Private Pilot Training Cost Calculator

What will your private pilot license really cost? Total, monthly budget and the price of every extra hour

Enter the hours you expect to fly, the aircraft and instructor rates at your school, and the exam fees. You get the total cost, the cost at 40 to 100 flight hours, the price of each extra hour, a monthly budget at your lesson schedule, and whether a flying club beats renting.

It works from your own figures. It does not know what your school charges or how many hours you will need.

Your training plan

Total flight hours you expect to log

Of those, solo hours (at least 10)

Aircraft rental per hour, wet, dollars

Instructor rate per hour, dollars

Briefing and debrief hours per hour flown with an instructor

Extra ground instruction hours with an instructor

Online ground school course, dollars

Medical exam, dollars

Knowledge (written) test fee, dollars

Examiner fee for the checkride, dollars

Headset, books, charts and apps, dollars

Flights per week

Flight hours per lesson

Flying club dues per month, dollars (optional)

Flying club aircraft rate per hour, wet, dollars (optional)

Fill in your plan, then click Work out the cost.

Result

Total cost by flight hours

Flight hours	Total cost

What it does, and what it leaves to you

Counts: aircraft = total flight hours x aircraft rate; instructor hours = hours with an instructor x (1 + briefing hours) + extra ground hours; instructor = instructor hours x instructor rate; total = aircraft + instructor + course, medical, written test, examiner and gear; extra hour = aircraft rate + (1 + briefing) x instructor rate; weeks = hours / (flights per week x hours per lesson); club saving = hours x (rental rate - club rate) - dues x months of training.
Minimums used: 14 CFR 61.109 (Part 61 private pilot): 40 flight hours, 20 with an instructor, 10 solo. Part 141 schools can have different minimums, and other certificates differ.
Not decided: how many hours you will actually need, your school's real rates and any fuel surcharges or minimum block purchases, rates changing during training, the cost of a failed checkride and retest, instrument or other ratings, the medical certificate you qualify for, financing and tax treatment.

Common questions

How much does a private pilot license cost?

Aircraft rental and instructor time make up almost all of it. Multiply your total flight hours by the aircraft rate, add the instructor's time for lessons, briefings and ground, then add the medical, written test, examiner and gear. The FAA minimum is 40 flight hours, but many schools say students need more, so the page shows the total at several hour counts.

What is the FAA minimum number of hours?

14 CFR 61.109 requires at least 40 hours of flight time for a private pilot certificate under Part 61, including at least 20 hours with an instructor and 10 hours solo. Schools quote higher averages because most students need more practice than the minimum. Ask your school what its own students need.

Is it cheaper to join a flying club?

Clubs usually charge monthly dues and a lower hourly rate, so they win when you fly often. The page works out the break-even in flight hours a month from your own figures, and what a club would save or cost over your training.

Does flying more often reduce the total cost?

Many instructors say frequent lessons mean less repeating of material. This page does not predict that for you. Enter the hours you expect to need, and the table shows what each extra ten hours costs so you can weigh a faster schedule against it.

Is my data uploaded anywhere?

No. Everything is calculated in your browser and nothing is sent; a test in the code asserts there are no network calls.