and equipment, and ground training by the hour at whatever rate the instructor charges (say $20/hour). You’ll pay about a hundred bucks for the written test, and assuming you use a designated examiner, maybe a couple hundred dollars for the flight examination.The variable amount will be flight instruction plus airplane rental for however many hours of dual instruction you receive, and airplane rental only for however many hours of solo time you log toward your training. Perhaps thirty to forty hours of dual time at $20-30/hour for instruction and say $50-80 for the rental, and anticipate less than ten hours of solo time required at the rental rate only. Expect to need more than the minimum 40 flight hours that is often quoted by flight schools. 60-70 is realistic, but 40 is not unheard of either.
You can save costs by purchasing or checking out used study materials and a headset, or borrowing a headset. If you know a flight instructor as a friend who is willing to offer instruction free or at reduced cost that could also help. Even better, maybe you know someone who will let you use their plane for the training at direct operating cost. Chances are you’d be responsible for insurance coverage in that scenario, but maybe not.
If airplanes are not your thing, I think you could get a private pilot license in a glider for much cheaper, especially with a club. Check out the SSA for a directory of clubs near you. Another recent option is the sport pilot license, which includes privileges for some airplanes and only requires 20 hours of training. Not as many privileges as a private pilot, but cheaper if recreation is your only goal.
Why not?
Most folks I know spent around $6,000 on their private license. The price has gone up in recent years, but $8,000-$10,000 is quite reasonable for a total, including flight time, ground school, testing fees, and various minor bits of equipment. It’s possible to spend less, if you find the right flight school and can take several weeks out of your life to concentrate on just learning to fly.
Or you can rent an airplane by the hour… of course, there are downsides to that, as well, but it’s the option I’ve been using this past decade.
If you happen to attend UC davis theres a program here to get a pilots license(we have our own airport!). It’s supposed to be significantly cheaper then average.
I tell my students to plan on about 4-5K (usd).
45 hours of airplane rental @ $60.00 ($2700)
25 hours of me @ $30.00 ($750)*
Ground school ($300)
Flt bag, headset, charts, plotter, etc. ($300)
Checkride ($250)
Misc stuff ($200)
Total $4500.00
(ymmv, etc., etc.)
*I don’t charge for ground time
As mentioned in the other thread, when I started the 150 rented for $20/hr wet (tach time). It is now $30/hr (the 172 and 177 are $40/hr wet TT) But there is club buy in and monthly dues (right now $60/month with $20 usable for flying - that is flying 0 hours or 1/2 hour in the 172 both will cost you $60) and $400/year engine fund. If you don’t fly that often the FBO may be cheaper, but the club has other intangable benifits IMHO.
Brian
There are a lot of places that say, ‘Get your license for $4,500. Guaranteed!’ or something similar. The students who train at these schools must pass the same tests as the students who go the traditional route through their local FBO. But I get a little suspicious about a place that guarantees a price. People are different. One especially good student may take 40 hours to get a license, and that only because it’s mandated. Another may take 70 hours. If a school has budgeted 45 hours per student, a guaranteed price makes me wonder if they are rushing a student who is taking longer. If a student is rushed, I wonder how prepared he really is. Just enough to pass the flight test, but not good enough to fly ‘in the real world’?
On the other hand, perhaps they know that some students will take more time and some less, and they base their guaranteed price on the average. Perhaps, once they have reached the stage where they can guarantee a price, they have honed their training methods to a point where they are able to consistently produce safe pilots in the allotted time.
So I’m not saying that schools with guaranteed prices from groundling to licensed pilot are not good. It’s just something that I think about. Whatever the school, check it out. If you’re uncomfortable with a particular instructor, don’t be afraid to find a different one. It’s better for you, and it’s better for the instructor.
$7,000 sounds a little steep to me, but as everyone else will tell you, it depends a lot on how fast you learn and how often you can train. It took me a while, but I’m pretty sure it hasn’t cost anywhere close to that. I’d guesstimate a little closer to pullin’s figure of $5k.
This was on a sit-com? I’m curious, which one and what was the context?
Like I said before, it’s certainly possible to earn a private license in $6k or less… but I caution people that a lot of folks take more money or time. You can’t predict with absolute certainty how well someone will do prior to flight training - some folks you’d think would be naturals never finish, and others who seem extremely unlikely pilots become extremely proficient in a very short time. Averages are just that - averages. For every person that beats the average there will be someone who who takes longer or spends more money.
After 10 years in the game, whenever I start a new project involving flight training I budget 50% more than the average. In some cases I beat the average, in some I don’t. If I come in under budget hooray, but if not I have a cushion that allows me to finish what I started (usually - the occassional “life event” has also interupted things on occassion).
There are always a wide range of prices that you may pay for a PPL. You may find some places that are very cheap compared to others, but as with other things in life, you generally get what you pay for.
$7000 USD sounds quite reasonable to me. 10 years ago, when I did mine, it cost $105 NZD per hour in a C152 (there was no charge for the instructor either ground or air time). It took 60 hours (min 50hrs in New Zealand) and I included an aerobatic rating, a tail dragger rating and did a few hours in a C172. There were 6 exams each costing $30 NZD, ground course for each exam was provided free of charge by the school. Books were probably a couple of hundred dollars total.
This adds up to around $6700 NZD which would have equated to about $4000 USD at the time. So allowing for 10 years of inflation, $7000 USD sounds realistic.
Of course, if you’re goal is to fly privately only, and you have trouble finding the money to learn, then you are going to have a lot of difficulty affording to fly enough to maintain safe currency (as opposed to legal currency) once you’ve got the licence.
Oh, and Broomstick is bang on with what she says about estimating flying costs.