In this video we're answering the second
question I get asked the most, how much
does it cost to get your private pilot's
license? The breakdown coming up!
Hey guys Carl with the Aviation Guys here,
and on this channel we like to go on
flights, give training tips, gadget
reviews and grow the aviation community
so if you like what you see consider
subscribing! Now let's get going. In our
last video we talked about what it takes
to get your private pilot license, or
rather private pilot certificate which
is what it's actually called. You can
check that video out up here, but after
people find out that I'm working towards
a private pilot license they usually say, "I
hear that's expensive, how much does it
cost?" Well my answer is, it depends.
There's a lot of variables that come
into play when you're working towards
your private pilot license but to be
honest it's gonna cost a good chunk of
change. So today I'm not gonna only go
over how much it's gonna cost but
cost-saving tips that you can do along
the way. Straight up there are two ways
that you can get your private pilot
license, by going privately through an
instructor or going to a school. There's
pros and cons to each one of those, but
we're gonna save those for another video.
Today we're focusing strictly on cost. So,
let's go ahead and get started by
getting your license privately with an
instructor. Now let's set some standards.
The minimum to get your private pilot
license is 40 hours, but most people are
doing it on average of 65 to 70. So, we're
gonna take that 65 number and base all
of our calculations off it. Even people
who go to flight schools are averaging
that 65 hour mark. So, to make
things realistic we're just gonna choose
that number looking at expensive there's
only a couple of things that you need to
focus on aircraft cost instructor cost
ground school materials like books
headsets and charts and testing so let's
break these down aircraft cost this is
going to be the single most expensive
part of your training and age size
avionics fuel consumption really
dictates the price of a rental but
typically older aircraft rent for less
and more better-equipped newer aircraft
rent for more but for this situation
we're gonna take the average cost of a
Cessna 172 $125 per hour
typically with fuel and multiply that
times at 65 which gives us eight
thousand one hundred and twenty-five
dollars you can save money on aircraft
rentals by renting smaller older
airplanes in my area actually found a
Cessna 152 renting for $85 an hour with
fuel
and that's fantastic and I could save
even more money by buying my hours up
front and bulk where I could save in or
between five to ten dollars per hour
depending on how many bulk hours I
purchased at a time you can also save
money by joining a local Flying Club
where you trade better rates for rentals
for monthly dues but just make sure that
you do your math first to make sure that
it's right for you last and certainly
not the cheapest option is to buy your
own airplane or join a partnership the
only catch to this is you actually own a
plane now and you have to pay for
maintenance and things like that
but depending on your aviation goals
this may be the best option for you in
the long term your second biggest cost
is going to be your instructor and
instructors will charge differently
based on their experience or teaching
style but the average that I found
inside of my area is about $50 per hour
but you're gonna need about 55 hours of
this in the total and that comes out to
about two thousand seven hundred and
fifty dollars saving money on an
instructor can be hard you really get
what you pay for
I've heard of some instructors charging
$20 an hour but they're brand-new and
you're really paying them to learn how
to teach other instructors know what
their time is worth and charge
accordingly
so the best way to be able to save money
on instruction is make sure you use
their time wisely come prepared ask for
homework and extend your lesson times to
at least two hours ground school now
this one's a hard one to put a number on
because there's so many different ways
that you can take it you can get it from
your instructor you can take it from a
local course or even online but with
variables like how you learn and how
long it takes you to apply what you've
learned
it could really varies you could be with
your instructor for anywhere from five
to ten hours ground courses typically
lasts a weekend and if you can't get it
all in you might not do well so we're
gonna put a dollar amount on this base
off of an online course that allows you
to learn at your own rate and that's
gonna be anywhere between two and three
hundred dollars to save money on ground
school I highly recommend using an
online course because again it allows
you to go at your own pace and learn how
you learned and a lot of them are very
comprehensive offering a guarantee that
if you don't pass your written you'll
get your money back if you choose to use
your instructor asked about reduced
rates for classroom time a lot of them
are very accommodating next up is
materials
there's only
couple of things you really need for
your pilot training some sectional
charts a book or two and a headset the
headsets can cost anywhere from a
hundred dollars to over a thousand but
all in you only need to spend about
three hundred dollars saving money on
materials is really easy only buy what
you need
in fact the FAA publishes a lot of the
books you can read online in PDF form so
you can read them on your phone or your
tablet I actually have links for these
down in the description as far as the
headset goes you can buy an inexpensive
one might only cost me a hundred and ten
dollars later on I know I can buy a more
expensive one and then use the one I
currently have for my friends and family
but if you're unsure of what materials
to get I have a link down in the
description that you can follow that
will show you all the materials and
things that you actually need and when
to get them throughout your training
process and if you're still unsure you
can always ask your instructor blast is
testing testing is another one of those
variable costs based on where you live
your written test has to be taken inside
of a testing center which can cost you
anywhere between 100 to 150 dollars your
last two tests the oral and checkride
are usually bundled together under the
same price and find those anywhere
between five and seven hundred dollars
you can save money on your written test
by calling around to different testing
centers and see how much they charge the
test is standardized at every location
so it really depends on how much you
want to drive I'll have a link in the
description below that will tell you
where your local testing centers are the
same goes for your checker I'd call a
couple designated pilot examiner's and
see what their pricing is but also check
with your instructor to see how that
examiner works with the students some
are really picky where others are a lot
more laid-back alright it's math time
we're gonna take the maximum number here
and add them up and remember we're
multiplying our rates by 65 so 8125 for
the plane 2,750 for the instructor 300
for ground school 300 for materials and
850 for testing plus 375 dollars for the
plane rental which is about three hours
for the check ride and that comes to 12
thousand seven hundred dollars remember
how I said it was going to cost a good
chunk of change this is a realistic
number what you can expect to pay to
have your pilot training but again you
can save money using the
that I gave you inside of the video now
let's compare this to flight schools
flight schools take everything we just
talked about and wrap them up into a
nice neat little package and that's a
huge benefit for you but with those
benefits come extra costs I've seen
flight school charge anywhere between
fifteen thousand to nineteen thousand
dollars to get a private pilot license
but flight schools have their benefits
like access to airplanes instructors and
materials a lot more readily than you
could if you're doing it on your own
again that's a whole nother discussion
for another video to save money at
school you just have to talk to a
recruiter ask them what the average
timeframe it takes for our students to
complete the program also ask them what
the average price students pay to
complete it if they don't know that
should be a red flag but also make sure
that you're asking about other costs you
could eclair along the way above all
check how they want to be paid some
schools want to be paid upfront for the
entire program this may not work for you
if you decide later on the school isn't
for you so that's it that's all you
should need to know about the cost of
your private pilot license now the best
money saving tip that I can give you is
to save up your money and do your flight
training all at once doing it as quickly
as possible to help you get below that
65 hour average and help you save the
most money in the end hey guys thanks
for watching the video if you liked it
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you think inside of the comments down
below as always share aviation wherever
you can and we'll see in the next one