PilotBound estimate · Somerton, AZ · Checked August 12, 2026
What flight training at McDermott's Let's Fly costs
Website letsflyllc.com
Your plan
Estimate cost to reach
Flying
Two-seat. $125/hr on a ten-hour block.
PilotBound estimate · Private
Examiner dataCost of your Private at McDermott's Let's Fly
range $12.1K – $16.1K · about 6 months at 2×/week
Priced on Let's Fly's published rates: Cessna 152 at $135/hr + $35/hr instruction, checked August 12, 2026.
Against a minimums quote
+$5,230 on Let's Fly's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.
Where it goes
One-time fees ($2,375)
- Knowledge (written) test$175
- Checkride / DPE fee$800
- Medical certificate$150
- Headset$700
- Ground school / test prep$300
- Books, charts & supplies$250
Examiner records (DPE dataset).
The hourly flying is priced on McDermott's Let's Fly's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not McDermott's Let's Fly's prices, and several are set by third parties.
Estimates use PilotBound's own completion-hours model, examiner-completion data where it exists and FAA minimums where it does not, applied to each school's published rates. They are PilotBound estimates, not the school's quote, and will differ from a school's own figures. Full methodology and sources →
What Let's Fly publishes
checked August 12, 2026THE PAGE CARRYING THESE RATES IS STAMPED COPYRIGHT 2017, so confirm every figure before budgeting: it is published and current on the site, but the site itself has not been dated since. Instruction is priced by who you are rather than by aircraft: $35/hr for student private pilots and $45/hr for everyone else. Ten-hour blocks lower each aircraft by $5 to $10. The school also publishes whole-course prices (Private $7,000, Instrument $9,500, Commercial $3,500, Flight Instructor $3,500, and a ten-hour tailwheel endorsement at $2,000), which are NOT used here because this estimate is built from hourly rates. A Redbird TD2 simulator is $75/hr.
Not published: the examiner's checkride fee, whether rates include fuel. Listed as missing rather than guessed.
Step 2
Turn this into a plan.
Your $14,125 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.
Add to my planWhat to ask when you call
The marked ones are what Let's Fly's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.
Do the published aircraft rates include fuel, or is fuel billed separately?Missing from their site
The site does not say, and it is the difference between two rates that look identical and are not.
What gets billed on top of the hourly rates, and roughly how much per hour does it add?
The site notes extras beyond the hourly figures. Ask for the all-in number per hour, not the base rate.
Which instructor rate applies to each rating I plan to do, and does the higher tier start on day one of that rating?
This school prices some instruction above its primary rate. Knowing when the step-up starts keeps the later ratings from surprising you.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Estimates use McDermott's Let's Fly's published Cessna 152 and instructor rates (checked August 12, 2026), shown in USD for planning only. Real cost varies by student, weather, and pace. An honest range, not a quote.
PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by McDermott's Let's Fly. School names are used only to identify the school. Estimates use PilotBound's own completion-hours model, examiner-completion data where it exists and FAA minimums where it does not, applied to each school's published rates. They are PilotBound estimates, not the school's quote, and will differ from a school's own figures. Disclaimer & removal policy.
Common questions about McDermott's Let's Fly
- How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at McDermott's Let's Fly?
- McDermott's Let's Fly publishes $135 per hour for the Cessna 152 and $35 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 12, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $14,125, in a range of $12,100 to $16,100. That covers roughly 72 hours of flying and instruction plus the one-time fees most quotes leave out, including the written test, the examiner's checkride fee, a medical, and study materials. It is a PilotBound estimate built on the school's published rates, not a quote from McDermott's Let's Fly.
- How long does it take to get a private pilot license at McDermott's Let's Fly?
- Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at McDermott's Let's Fly to reach the private pilot checkride, at roughly 72 hours. Pace is the single biggest variable: flying once a week typically stretches the timeline and raises the total, because time between lessons gets spent re-learning. Weather, aircraft availability, and instructor turnover all push the same direction.
- Is McDermott's Let's Fly a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
- McDermott's Let's Fly does not state on its own website whether it trains under Part 61 or Part 141, so we do not list one. It is worth asking directly before you enroll: Part 141 follows an FAA-approved syllabus and is generally what VA benefits require, while Part 61 is more flexible on scheduling.
- Do McDermott's Let's Fly's aircraft rates include fuel?
- McDermott's Let's Fly publishes $135 per hour for the Cessna 152, a rate that does not say whether fuel is included. Ask before you budget: if the rate turns out to be dry, fuel adds roughly $30 to $60 per hour on top. PilotBound's estimate uses the rate exactly as published. Rates checked August 12, 2026.
- What ratings can you train for at McDermott's Let's Fly?
- McDermott's Let's Fly trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor. Instruction runs $35 to $45 per hour depending on the rating and the aircraft, since advanced and type-specific instruction is priced above the standard rate. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on McDermott's Let's Fly's own published rates.
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