Question about Edg-u-ma-cation

[Sonor]

I have always wanted to get my private pilot's license. Maybe work my way up to VFR but I have one big question. What do all the pieces and parts of flying cost? I know there is a "book" course, then instructor flying, then solo flying for that I can get rough estimates. But what about the extraneous costs of plan rental, insurance, health exams, etc. Any insight y'all can provide would be helpful for me to determine my next steps.

[John Ranalletta]

1 hour ago, Sonor said:

I have always wanted to get my private pilot's license. Maybe work my way up to VFR but I have one big question. What do all the pieces and parts of flying cost? I know there is a "book" course, then instructor flying, then solo flying for that I can get rough estimates. But what about the extraneous costs of plan rental, insurance, health exams, etc. Any insight y'all can provide would be helpful for me to determine my next steps.

 

Great question!  If I were younger, I'd fly.  I'd go right to RIggins Flight Service and learn how to fly a tail dragger so I can live like Trent Palmer and his friends.

[TEWKS]

Here’s a YouTube channel called King Schools.

I bought their video series back in 87-ish. I never got the certificate but had fun while taking lessons.

I’m thinking they aren’t giving all their secrets away for free on YouTube but there’s enough info to get you thinking in a pilot’s direction.

 

 

[Skywagon]

3 hours ago, Sonor said:

What do all the pieces and parts of flying cost

 

I''ll try to help a little.  It was 1983 for me, but the requirements haven't changed much.  First is private pilot ground school.  That will take a few weeks and the school will cost about $200 depending on where you go.  Some junior colleges teach it now for next to nothing.  You will need the books.  I'm not current on that but would expect it to cost another 200.  You need 40 hours minimum of flight time before you can take a flight exam.  Most folks take about 50 hours.  The cost of flight training depends on the airplane and the instructor rate.  At my field:

NUFACTURER	MODEL	SOLO	DUAL
CESSNA	172S (180 HP) N624TA/N945SA	$205	$280
CESSNA	172S/G1000 w/Air/XM Weather/Traffic (180 HP) N142BS	$215	$290
CESSNA	172S/G1000 w/Air/XM Weather/Traffic (180 HP) N803PA	$215	$290
CESSNA	172S/G1000 w/Air/XM Weather/Traffic (180 HP) N853PA	$235	$310

 

You will be dual for about 10 hours then you will be released to so some limited solo. More dual will come as you do cross country training and night training. In total you will probably do 25 hours dual and the rest solo. You will have to take a written FAA test.  I think that is about $150.  Once your instructor has signed you off you will schedule a ride with an FAA examiner.  You will have the cost of the airplane time and the examiner fee.  Some Examiners charge as little as $150 and some up to about $500.  Rental insurance isn't bad...maybe $500/year.  You will need a noise cancelling headset.  Prices range from $500-1200.  Your medical will be a Class III and can only be obtained through a DR with FAA certification. You need your medical before you can fly solo. They are called AME's.  My last one cost $250 but it was for a class one that allows me to fly commercially.

 

I'm sure I am forgetting some things.  Roughly it will cost around $10,000  There are multiple ways to get the training and certificate.  If you get serious, give me a shout and I can walk you through a couple of different methods such as flying clubs.  The cost of flying has exploded in the last 5-10 years.

 

Your private certificate gives you VFR priviledge.  After that you will likely want your instrument rating which IMHO and most it is the hardest rating to get, then multi which is easy but expensive, commercial which is the easiest of all, and there are other ratings after than if you get hooked

 

One last thing....video's and on line courses in my opinion teach you how to pass the test.  Taking a ground school with an instructor will teach you how to fly.

[roadscholar]

Came across this young woman’s adventure earlier today and watched most of part two. Here is part one, thought it pertinent to the topic, good bit of the nuts and bolts of flying a small plane.

 

 

[Sonor]

Thanks for the detailed responses. I did mis type in my first post, instead of VFR I should have typed IFR.

[TEWKS]

Take some pictures when you get started but, don’t have any sad moments. 

 

[dduelin]

On 1/15/2022 at 6:26 PM, Sonor said:

I have always wanted to get my private pilot's license. Maybe work my way up to VFR but I have one big question. What do all the pieces and parts of flying cost? I know there is a "book" course, then instructor flying, then solo flying for that I can get rough estimates. But what about the extraneous costs of plan rental, insurance, health exams, etc. Any insight y'all can provide would be helpful for me to determine my next steps.

I haven't been current for 33 years and have no idea of the cost in today's $. When I got my private in 1974 it was IIRC about $1000 of paper route and Burger King job earnings and that was a bargain due to the Air Force Aero Club I belonged to. Instead of buying a car I then paid for the block of time that got me my Commercial/Instrument just in time to say hello to a few thousand high time military pilots riffed out of the cockpit soon after we got out of Viet Nam. With less than 300 hours mostly in Cessna 150s and a high school diploma I gave up on a flying career. Some years later after college I joined a club that owned 4 gliders and a Super Cub tow plane. $10 a tow to 2000 feet and $10 an hour for the glider. Soaring was the flying I always imagined flying to be. Starting a family ended that but I don't regret it one bit. Flying was a chapter in my life and maybe it is the next chapter in your life.

[realshelby]

Skywagon was gracious enough to spend a LOT of time with me going over flying. About 3 years back or so. While there are cheaper ways they all require LOTS of time not in an aircraft. This is where you might cut a few dollars off, such as using simulators. Costs vary for instruction and equipment up front. But don't be mislead by the lower end costs. Those are for the minimum 40 hour type classes. Few can do that it seems. 

In my case there is an airport with what seems to be a very good instructor available just a few miles away. Cost to get my license were going to be $13,000 when you add EVERYTHING in. May be more now. 

I am not a rental kind of person. I wanted my own aircraft. I wanted to fly when and where I wanted. Which would also mean Instrument Rating which added about $10,000. 

And there is where I hit the wall I could not get through. The FAA does NOT want you to own an airplane. So the cost for maintaining them is exorbitant. If you think that sounds like a lot of money, double or triple what you are thinking! Annual inspections start at $1000 or so, but that won't include the little things that have to get replaced. Got a little nick on that propeller? Well, that is $5-8,000. Your precious plane has a new AD to be looked at? Well, you might think the prop rebuild was cheap after that. The problem as I saw it is that I cannot do hardly anything to the airplane. MUST have an A&P certified mechanic do that. Or at least one looking over your shoulder the whole time for what seems to be menial work. To me at least. But, I understand what they are after. And regular citizens don't fit well into what the FAA wants. 

[TEWKS]

That makes a motorcycle addiction seem cheap! 

[Hosstage]

Whenever a friend wants to buy a motorcycle, but the wife says no (don't get me started on that one), I always tell them to tell the wife that they want to buy an airplane. It doesn't always work, but now the wife sees a little more logic to the motorcycle thing.

Conversely, when they want to buy a boat and are met with resistance, tell the wife they want a motorcycle. Again, the boat seems a better choice to the wife (it's not, I have both, I wouldn't miss the boat).

Perhaps I should say spouse rather than just picking on the wives, a bit narrow minded on my part, I apologize to the cool wives out there.

[Sonor]

Hey Hosstage, don't they say that the two best days of owning a boat are the day you purchase and the day you sell?

[szurszewski]

2 hours ago, Hosstage said:

Whenever a friend wants to buy a motorcycle, but the wife says no (don't get me started on that one), I always tell them to tell the wife that they want to buy an airplane. It doesn't always work, but now the wife sees a little more logic to the motorcycle thing.

Conversely, when they want to buy a boat and are met with resistance, tell the wife they want a motorcycle. Again, the boat seems a better choice to the wife (it's not, I have both, I wouldn't miss the boat).

Perhaps I should say spouse rather than just picking on the wives, a bit narrow minded on my part, I apologize to the cool wives out there.

 

 

I traded a boat for an engagement ring. My wife has bought me more than one motorcycle… 

[taylor1]

Being surrounded by water, I couldn't imagine not having a boat. Much like a motorcycle, staying on top of, and doing your own maintenance, cuts down dramatically of costs. As far as the original post, a good friend is a commercial pilot. He owns 2 personal planes and a small hanger at a private airport nearby. Both planes are home builds designed by Dick Rutan . A Long Easy and a Very Easy. He told me he went that route because they are a fraction to maintain compared to buying a commercially built craft. Other than having a blast when he takes me flying with him, that's the extent of my knowledge on this subject. LOL

[dduelin]

3 hours ago, Sonor said:

Hey Hosstage, don't they say that the two best days of owning a boat are the day you purchase and the day you sell?

Those days were not the best for me. I had 10 sailboats in succession for 40 years and loved them all like the mistresses they were. One time my wife had been asking me repeatedly to fix the back yard fence gate that I deemed urgent but not important. Finally in desperation she exclaimed "If that gate had water supporting it, it would be the most beautiful gate in the neighborhood!" Sailing taught me independence and self reliance as a teenager and gave me opportunities to explore my fears and strengths into adulthood. After an ill-fated Bahamas trip I pulled the had-been-but-was-no longer trusty Atomic 4 inboard out of the Morgan 30 to rebuild it at home. When the project was finished and the engine ready to go back in the boat I came into the house that night and told my wife that I was thinking of buying a old motorcycle that I could fiddle around with in the garage. I had no idea that at age 50 a motorcycle could and would replace the boats. I waited a year to sell that Morgan because it had the  $25 I spent on my first boat in it and also every dollar I got for each one when sold that went to buy the next one. I knew I would probably never have another one as capable or as lovely but it finally became time to part with her and close that chapter of my life.

[Hosstage]

5 hours ago, Sonor said:

Hey Hosstage, don't they say that the two best days of owning a boat are the day you purchase and the day you sell?

I don't know yet, went straight from one boat (a sweet runabout with power steering) to the next (deck boat) because we needed bigger. Next up is a pontoon, because we need bigger still. I saw one with twin 250's on it, but can't talk the wife into that one. 

I could sell this one right now to get another bike, but again, the wife isn't going for that either. It's not that she loves boating, but we live on a lake and need it for family. Luckily for me, she loves riding too, more than boating.

I did tell her I want an airplane.

I have two bikes now!

[Hosstage]

3 hours ago, szurszewski said:

 

 

I traded a boat for an engagement ring. My wife has bought me more than one motorcycle… 

She's a keeper!

[Grouchy]

I got a private pilot license in 1982 for about $2000.

It turned into a 25 year career and many trips around the world seeing things a shoeless hillbilly never gets to see. So not a bad investment.

Of course, the costs are probably ten times that now. Makes a 1200RT seem cheap by comparison.🙂

 

 

[szurszewski]

20 hours ago, Hosstage said:

She's a keeper!

I’m not sure that’s up to me

[Scott9999]

Flying???  Oh, my, but those dreams of youth.

 

Grew up literally infatuated with flying.  Started with the model airplanes and readers about flight and flyers.  When I was maybe age 12, or 14, I saw a National Geographic article about some folks who used bamboo and sheet plastic to make the earliest version of a hang glider.  There was no way I would be able to afford a private pilots license any time soon (plus, no one I knew was a pilot, a mentor ...), so I immediately latched on to the idea, i.e. something I could actually afford that would actually put me into the air.  I pestered my mom until she took me 75 miles away to a local port city that had the bamboo I needed, and I picked up the rest from the local hardware store.

 

Assembly was exciting.  It was tough finding enough space to enable me to spread the wings, so I took it to the front yard and covered the whole thing.  Everything worked out according to the N.G.'s published specifications.  Until, that is, I got to the part where I was supposed to bind the plastic to the bamboo using .... maybe 6 mile plastic pipe tape.   "WHOaaa ....", was my thought.   I didn't like the idea of my life (and the integrity of my bones) depending some plastic tape.    I put the project on hold "... for a while ", as I tried to come up with a better alternative.  In truth, the more immediate show stopper was the overall weight of the thing.   While it might have only weighed 60 lbs, I realized that I would likely have to carry that thing UP every hill that I intended to fly down.  The nearly assembled thing sat dominating our back yard until my dad got fed up and told me to move it or lose it.     So, I did the only reasonable thing I could think of.  I put it up on our roof, where it sat waiting for maybe another year for me to return the project.  

 

I never did fly it, but she did eventually get her maiden flight in before she ended her life prematurely in a dumpster.    We had an annual wind storm, and dang if she didn't get impatient, and take off without me.  I think she must have rose 100' into the air and glided in circles for a couple of minutes, before she unceremoniously crashed to the ground.   It was a sad moment, but hey, "proof of concept" was established!  😁  By that time, however, I was either infatuated with riding a dirt bike, getting my driver's license, and probably other things that young men just past puberty eventually become infatuated about.  😏

 

My hopes and dreams of flying did not end there, however.   They DID end with a visit to my doctor's office, and a high school physical.   I found out that I had a unique skill that not every young man had.  I could fluently read a numbered coloring book.  It was a test that I did so well at, that the nurse literally looked shocked at the results, again, leaving me swelled with pride.   It was only after the doctor explained to me that most others could NOT read those numbers because they had full color vision, and I did not.   That plus my then 20/400 vision sharply curtailed my dream of flying, and many others.   I had to settle for flying at 60+ MPH flat out across the desert on my dirt motorcycle, to satisfy "my need for speed".  (Of course now, about 35 mph around the lake is about all I can handle ....) 🤣🤣🤣   (Plus, even if they could "fix" partial color blindness, I'd never pass a flight physical with my heart disease.)

 

So, hats off to all you pilots, would be pilots, and future pilots like our friend "Sonar"!  Do another "touch and go" cycle for me.  👍