Now I am going to add all of this up for you. As you can see from breaking your private pilot training down into three sections and then adding in books and materials, this is probably quite a bit higher than most flight schools will lead you to believe.

Like I said there are a lot of great flight schools out there and then there are a lot of bad ones. The key to the entire process is planning and researching. From the other three articles here, I have put down all of the costs together to come up with a realistic cost estimate for you.

Once again I will use an aircraft rate of $120 Per hour For a C-172 and $45 for the Instructor Since that is what I charge. Remember you will find many different rates in different areas of the country so just use my numbers as a guide for you. After you read this you can use the cost estimate workbook at the bottom of the page to plug in the rates for the aircraft and flight instructors in your area.

Private Pilot License Books and Materials Cost

Private Pilot License Pre Solo Flight Training Cost

Private Pilot License Post Solo Flight Training Cost

Private Pilot License Flight Test Preparation Cost

Total Private Pilot License Cost

Now when we add all of this up we get the following cost Estimate:

So you can see this is probably more than most flight schools will lead you to believe. There are some honest one out there. You just need to research before you start flying.