Costs
Whether you train with Alas de San Miguel or any other school, the total cost of your training depends largely on YOUR level of commitment and the schedule you choose to complete your training. A two or three-month commitment to complete your Private Pilot course means that you are flying on average two times a week, studying several (8-10) hours every week, and adequately preparing for your next flight training sessions. Frequent home-study, ground school, and flight training sessions give you less time to forget what you recently learned. This is the least costly and most expeditious way to complete your training!
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When asking flight schools to quote you a price for completing your training in the minimum time of thirty-five hours (for Part 141 schools) or forty hours (for Part 61 independent instructors/schools), make sure you ask them how many of their students actually complete their training in that amount of time and the duration in weeks or months for the training course(s). If planning to stay near a school away from your home, you should also take into account lodging costs for the duration of your training, costs of transportation and meals while there, and roundtrip transportation costs to the school from your home. A foreign student would need to add to those costs approximately $460 USD to fulfill the requirements of the Alien Flight Student Program.
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Based on a goal of obtaining your Private Pilot certificate within three (3) months, the following is an estimate of total costs for a “zero-time” student, not including travel, meals, and lodging expenses to a school beyond commuting distance from your residence.
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Although the minimum flight time specified under 14 CFR Part 61 is 40 hours total flight time, the national average for students appearing for the Practical Test (checkride) is 65-70 hours. With an aggressive schedule to complete your training, we will use 45 hours of flight time (30 dual/15 solo) in our estimate and an allowance of 35 ground school hours. Payment for our training program is NOT required in advance and the estimate assumes that the student will take advantage of our 15% discount policy by maintaining a positive balance in his/her account at all times.​
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Our estimate (+/- $9,430 USD):
Study materials/iPAD navigational software: $250 USD
Ground school: 35 hours at $48.00 USD/hour=$1680 USD
Flight training (dual), including aircraft and Instructor: 30 hours at $170.00 USD/hour=$5100 USD
Solo flight: 15 hours at $120.00 USD/hour= $1800 USD
Computer testing fee for Knowledge (written) Test: $100 USD
Third Class Medical Examination and Certificate: $100 USD
Examiner’s fee (checkride): $400 USD
A highly-motivated student finishing flight training requirements for the Private Pilot certificate in the minimum of 40 hours or requiring less ground school can save $1200-$1700 USD.
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​Certificated US FAA pilots wishing to add an Instrument Rating to their Private or Commercial certificate must log the required cross-country and simulated/actual experience under 14 CFR Part 61.65 (d) of which a minimum of 15 hours of training is received from a Certified Flight Instructor. Call us to discuss an estimate for your training based on your experience. If you are a foreign student, you can also discuss with us the requirements for DGAC-certified Private Pilots to receive a US FAA Instrument Rating!
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​We also provide ground and flight training for US FAA Commercial certificates and Certified Flight Instructors (CFI and CFII) and Knowledge (written) Test preparation for Airline Transport Pilot certificates.
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Estimates do not include the purchase of cool aviator sunglasses ($??).
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Call us if you have any questions about costs of learning to fly or any other matter!
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