Flight training at Birmingham Flight Center

Aircraft: $203/hr

$203/hr wet is the rate on all five of its Cessna 172s. Its Beechcraft Bonanza is $335/hr, the Cirrus SR22T is $430/hr plus a $160/hr consumables line, and the Baron is dual-rental only. Its full-motion Redbird is $125/hr WITH an instructor, which is not an instruction rate.

1. 1

   What do you charge per hour for flight instruction, and is ground instruction billed at the same rate?Missing from their site

   This is the number that is missing from the site. Ground is often billed separately and at a different rate.

2. 2

   Does the instructor rate change for the Instrument, Commercial, or CFI, or is it flat across everything?Missing from their site

   Plenty of schools charge more for advanced instruction. A flat rate quoted for the Private can climb later.

3. 3

   Do you train under Part 61 or Part 141?Missing from their site

   It changes the minimum hours, and for some students it changes financing eligibility.

4. 4

   What does instruction cost per hour, and is it higher in the Cirrus?Missing from their site

   The rental page says the school uses a wet rate system and never prints an instruction rate; a Cirrus normally needs a CSIP at a premium.

5. 5

   What is the $160/hr consumables charge on the SR22T?

   It sits beside a $430/hr standard rate with no explanation, and the two together are most of an hour's bill.

6. 6

   Do you offer block rates or prepay discounts, and what is the refund policy if I stop partway?

   Block discounts are common and rarely published. The refund terms matter more than the discount.

7. 7

   What do you charge for the written test, the checkride, and the examiner's fee?

   The DPE fee alone runs $800 to $1,200 in most of the country and is almost never in a quoted hourly rate.

8. 8

   How many trainers and how many full-time instructors do you have right now?

   Availability decides your pace, and pace decides your total more than the hourly rate does.

What to compare their answer against

Not Birmingham Flight Center's rates. The middle of what 5 Alabama schools charge, to hold your phone quote against.

From the schools here that publish full rate cards, the same sample behind the Flight Training Cost Report. Birmingham Flight Center is not in it.

What we checked

CAREFUL WITH A CRAWL OF THIS SITE. Its 172 pages read "$203 hr/wet" under a heading "Requirements (Student Pilot with instructor endorsement)", which is who may rent the aeroplane, NOT a rate that includes an instructor. An automated pass also derives a $43/hr instructor rate from figures on unrelated pages; there is no such published rate. The largest fleet in the state's directory so far, five 172s plus a Bonanza, two Cirrus and a Baron. Checked August 13, 2026.