Sport Pilot Talk

sportflugzeug wrote:The reason I ask; I spent over an hour with my CFI introducing ourselves, going over what I need to learn, what he expects from me, and then flew for 45 minutes.

So at the end of the training, I paid 100.00 for his time and then 100.00 for the plane (I bough 10 blocks). So it was 200.00 for that session. 200.00 X 40 hours is $8,000.00. But I suppose since that was the first time meeting him, we won’t sit down like that every session.

I my case, I think there were only few times when I went over $150 and into $200s for a single lesson and it was my dual cross-country and similar flights - your typical lesson , which is basically staying in the pattern and doing touch-and-goes, should be around $150 or so.

My students end up paying more -- but my curriculum goes above and beyond FAA minimums. It's not right for everyone, but my students know this up front, and choose the program only if it suits them.

sportflugzeug wrote:Question

What is the average cost for a SPL and average hours to complete?

Thanks!

Averages don't mean much. I think Sport PIlots might take longer than you would expect because many of them don't start flying until their 60's. Learning something new at age 60 generally takes longer than age 18. I soloed in 7 hours and 40 minutes at age 16 and got a Private in 44 hours at age 17.

Some schools do charge for "ground training" time, which may include pre and post briefings, evaluations, feedback, etc. Like Doc said, they should explain pricing right up front so there are no surprises. But don't despair; you'll probably end up nowhere close to what I've dropped on this so far - in the neighborhood of $20,000 and still no joy . BTW, do you know why aviation uses so many nautical terms? Because flying an airplane is like owning a BOAT - "Bust Out Another Thousand" .

I have talked to quite a few people, some students and some instructors.
The general rule of thumb has been to figure the same amount of hours as your age in order to get your cert.
In My case it was about 53 hours and I was a month past my 54 th birthday.

41 hours then.