The Cost of a Private Pilot Certificate

By Dan
Pilot Training

The Cost of a Private Pilot Certificate Summary

The FAA requires at least 40 hours of flight training to obtain a private pilot certificate. However, the national average to become proficient to pass the private pilot checkride and be a safe pilot is 60-70 hours. This means that the cost of a private pilot certificate will vary widely for each person.

As I completed my private pilot cert, I attempted to keep track of every associated cost. That will allow me to show you an exact example that I experienced, but keep in mind this cost can vary widely for each individual training.

I’ll save you the suspense and start with the total. My total training cost from the day I walked into a flight school to the end of the flight home from my checkride pass was $21,650. I completed my private pilot checkride in July 2022, so these costs do go back a few years. These costs are quite a bit higher than the expected average, especially for that time. I will tell you the breakdown of what the money was spent on, but first I want to explain my scenario so you can assess how my experience might have a different impact on your variables.

The Influences in My Cost of Private Pilot Training

For my training, I live in an area with a relatively low cost of living. I should have expected this to lower my overall training costs. However, I completed my private pilot training at a local flight school, the only large one in the area, and their costs align with some of the highest in the nation. When reviewing my numbers, my instructor costs and flight time costs should closely align to the top end of what someone would pay even in metropolitan areas. I trained in a fairly standard Cessna 172S model. This model is a little more costly to rent then some of the other 172 models.

What Did not Work in My Favor

  • I first started my training as a part 141 student based on the thought of going the career route. As soon as I realized how much time I was going to spend on paying for 1:1 ground instruction time as part of that program, I realized this wasn’t a good arrangement for me from both a time and cost advantage. In response I stopped training to go and complete my FAA written exam independently and would return and train under part 61 rules. This gap ended up being longer than I expected and my flight training basically started over upon return.
  • About halfway through my training, because of personal reasons, I had to take 2-3 months off. This kind of gap almost always sets you back and causes some re-work.
  • It's important to find an instructor that is aligned with the pace you want to train at. Some instructors may have a very busy schedule or prefer to train with less frequency than you. This can hinder your ideal pace and less frequent lessons have been known increase the total training time required.

The Cost of Private Pilot Training by Categories

Now to the details. I tracked my costs in 6 different categories: Supplies, Memberships and Subscriptions, Ground and Instructor Time, Aircraft Flight Costs, Exams and Misc.

Supplies and Fixed Costs

For the supplies category, my total costs were $900. Some of the items from this category include

  • Books that I chose to purchase
  • A very cheap headset that I still use to this day
  • iPad
  • My airport badge
  • Foggles
  • An electronic E6B which was one of the best investments I made

Memberships and Subscriptions

I spent $313 on membership and subscriptions. This was basically becoming an EAA member for the hopeful savings on renter’s insurance. I also purchased Foreflight during the 2 years that my private pilot training took place. I’m not sure that I ever actually saved anything on insurance, however, EAA is an awesome organization to stay connected to for any pilot.

Miscellaneous Costs

For my miscellaneous costs, the total was $622. This was essentially the following:

  • Paying for my renter’s insurance policy 3 times
  • A $50 enrollment fee charged by my flight school for my initial part 141 enrollment.

Exams

I paid a total of $710 for my private pilot checkride and my FAA written exam. Those costs have risen since 2022.

Ground and Flight Training

Now for the training portion which I completed with a total of 77.7 flight hours. I recorded at least 19 hours of ground only instruction during my training with my instructor. I purchased Sporty’s learn to fly course to complete most of my knowledge work and test prep.

My total ground and flight instructor time cost was $7,550 for my entire training program, including purchasing the Sporty’s course. When I started training in 2022, the instructor rate at my school was $50/hour. By the time I completed in 2022 the rates had gone up to around $70/hour. The school charged for the entire scheduled time. This means that even at the point where I no longer needed an instructor to complete pre-flight, I would still be paying for that type of time.

My total flight costs came out to $11,555. This was rental time in a Cessna 172S. My per hour costs when I started in 2020 were $140. By the time I was finished in 2022 my rental costs had just jumped up to $164 per hour.

In Summary

There you have it, those are the costs I incurred to obtain my private pilot certificate. There are many elements that are expensive and many costs that may not initially be obvious to plan for. As expected, your numbers will not be the same as mine.