Real-world PPL cost

Mine cost something over $12k over 3.5 years from 2010 - 2013.

74 flight hours x $125/hr avg (Cessna 172M) = $9,250
55 dual instruction x $45/hr avg = $2,475
DPE fee = $500
= $12,225

And that doesn't include miscellaneous ground instruction, books, headset, flight bag, kneeboard, a bunch of charts over those years, and gas to commute to the airport.

So I'd guess in the range of $13-14k.

And of course it was all worth it. It's incredible to be able to say I'm a pilot.
 
fiveoboy01 said:
I get asked this a lot, what's it cost?

You could save some cash if you did it in fewer hours, but it takes what it takes. Best money ever spent IMO:D
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Mine was around $1200. But that was in the 1970's.
 
jordane93 said:
it should be from 5k to about 7k, plus you also need to get 50 hrs pic x country on top of those prices. to reduce costs, take advantage of a simulator at your flight school if they have one. i did about 15 hrs of my instrument training in one and it helped a lot
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You can do pretty much all your IR training cross country, so you can integrate 40 of those hours. I did all my IR except the first 1.5 as XC even though I already had more than the 50 because that's the way my CFiI decided was best, "train like you fly". We hit an approach at every airport with one from the Bay Area to the Mexican border in California including doing PAR approaches as military facilities.
 
jspilot said:
Never been to sky manor but sky acres is a great place for a 100 hamburger. Just make sure you got Wednesday- Sunday as they are closed on Monday and Tuesday. Also best to go on a calm wind day. It's a wide enough runway but I'd not want to be flying in there on a tough day, lots of cliffs on 3 sides of the runway!
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They are only open Thursday thru Sunday for lunch as far as I know
 
Henning said:
You can do pretty much all your IR training cross country, so you can integrate 40 of those hours. I did all my IR except the first 1.5 as XC even though I already had more than the 50 because that's the way my CFiI decided was best, "train like you fly". We hit an approach at every airport with one from the Bay Area to the Mexican border in California including doing PAR approaches as military facilities.
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yea thats what i did with my dad. almost all my x countries i did to build time were IFR and i had really good exposure to the system before i even started training. but if you do it like that you also have to pay your instructor his hourly rate, which is not ideal by most people and they would probably rather do the x country time by themselves to save a few bucks
 
jordane93 said:
yea thats what i did with my dad. almost all my x countries i did to build time were IFR and i had really good exposure to the system before i even started training. but if you do it like that you also have to pay your instructor his hourly rate, which is not ideal by most people and they would probably rather do the x country time by themselves to save a few bucks
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There is no reason that you can't combine the X/C time and the IR training time, it doesn't cost extra, it saves money.
 
Any opinions about SunState Aviation out of ISM? Seem like a good outfit anyone have experience with them? TIA
 
But how much other recreational costs did the pursuit of a PPC displace? That is a valid deduction from the cost. What would you have been doing for fun if you hadn't been going for a PPC and what would that have cost???
 
fiveoboy01 said:
Truth. I'm sitting around bored now that I don't have to study. I've kept all my books and I've made it a plan to study some subject at least once a week for an hour, minimum. Keeps my brain fresh and when that biannual comes, I won't look like I forgot everything:)
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You'll be happy to know it's only biennial. Takes the stress off. 3 less of them. ;) ;) ;)
 
Graueradler said:
What would you have been doing for fun if you hadn't been going for a PPC and what would that have cost???
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Nothing...I would have been going crazy not flying. ;-)
 
Graueradler said:
But how much other recreational costs did the pursuit of a PPC displace? That is a valid deduction from the cost. What would you have been doing for fun if you hadn't been going for a PPC and what would that have cost???
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Drinking beer and hanging around in strip clubs. So PPL saved me money! :)
 
My cost in September 2012

At the very end of September, last year, I posted something similar after I looked at the receipts and logbook. I copied the stuff below from that older post (it has a summary of cost as well as hours for flight time and instructor time):

Cost Summary
Cost of aircraft rental = $6,888 (dual and solo)
Cost of instructor = $3,374 ($2,259 in flight + $1,115 ground)
Total Cost of Aircraft Rental and Instructor = $10,262

Aircraft Flight Time Summary
Aircraft Flight Time with Instructor = 46.1 hours
Aircraft Flight Time Solo = 11.9 hours
Total Aircraft Flight Time = 58 hours

Instructor Time Summary
Instructor Time in Flight = 46.1 hours
Instructor Time on ground = 22.8 hours
Total Instructor Time = 68.9 hours

- Aircraft rented (most often): Cessna 172 N, "6 pack"; rental cost for "block rate" was generally $119/hr. (Other 172 sp was ~139).
- Instructor Fee: $49/hr.

Edit: now, a year later, I'm nowhere near I wanted to be in terms of experience and flight hours. But that's all right 'cuz that's what 2014 is for. Without a doubt this is one of the "bestest" thing I've ever done. ;-)
 
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Central/Norcal Calif costs...figure 10-15K....worth every penny and more...
 
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