Frequently Asked Questions

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Q. How much do I have to pay in advance?

A: Pay as you go!

We will never require you to pay for more than your very next flight in advance. In light of all the school closures and students losing tens of thousands of training money in the process, We recommend you never pay any flight training business more than you are prepared to lose! Does this sound extreme? Here are some schools that have failed in recent years, taking tens of thousands of student money with them: TAB Express; Regional Airline Academy; Silver State Helicopters; Jet University; Aussie Air. The list goes on…

Q. How long does it take?

A: It depends on how much time you have to devote to flying and studying

For example, private pilot requires 40 hours minimum. That said the FAA says for all types of pilots, full time, part time, young, old etc the average is about 70 hours. Our average is about 55 hours. Full time students tend to complete at near the 40 hour minimum while the part timers flying only once or twice a week or so come in at about 50-60 hours. We recommend flying at least twice per week to minimize review on subsequent lessons.

Yes, we do accelerated courses. How fast is really up to you – how much time you can devote to flying and studying. Our recent record was 5 weeks for a private. This student pilot flew at least 5 days a week.

If you fly twice per week, expect on around 4 months for your private pilot.

Q: How much will it cost for my private pilot certificate?

A: You can obtain your private pilot certificate for less than $11,000.00. The best way to compare apples to apples when researching flight training is to figure out the hourly cost of the airplane, instructor, and any surcharges or fees and multiply first by the number of hours required.

Q: Do you teach sport pilots?

A: No. In busy controlled airspace, it is not practical. The attraction of sport pilot is ostensibly half the hours of private. In reality, you must have the same skills as a private pilot to negotiate the busy airport environment. One would likely end up with the same hours as a private pilot, but have a lot of restrictions on what aircraft can be flown and in what conditions. This is born out by the FAA certification statistics from 2018: Out of about 35k pilot certificates issued, only about 350 were sport pilot!

Q: What is the difference between Part 61 and Part 141?

A: Marketing and ineffective bureaucracy! Part 141 training requires additional paper work, office space, and equipment inspections from the FAA in addition to the already stringent Part 61 requirements. (All of our aircraft are inspected and maintained by FAA certified mechanics.) These paperwork and inspections are not difficult to obtain and do not seem to improve safety statistically, but do require significant additional beauracracy and paper work and overhead. Part 141 operations invariably feel justification in charging a great deal more for training and equipment even though, as mentioned above, at the end of the day, the FAA written and flight tests are exactly the same! In fact, the FAA pilot certificates make no mention of the type of trianing received.

B: Low time “student” instructors. Often times 141 instructors have 200 hours total time and only 5 hours ever alone in an airplane! Student last week, instructor this week. You deserve better. We see the lack of understanding by 141 instructors of FAA and NASA rules and fundamentals every day in the traffic pattern.

Q: I have been training at a part 141 school, but I don’t feel like I am viewed as a customer. Why is that?

A: Because you are viewed as a revenue stream rather than a customer. Our philosophy is that if you treat customers the way you would like to be treated, you will have more customers in the long run. Some flight training providers are only interested in getting you in the door and taking your money.