Early 90's, I spent about $2500 and did it in under 6 months. I did not pay for or attend any ground school or any test prep.

The key to keeping costs down is to fly often.....if you drag it out over a long time, it could take you nearly double the hours to get your ticket. I took multiple lessons a week and got my ticket in 43 hours. I know others who took closer to 70 hrs due to the fact that they drug it out to over a year.

40 is the minimum required (20 dual, 20 solo), however the national average is probably around 60 or so hours. Rent the cheapest plane they offer as paying for newer fancier planes is a waste when doing initial private pilot training.

When I took my rotorcraft lessons back in the early 90's the cost was around $225-250 an hour.

I cant imagine what is up to now.:eek:

When I did mine, a Cessna 150 was about $42.00/hr and the instructor was $20.00/hr.

So the minimum possible basic costs were $42 x 40 hrs=$1680.00
plus $20 x 20hrs=$400. A little over 2 grand.

Add to that a physical $75.00, a set of Gliem test review books (a friend loaned me his), some test fees and you ended up around $2500. Some places will want you to pay for a "groundschool" however my instructor just kind of incorporated that during flight instruction time.

One miiiilllllion dollars.

:D

wow for all of you guys that are "pilots?" and for those of you aspiring to be.............working at an airport and being involved with aviation all my life............THE FIRST DAMN QUESTION I WOULD ASK..................IS THERE FUEL IN THIS DAMN THING! and then manually check each tank for fuel and any condensation. never rely on gauges!

numba #1 cause of augering in aside from "pilot error."

oh yeah...............and make sure your gear is down and locked, when on final approach!

seen it , watched it, heard it, took pictures of it, read about it.............still shake my head about it!

its always fun to watch pilots swager around, belching bravado and bullsh!!, then they pull some stunt, that scares the poo out of them and others, then sell hanger and plane and condo as a "package deal."

airports are also known as the spawning grounds of "more money than brains" type personalitys!

theres a reason why twins are known as "doctor-killers"!!!!!!!


if there is "ONE" thing i have learned working here, its stay the hell away from them anytime they are moving, and wear safety glasses. always entertaining to look at all the FOD, that falls off planes. FOD checked daily here, and sometimes its an absolute treasure trove of really cool fasteners that vibrate off some really really important part, due to pilots inattention to detail and relying on A&P mechanics abilities.

So in brief, all pilots and mechanics are stupid and at your airport student pilots train in twin retracts. :rolleyes: :D :D

When I asked my first flight instructor about his job, he told me that he used to fly for the airlines but was suspended for moonlighting by flying charter flights for someone else on his days off. Then he told me what a $hit job it was to be a flight instructor. Then we went up of my first flight and he tried to scare the crap out of me (successfully) with stalls and spins and turning off the engine etc.

When we landed he gave me this $hit-eating grin and asked "well whaddya think about flying?"

I said: "I think I'd like to take my lessons with someone else".

When I told the flight school this they apologized and gave me an excellent instructor for the rest of the program.

johnco - any instructor that tells you to practice stalls and spin recovery on your first solo should be reported and grounded.

no tim , i didnt say that. as i wrote, working at an aeropuerto you are privy to much more than the public or community, is aware of. and being on the flightline for as many years as i have, you very quickly pick out the pilots that wont be around in 6months to a year. not many get back on the horse that kicked them off!

now heres some other observations working at an exclusive private aeropuerto.

1) doctors are cheap and hire cheap A&P mechanics. they also stretch maint. to the very limits.

2) doctors/lawyers know everything about everything, until they come in with osh-gosh winning T-28 w/gear up! needless to say that one went over well.

3) experimental pilots play mechanic w/no mechanical abilities and little money to afford a real mechanic, and then auger in. 2-killed.

4) really really rich guys like to play stunts, and on final approach come in low and hit church across street lightpoles and needless to say do not land on appointed runway w/ensueing serious injuries.

5)elderly couple hop in plane and crash land in sight of runway, due to NO FUEL!

6) our A&Pmechanics dad (also A&P) goes for flight with 3 other people. guy whose flying wants to wave wings at people on ground he knows along I-40(winslow), comes in low, waves............hits APS POWERLINES..........all dead.

7) richy rich buys twin..........very little instruction, upon takeoff, port engine craps out...........augers in end of runway. walked away.

8) boss and myself and 2 others come in for landing at chandler aeropuerto back early 90's. brakes just done by A&P. touch down, starts applying brakes, brakes lock up, and we ground loop. all of us walked away cleaning pants out! NTSB/FAA trace cause of crash to A&P. A&P mechanic now working on yugos somewhere!


those are just a few that have happened around here!

BIG MONEY + SPENDY PLANE+ CHEAP MAINT+BRAVADO+STUPIDITY=does not make for a happy community.

ask me sometime about the idiot buzzing the town mayors house sometime! that was a good one! one does not/will not deviate ONE IOTA from approach and departure, ingress and egress here.

or ask me about the jet pilot who pissed a bunch of neighbors off by breaking/cracking their windows one time. aeropuerto told him in certain terms "we dont like your kind around here"! about every year to year in a half he will come in out of the sun(east), 6 AM, low on the deck, about 4 feet off the runway, and light it up full speed, pull the stick back hard and go straight up, before anyone has a chance to get his "N" number! and then split laughing his ass off!

yes its a very nutty place!

oh and i forgot to add..............letting a plane sit in a hanger for 364 days a year as a toy is about the worst thing you can do. and guess what......98% of the planes here do sit that much, as well as the pilots. last time i got in one, i went with senior SWA pilot who flew in vietnam rotaries and fixed wing. a gazzillion hours he has in commercials/military. his run-up procedure on his cessna was almost 20 minutes checking off his checklist. i had a very enjoyable safe flight. i like pilots like that. actually the only pilot i will fly with...............EVER!

Budget $10k to $12k and you should be fine.

That should cover all your dual & solo time, check ride, written test, ground school, a little simulator time, and supplies you'll want to have (a few books, headset, fuel strainers, etc.)

Best of luck. I used to do this for a living, so if you've got any questions post 'em up.

Oh, if people start quoting you prices based on 40 hours exactly, they're full of it. National average (this was about 5 years ago so maybe it's changed) was around 60. You'll be a safer pilot with more time under your belt too. And more confident. A student who's HONESTLY ready for the full responsibilities of having a Private Pilot certificate in 40 hours is a very rare thing. Most that do have gone through some kind of "crash course" (sometimes aptly named!) or a "mill" type of academy. Your choice - your money, your life.

Put it this way: I'd probably not send up my wife with a Private Pilot with the ink still dry on his PPL bragging about "doing it in 40 hours", unless I'd flown with them personally and knew they were a prodigy.

10-12k for a private ticket? :eek:

What kind of plane did you train in, a twin? :) I have not rented a plane in awhile, but surely it is still possible to rent a trainer for something under $60/hr at least.

I must have been a prodigy. ;) There is no reason to go much over 50 hrs if you do it in a short period of time, but I agree to the 60 hr average figure as I noted above.

Good point. If the instructor isn't meticulous - but sloppy and cuts corners to impress - get rid of him.

Went and talked to the guy at lunch, seems real knowledgeable but I can tell there would be a personality clash with he and I. However he is not the only instructor at the school which is good. He said they have are a 61 program and said that it only takes 40 hours to get license but that they usually plan for 60 hours so you have more time. Rough estimate was between $7K and $10K which is actually a lot more than I thought. They have a ground school, but its not included. I guess I should have asked some more questions but I wasn't really impressed and figured I needed to look around anyways. Part of my other problem is that I hope to be moving soon, waiting on the yes from the new job, he was willing to work with me if I started here and needed to finish elsewhere, and even though this airport is in a really low traffic area DC is close by and could get me some experience there if I need it. There is another airport about 30 mins down the interstate from me that has two seperate flight schools so I am going to check them out this weekend.

Don't overlook the local Junior/Community College as a possible place to take a ground school. Some of them have decent programs from what I hear.

Also, a reinforcement to what Tim said. You don't want to spread your flight training over too much time; your proficiency will improve faster if you fly a couple of times a week at a minimum.

Another possible approach to finding an instructor: Ask around the FBO to learn who is the toughest and most demanding flight examiner, then go ask that flight examiner who is the best instructor.

I told 'em that. In reality most ended up paying about $7k-$8k, but "high-estimating" the price weeds out a lot of the tire-kickers and prevents you from having to listen to b1tching and whining later on.

Pookie,
Good luck and glad to hear you are "going for it." As a worthless point of reference, I worked on my ticket while at Purdue University and got pretty cheap flight hours ($35/hr wet). It took me 4 months, which included a 3 week break at Christmas - yeah, I flew hard. I completed it in about 55 to 60 hours, but I flew quite a few hours solo for "fun" just because I friggin' loved it. I would budget 45 to 55 hours to be safe, but beware of flight schools that far exceed that number - can you spell extra revenue generation?

My recommendation to you about an instructor was going to be exactly what you did. Interview them to see if your personality meshes - that is the most important aspect IMO. Again, IMO most of the instructors out there are going to be qualified or they would not be instructors. The key is finding someone that you enjoy working with. You are, after all, going to be with this person for quite a few hours in close quarters and sometimes stressful situations.

Good luck and stick with it. Do not drag it out, it will only cost you more $$. You will find that it is one of the most enjoyable activities that you can experience. Ask any pilot here or elsewhere for that matter and they will tell you that - it is hard to explain to someone that has not experienced it before, but it is truly spiritual in nature. :)

Jim brings out a good point. The examiners know who is good and who is fair.

As others have said, do not drag it out. Do as much of the bookwork as you can beforehand then go out and fly, at least twice a week. I got my license in just under 50 hours but had stopped and started twice due to running out of money.

You want an instructor who is good, fair and who will be with you the entire time you are working on a license, not using 2-3 guys who dissappear the next week after being called by the regional carrier around the corner.

Joe

subscribing

The best advice I can give is to have the funds beforehand (savings account, credit card, etc.) and fly as many days a week as you can. The more you immerse yourself in the training, the faster you will learn, the better you will become, and the less you will spend ultimately. When I got my licenses 22+ years ago, I flew almost every day. It's amazing how fast the training progresses when you are totally immersed in the process.

I agree with the advice to talk to the local pilot examiner and ask him or her who they recommend. They know the good ones and the not-so-good ones too. From a personal standpoint, I have found that while you will find many very knowledgeable and gung-ho young instructors around, the fact that so many of them are relatively new in this business means they do not tend to have the seasoning and deep seated knowledge that the older, typically much more experienced career instructors posses. If I were you I'd try to find one of these older, wiser types who is in it because he truly loves to teach the art of flying. They are out there and I will always remember Bill Swiggart and old Ralph as the best instructors I ever had - by a long shot. They could be tough sometimes but it was a tough love, so to speak, for they had patience yet also demanded a high level of competence from me (boy, this brings back memories).

Also, subscribe to AOPA's Flight Training magazine. That magazine is a great resource for aspiring pilots like yourself. Here's a link: https://flighttraining.aopa.org/apps/student/ft_free.cfm?priority=SX07GA&engine=adwords!6485&ke yword=flight%20training%20magazine&creative=Ad2&ma tch_type=

Good luck to you and keep us all posted on your progress. :D