Todays Cost of getting a PPL

You could buy a new car, like a big Cadillac for $8,000 back
in the mid 60s, now that isn't even a down payment. You
could buy a J3 Cub in 1967 for $3,000 IN GOOD CONDITION.
You also probably had a job that paid $50-75 a week. A
private in the military got $32/mo plus keep.

A new Harley XLCH cost $1400.

A round of golf can cost you a couple of hundred dollars
today.

The question is how many hours do you work to pay for the
lesson and how badly do you want to learn to fly?
The money isn't worth as much.



wrote in message
...
| Newps wrote:
| Because $12.5K is a ridiculous amount. That's more
| than twice what it should cost.
|
| The flight school I worked at was a Cessna Pilot Center.
At the time,
| the new 172SPs were $100/hr and the instruction was
$40/hr. They said it
| was *possible* to finish in 40 hours, but that most people
took 50 to 60
| hours. We told people to plan on $7K - $8K, including
books, supplies,
| the written, etc. The old C152 rented for $63/hr, but
depending on the
| size of the student and instructor, that wasn't always an
option.

Huh?

mike

"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...

Remember that most of the cost of getting your PPL is the cost of flying.
If you don't want to pay for flying, then why the hell are you getting a
PPL?


--
Paul Tomblin http://blog.xcski.com/
C is *supposed* to be dangerous, damnit!
-- Anonymous, on "Safer C"

On Sun, 05 Nov 2006 02:22:44 GMT, john smith wrote:

After reading John's (BucFan) posting and the revelation that he spent
$12,500 to get his PPL, I have to wonder how representative this is?

he took close to 100 hours. this would break down to about 125 per hour,
but he also added training materials, books, medical ... to the total
amount. So, depending on airplane and location he paid (IMHO) something
close to $100 per hour including CFI.

It certainly is daunting, to say the least.
Is this is true, it is certainly a factor in the decline in pilot starts
and completions.
Where you live:

Austria

What are the going rates for dual instruction?

no idea, too long ago

What are the rates and aircraft being used for training?

in 1996 I paid about 7 AMU for my PPL in a C150 (here in Austria, that is).
It took me 40 hours and 13 minutes (damn, I didn't needed these 13
minutes!).

in 2002 I added the US-PPL in CHD, AZ. It took me an additional ~10 hours.
I flew a C172 (due to space, weight and comfort); it added up to about
$1,300 including examiner fee.

today, compared to 2002, I would save more than 20%, due to the exchange
rate.

#m
--
Enemy Combatant http://itsnotallbad.com/

Jose wrote:
I think my private cost around 800 dollars.


You could probably get a private for that same price now, if you used
800 actual dollar coins that were circulating when you got yours.


Or you could have bought $800 worth of gold and held on to it until
you were ready to go flying.

john smith wrote in news:jsmith-962C94.21172404112006
@network-065-024-007-028.columbus.rr.com:

After reading John's (BucFan) posting and the revelation that he spent
$12,500 to get his PPL, I have to wonder how representative this is?
It certainly is daunting, to say the least.
Is this is true, it is certainly a factor in the decline in pilot starts
and completions.
Where you live:
What are the going rates for dual instruction?

What are the rates and aircraft being used for training?

I paid a bit over $7,000 in 2001. But the flight school where I learned is
now gone. It has been replaced by American Flyers and the prices for planes
and instructors went up fairly steeply.

The lower-priced flight school at my field is now the Cessna Pilot Center
(which was higher priced in 2001). Over the years, there prices have inflated
as well. They train in Millenium edition Cessna 172 (year 2000 or later) at
about $120/hr wet. The instructor is $46/hr. They cut the prices 10% if you
pay a $600 club fee.

If I did it again at today's rates, It would probably cost me betwen $10k and
$12k..

After reading John's (BucFan) posting and the revelation that he spent
$12,500 to get his PPL, I have to wonder how representative this is?
It certainly is daunting, to say the least.

No offense to John (whom I applaud for his persistence -- something few
student pilots show), but he was fleeced. There is no way a PPL has
to cost that much, and it does GA an injustice to publicize his unusual
experience.

Stretching out his lessons over 2+ years was the key to his financial
over-expenditure. Mary and I each finished up in 4+ months, and spent
exponentially less as a result. Something in the range of $3500, as I
recall, a bit more for Mary thanks to inflation.

The rule of thumb really is: If you want to cost-effectively obtain
your PPL, treat it like a semester of college. Fly 3 days per week
(Mon/Wed/Fri) and study the other two (Tue/Thu), or wait until you can
-- OR accept the fact that you're going to spend more money, perhaps a
lot more.

Otherwise, you're just having fun *and* helping the CFI make his car
payment.

And there's nothing wrong with that -- but then don't come back here
and scare the bejeesus out of lurkers by trumpeting that it now costs
5-figures to get your Private. Cuz it doesn't.

Mary and I both obtained our PPLs while working full-time, and with
little kids underfoot -- so it CAN be done. You've just got to want it
badly enough.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

The lower-priced flight school at my field is now the Cessna Pilot Center
(which was higher priced in 2001). Over the years, there prices have inflated
as well. They train in Millenium edition Cessna 172 (year 2000 or later) at
about $120/hr wet. The instructor is $46/hr. They cut the prices 10% if you
pay a $600 club fee.

If I did it again at today's rates, It would probably cost me betwen $10k and
$12k..

Only if you're crazy, wealthy, or both.

There are plenty of flight schools that will rent you a 152 for $70/hr
wet, and lots of CFIs that still work for $20 - $25/hr.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote:
There are plenty of flight schools that will rent you a 152 for $70/hr
wet, and lots of CFIs that still work for $20 - $25/hr.

It's not necessarily that easy, Jay.
There are C152s for rent for around $70/hr wet here, but depending on
how much you and your CFI weigh (together with full fuel), a C152 isn't
a suitable trainer for a lot of people. Nearly all C172s are around
$100/hr, the newer ones (post 2000) are upwards of $125/hr. Most
*schools* charge $35-40/hr for their CFIs because THEY want to make at
least $20-25/hr off of them, and their CFIs are not free to teach in
aircraft that don't belong also belong to the school without a letter of
subrogation from the insurance company insuring the airplane absolving
the flight school from any liability with THEIR CFI if there's an
accident. Speaking of insurance, you will pay through the nose for an
insurance company to allow a private individual to use his airplane,
even a C152, for training that allows the solo of a non-rated student.
Do people *do it* without notifying their insurance companies? Sure! Is
that wise, in the event of an accident? Heck no!

So all-in-all, there's less red tape and the cost probably balances out
just going to a flight school. It costs more these days to get a PPL,
and I agree that you can keep costs down by flying often and continuing
from start to finish with no large gaps that require costly review. But
bottom line is, it costs a lot, and it depends how much you want it.

In a previous article, "Jim Burns" said:
I don't think your Dad trusted you around all those Beavers, Paul.

Actually, I think the flying club had Chipmunks and Cessnas.

I finally got my Beaver ride in Alaska in 2004.

My Dad's boss's boss used to live up at his cottage in the summer and
commute down in a Beaver on amphibious floats. Now *that* would be the
way to do it, eh?

--
Paul Tomblin http://blog.xcski.com/
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

Jay Honeck writes:

The rule of thumb really is: If you want to cost-effectively obtain
your PPL, treat it like a semester of college. Fly 3 days per week
(Mon/Wed/Fri) and study the other two (Tue/Thu), or wait until you can ...

So all you have to do is quit your job, or wait until you're 70 years
old. Simple. And make sure you have a few thousand dollars in your
checking account before you quit, so you can pay for the license.

Mary and I both obtained our PPLs while working full-time, and with
little kids underfoot -- so it CAN be done. You've just got to want it
badly enough.

If you have to "want it badly enough," that implies that something
else must be sacrificed. If it's not money (because you say that you
don't need five figures to do it), then what are you giving up to get
a license at a reasonable cost and in a reasonable time?

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.