Around here, several guys bought their own trainer, then had either free, or low cost instructors.

The down fall can be like a friend I sold a champ to, he soloed, then continued to fly himself for about 600 more hours. When he finally showed up for a check ride, they looked at him with considerable doubt. John

I thought Id pipe up on this one, since Im in the midst of getting my Private ticket...

Ive got less than $3500 invested in instruction, tie-downs, fuel, airplane payments, and full-coverage insurance, and am ready to take my checkride in the next week or so. The key for me was buying a plane. I bought a nice little 7AC/EC Champ, and have been having all kinds of fun with it.

I just couldn't bear to pay upwards of $5k to get my license from the local school, and not have anything to show for it afterwards, other than a shiny new card for my wallet. Id much rather invest that money in my own plane, and possibly even make some money when I decide to sell it.

I was nervous as can be reading posts like this online before I finally took the plunge and bought a plane. If you sit down and add up all the costs, it will really scare you more than it should. Ive owned my plane for over 3 months now, with no ill effects. (Such as going hungry... )

Bottom line is, if its something that you want to do, then get after it. You will find a way to make it work if its what you want. Scale back your "wants" and get as close as you can to your "needs" when selecting a plane, and you will probably find that things seem much easier to budget for. I started out wanting a nice 170B, but ended up with a nice Champ... Yeah, they're not the same, but when push comes to shove, now Im in the air thinking about my next plane instead of sitting on my couch doing it !

Good luck !

Bob K.
Anchorage, AK

Bottom line is, if its something that you want to do, then get after it. You will find a way to make it work if its what you want. Scale back your "wants" and get as close as you can to your "needs" when selecting a plane, and you will probably find that things seem much easier to budget for. I started out wanting a nice 170B, but ended up with a nice Champ... Yeah, they're not the same, but when push comes to shove, now Im in the air thinking about my next plane instead of sitting on my couch doing it !

Good approach Bob. It is all about how many days of life we are graced with - not money.

I don't even want to think what it cost me to learn to fly in 1969. I'm always impressed with ANYONE who is serious about learning to fly these days, because it is not only expensive, but it is very demanding of time.

On the other hand, nowadays you can do the ground school online, whereas I had to show up for evening classes for weeks and listen to a guy like me (nowadays) blather for hours about this stuff.

MTV

Savannah-Tom wrote:
As long as we're talking costs, my choice for a plane was to go the homebuilt route. For $35K and five months of construction I've got a new airplane that fills my needs very well. I can put different stuff on it myself, make modifications, and do my own inspections. I've got over 300 hours on it now and have visited many of the back country places I've been thinking about for years. My expenses for fuel, insurance, maintenance, hanger, and all else related to flying has been running about $25 per hour based on usage of 125 hours per year.

your mileage may vary,
tom

Another cost most folks don't count, but should is the lost opportunity cost. It is essentially the cost of the money you have tied up in the plane. So for my case, with a $35K investment, it costs me about $1750 per year in lost interest (at 5%). This isn't huge, but it is real.

Zane, check this out: (58) 8^) 8) thanks for the tip

tom

It was about $5000 for me and my check ride was in Feb of 2006. It took me over two years and about 50 hours with a Part 61 operation. Luckily, I am at a place in my life where I could afford it without much strain. But, at the same time, it made me consider what I spend money on. When I want to spend money, I ask myself, "how much avgas could I buy with that money?" I became more strategic in my spending. In other words, taking up flying has saved me money

And...it was worth every penny!

To tell someone interested in becoming a pilot that it will cost 8 to 10,000 bucks will only help kill aviation.

Flying is expensive. If you can get a ticket in 40 hours I salute you...I've never met anyone who could in today's environment. I know a dozen people who started flight school and never finished...they ran out of money because they started out with the asinine assumption that things would go according to plan and budgeted accordingly. Had they known what it was actually going to cost they could have made a better decision, and if that decision was to never start flight school they could have saved themselves several thousand dollars and been in exactly the same situation as they are today...without a license.

$4K for a private while renting the plane...I don't think so. Not for one out of fifty people. I spent more than that thirteen years ago. Granted I'm not the most talented aviator ever hatched, and I spent a lot of tach time waiting for my turn to take off or land, but believe it or not I've actually met some people who had less on the ball than I do. What will kill aviation is people getting into it who simply cannot afford to do it safely. When I got my license I promised myself that if I couldn't afford to fly eight hours a month I wouldn't fly at all. I didn't fly for ten years. When I started again I did so under the condition that if I started getting rusty because I couldn't afford it I'd flat out quit. I don't think this is a good thing to do half-assed. If you can't afford it, you can't afford it. If the only way it looks feasible is by assuming the best case scenario, you can't afford it.

I understand why flight schools tell people they can get a license for a few thousand dollars...technically you can, but most won’t even come close. I don't think it's any different that a car dealership selling someone a car they know the customer can't afford. It's unrealistic and unethical.

Wow,
I didn't understand the impetus behind LSA, now I guess I do. But, what are the differences between a "sport pilot" and this new LSA rule?

I was signed off on Friday the 13th, 2004. The total cost was about $5,400. It was a big dedication of time, but I did it in less than 4 months and 42 hours.

42 hours is relative. That is 42 hours of log book time.

Many Many hours of study time on my own. There were five of us that did ground school together, easier for the instructor, but we learned from each other both in the class and out. We were expected to know the material and didn't want to be the one who couldn't answer the question when asked. We met at least once a week. The instructor set the schedule and we were expected to be there.

I hooked up with another student and we each took the back seat while the other was in the pilot seat learning. I learned and saw alot from the back seat, and since we rented a 172 wet, the cost was the same. We flew twice a week weather permitting, and this is ND.

It also helps coming from a family of aviators because you know what to expect.

To me the cost of the PPL is Priceless.
Not much compares.

Bill

One more thing. After my checkride, upon shutting down the plane, the examiner looked me right in the eye and said "now you have a license to learn." I have tried to respect that and do it. I have a long way to go.

This has been an EXCELLENT discussion of a very important subject, and my compliments to all the posters here.

This discussion emphasizes a couple of things that EVERY potential student pilot should consider:

1) There are MANY different paths to a PPL. It behooves you to examine as many as possible, and choose the one that seems to fit YOUR situation best. This discussion is a good resource for doing that. I'd suggest Zane archive it somehow for that purpose, as a reference.

2) There is as much MIS-information out there regarding flight training as there is GOOD information. So be it. As with anything else in life: Buyer beware. There are good schools, and there are not so good schools. DO THE HOMEWORK. Ask any school that you are considering for REFERENCES of past students, as in a LIST of all their students, not just their super stars. Call a few, and get their feedback.

3) Learning to fly is expensive. I'm not a millionaire, but even if I were, learning to fly would be expensive in this day and age. But it can be done, even by people of moderate means.

4) Learning to fly and flying is all about a passion for this activity. People who are truly passionate about flying will figure out a way to get there, and these are the people we need in aviation today, more than ever.

5) Buying your own airplane to learn in is a great idea, IF you buy a good airplane. That can take money up front, but even if you sell it after you get your certificate, if its' a good plane, you should recoup most of the initial cost of the plane. Choose wisely, however.

6) You do not have to be Charles Lindberg to fly safely and enjoy flying. Heck, even I can fly .

a64: Not sure what your question is regarding LSA. A sport pilot certificate qualifies one only to fly LSA aircraft, whereas a PPL can fly an LSA aircraft. More specifics, por favor.

It is (theoretically, at least) possible to complete a Sport Pilot certificate in 20 hours total time. I think that completion time will depend greatly on the type of SLSA.

MTV

ravi wrote: If you can get a ticket in 40 hours I salute you...I've never met anyone who could in today's environment.
...
$4K for a private while renting the plane...I don't think so. Not for one out of fifty people.

Ravi, it could be done as recently as early 2003. I was fortunate to find an instructor who was really clever with his lesson plan and satisfying the PTS requirements as well as FAR 61.109 Aeronautical Experience. The 152 was $62/hr wet. I don't think that's possible today given gas prices, especially if the flight school wants to make any money.

I had 40.4 hrs logged at the checkride. However, I had many hours flying ultralights in years previous to that, and already knew quite a bit about flying, so it's prob not an accurate representation of a new student.

I will stand by the fact that I LIVED for getting that certficate for 8 months. My friends thought I was retarded because I stopped going out and drinking with them on friday nights in anticipation of flying on saturdays. I spent hours flying XCs in flight simulator. Damn I was a nerd, but I think that commitment is what made it happen.

I didn't solo until about 12-13 hrs, so it's not like my instructor was eager to have me fly the nest, but everything worked out about as well as I could have imagined.

I think there is some appeal to a Part 141 school. You get to build a camaraderie with other students, and some level of synergy. The requirements are slightly less strict as far as hours I think....Can't you take the checkride at 35 hrs with a 141 school? PLus, many community colleges have Part 141 programs...Lane Community in Eugene, OR comes to mind. It's possible to get that covered by Financial Aid!

This is a good thread, like Mike said, and it's interesting to see how everyone else's experience was slightly different.

It cost me $74/hr for the airplane plus $35/hr for the instructor in a Citabria 7ECA. When I had my ticket in hand, I believe it was around $6500 I had shelled out.

I think some of the comments made already are spot on. It all revolves around your goals. Do you want to REALLY learn to fly, or do you want to just get your ticket? Are you flying with a guy that is building time and will milk you for what you're worth, or a someone with loads of experience that just loves to teach?

Chris

One thing not mentioned already is weather and daylight. I know it's not something everyone has control over, but I know it helped me keep the learning curve on the upswing, training in the Alaskan summertime. I worked with some cooperative CFI's at a local air taxi, and we'd routinely go up for dual at 10:00 pm. After I soloed, I learned to love the smooth air between about midnight and 1:00 am. All in broad daylight.

If you have a choice between summer and winter, or an airport in a foggy river valley vs one that's high and dry, or if you can take some time off midweek when the school has more openings- it all equates to how much you can keep the ball rolling. Waiting for the weekend, only to have the weather crap out or the daylight hours burn up too fast, is so frustrating, when learning and practicing in the airplane is all you care about.

No accident that lots of the schools that move people through are in FL and AZ.

I haven't instructed in 27 years but......I did so for about 2000 hours in both 141 and 61 schools. I found that as long as the student was dedicated to the book work and could fly a couple times a week I could crank out a private pilot in the absolute minimum time required. I even riled the feathers of the examiner several times because the student had to use the solo time required to fly down to the examiners airport to meet the minimum time. I also had several students that had 100+ hours. Not because they couldn't fly, they were perfectly capable of handling the aircraft but they wouldn't study and kept flunking the written.

What does make a big difference, besides student dedication and a good instructor, is how close to the departure airport you can practice your airwork. If your are having to fly 15 to 20 minutes to get to a practice area that only leaves 20 to 30 minutes in your 1 hour lesson for airwork. Not a very productive use of your time or money. If your practice area is not close, try to schedule 1.5 to 2.0 hour lessons.

I got my private at the cost of around $6000. The airplane was a Cessna 150 that cost $60 an hour plus $40/hr instruction. About 2/3s through, the price went up to $75 hr for the airplane.

I got my private in ~40 hours, but that was flying 2 or 3 days a week for 3 months straight.

About everything that can be said has a;ready been said. I will only relay that when I first started flying it only took me a couple of hours of renting before I realized it would be much better to buy than rent. Trying to schedule time in a rental can get to be a pain in the arse. You might be scheduled to fly and the weather, mechanical issues, or whatever else can spoil your day for THAT week. When you have your own plane you can fly anytime you are able to as long as you have an instructor available but once you solo you are able to long time much faster than having to worry about an "opening".
My son just got his PPL this summer with just over 40 hrs. logged time because he used "Dad's" plane....available whever he wanted to fly, which was nearly daily. Basically he did it in a couple of months.
Fuel costs and instructor fees....totaled less than $2,000. And this was in a 172. Now that he has his PPL I will be selling the 172 and getting something else.

Hi All,
I bought a C-150 to teach my wife and son to fly. I think that it was the best thing I could have done. As an instructor I didn't feel presured to fly if condition were less that favoring what I was to teach that day. Also if I felt that the lesson was not going well for any reason I would either cut it off or jst go for a ride and relax. Basicly a no presure deal for both myself and the student. The ground school I taught before we started flying and the writtens taken also. Then we would discuss things about the Grn side as we encountered them durring flt tng. There was no worry about hours as when your renting.
A real good opt. for Grn school is your local community college. Get it done first as if you don't know it on the Grn you aren't going to know it in the air.
We figured that it cost us about 35-40 and hour for the 150.

Hey all, figured I'd chime in with my two cents being I am 2 hours into my PPL training. I joined a local flying club, 25+/- members with two Cherokee's @ $70.00/HR wet + $65.00 a month membership fee, instructor charges $25.00 an hour and is very fair on the time he charges.

So far I've had 6 scheduled lessons, all cancelled but one due to weather, kind of depressing but understandable. We've covered some ground and I have been hitting the books pretty hard but his concern is I am getting ahead of the lessons. Reading is one thing, actually doing it in the airplane makes it stick. Because winter in Ohio means it is dark when I leave for work and dark when I get off work I am currently restricted to weekends and any days I can take off from work. Scheduling has not been an issue since most of our members do not fly much based on the schedules. I locked in an airplane for three hours every Saturday and Sunday morning for the entire month of January to ensure I get the time, assuming mother nature will allow it. I seriously considered buying a plane to train in, but I am 6'4" and 270lbs so most of the lesser expensive trainers would not work until I was ready to solo, if at all. The Cherokee is a challenge because my instructor is 6'3" and about 200lbs, so it gets a bit cozy.

Anyway, looking forward to the weekend, hope the weather is nice, I'd like to do something more than read for a change on the weekend.

Thanks for everyone's participation in the forum I know I'm not the only one learning from all of you, and of course thanks to zane for all his hardwork so we can use the site!

yea i know how that cozy feeling goes. i started taking lessons last year in a cessna 152. i am 6' 2" and 230 lbs and my instructor was 6' 3" and about 210 lbs. he had to hang his left arm behind the seat when he wasn't demonstrating a manuver to me hopefully i'll be able to get my ppl in the next month or so. hoping to take the written this week. ttyl

I get asked frequently how much does it cost to get a pilots license. I usually tell them not to look at what the over all cost is. Most of the folks I know did it in the pay as you go, fly when you can afford it and as often as you can afford it. Due to a variety of situations I took over 4 years to get my license, I have no idea what it cost and I'm not sure I'd want to total it all up. I had 68 hours when I got my check ride. Reasons for the long time frame varied between availability of money, plane, instructors, and weather. By the time I finished there were 9 instructors signed in my book. Some were very good others were very poor. Back "in the day" there were not video or computer courses available. You could live in the big city and have an organized ground school near by you could do evenings or weekend cram courses, or you bought the book set and did the home study courses that way. I lived out in the sticks so I became great friends with the Jeppeson books. I read veraciously anything I could get about flight, Kershner was a favorite. If you can find an instructor who uses a course syllabus and sticks to it you have a good one. To many part 91 just shotgun the lessons and learning is on a long curve.

Check out flying clubs in your local, or start one. Sharing a plane between groups of pilots can really cut costs. I have found a flying club with 20 members and one plane. We actually only have 8 of us who are actively flying so the availability is good. There is another co-op of 3 pilots sharing a single plane. I’m not sure what their costs are, but it seems to work for them.