How much does flight school cost in Arkansas?

Across the 4 Arkansas flight schools here that publish full rates, trainer rentals run $95 to $182 per hour and instruction $55 to $80 per hour, checked as recently as September 10, 2026. On each school's own published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate between $12,985 and $18,959, with a median of $15,325. These are PilotBound estimates built on published rates, not quotes from the schools.

What is the cheapest flight school in Arkansas?

North Little Rock Air in North Little Rock publishes the lowest trainer rental of the 4 Arkansas schools listed here, $95 per hour for its Piper Cherokee 140, a wet rate, so fuel is included in the hourly figure, checked September 5, 2026. The lowest hourly rate is not automatically the lowest total: instructor rates, fuel basis, and the hours you actually fly decide that, which is what the per-school estimates on this page hold constant.

How current are these Arkansas flight school rates?

Every rate here is the school's own published figure, linked to its source and dated; the newest check in Arkansas is September 10, 2026, and each card and school page shows the exact date its rates were read. The directory is re-checked on a monthly cycle, and 14 more schools in Arkansas are listed without an estimate because they do not publish a full rate card. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime.

PilotBoundEvery hour. Every dollar.

Published rates, sourced · Updated September 10, 2026

What flight training costs at Arkansas flight schools

Every listing shows the school's own published rates with the source and date, next to an honest PilotBound estimate for your Private pilot certificate. Add any school to your plan to map your whole route on their real rates.

Across the 4 Arkansas schools here with published rates, trainer rentals run $95 to $182 per hour and instruction $55 to $80, and PilotBound's private pilot estimate lands between $12,985 and $18,959, with a median of $15,325.

Search, filter by city, and sort by cost. Each card marks where it falls among the state's schools on cost. Estimates are ours, not quotes, and we are not affiliated with these schools. See a wrong number? Every card has a correct-this-listing link.

Estimate cost toflying

CityPartSort

Showing 1–12 of 18 schools

Totals to reach your Private goal at this pace. 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. How we estimate.

Private estimate range across Arkansas

lowest $11.2Khighest $21.6K

North Little Rock Air
Part 61
Lowest in AR
North Little Rock, AR·nlr-air.com
Published rates
$95/hr aircraft (wet)+$65/hr instructor
Checked September 5, 2026·Source
NLR Air publishes solo and dual rates; the instructor rate shown is the published dual-minus-solo difference. The Citabria and Seneca are dual only at rates that include the instructor.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$12,985
range $11.2K – $14.8K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my plan NLR Air cost breakdown →
Superior Aviation
Part 61
Conway, AR·superioraviationar.com
Published rates
$120/hr aircraft (wet)+$55/hr instructor
Checked September 10, 2026·Source
PilotBound estimate · Private
$14,205
range $12.2K – $16.2K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my plan Superior Aviation cost breakdown →
Legends Air Center
Part not stated
Largest fleet
Bentonville, AR·legendsaircenter.com
Published rates
$135/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)+$75/hr instructor
Checked September 8, 2026·Source
The fleet is priced per tail and the site does not say whether fuel is included. Instruction is priced PER COURSE rather than flat: $75/hr for the Private and the Commercial, $80/hr for the Instrument and the CFI or CFII, and $100/hr for high-performance and tailwheel endorsements, which is the dearest tier. Ground school is sold separately at $45 a class or $320 for an eight-week course. A Redbird simulator is $60/hr and is not modeled.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$16,445
range $14.1K – $18.7K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my plan Legends Air Center cost breakdown →
First Team Pilot Training
Part not stated
West Memphis, AR·firstteampilottraining.com
Published rates
$182/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)+$60/hr instructor
Checked September 8, 2026·Source
First Team quotes its rates inside per-course cost breakdowns rather than as a rate card, and the aircraft rate changes with the course: $182/hr on the Private and the CFI, $170/hr on the Instrument, and $185/hr for the technically advanced aircraft on the Commercial. Its fleet page names nine aircraft, four Cherokee 140s, a 160, three 180s and a Citabria, and prices none of them, so the tails cannot be matched to the rates. Instruction is a flat $60/hr for flight and ground across every course. Nothing says whether fuel is included. Each course also carries a $325 pilot kit and orientation charge.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$18,959
range $16.3K – $21.6K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my plan First Team cost breakdown →
Below: schools without a full published rate card. They cannot be priced, so they sit at the end of a cost sort.
Arkansas Air Expeditions and Instruction
Part not stated
Morrilton, AR·BDQ·flyarkair.com
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
Arkansas Air Expeditions does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
Central Flying Academy
Part not stated
Little Rock, AR·LIT·centralflyingacademy.aero
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
Central Flying Academy does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
Central Flying Service
Part not stated
Little Rock, AR·LIT·central.aero
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
Central Flying Service does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
Fly Arkansas
Part not stated
Harrison, AR·HRO·flyarkansas.com
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
Fly Arkansas does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
Fly Now Aviation
Part not stated
Conway, AR·CXW
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
Fly Now does not publish a website, an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
Flying C Aviation
Part not stated
Searcy, AR·SRC·flyingcaviation.com
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
Flying C does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
Leading Edge Aviation Foundation
Part not stated
Midway, AR·BPK·leadingedgeaviationfoundation.org
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
Leading Edge Foundation does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
On Final Aviation
Part not stated
Jonesboro, AR·JBR·onfinalaviation.com
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
On Final does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →

Flight school costs in Arkansas, in numbers

Computed from the 4 Arkansas schools that publish both an aircraft and an instructor rate, on the same method every card above uses. The 14 listings without a full rate card are left out of every figure.

$15,325: Median PilotBound Private estimate across the 4 schools with published rates
$95 to $182: Published trainer rental, per hour
$55 to $80: Published instruction, per hour
4 of 18: Schools publishing a full rate card (aircraft and instructor)

Lowest published trainer rates in Arkansas

North Little Rock Air · $95/hr Piper Cherokee 140, North Little Rock
Superior Aviation · $120/hr Cessna 152, Conway
Legends Air Center · $135/hr Cessna 152, Bentonville
First Team Pilot Training · $182/hr Piper Cherokee, West Memphis

Airports with more than one Arkansas flight school

Clinton National Airport (LIT)Central Flying Academy·Central Flying Service
Conway Regional Airport (CXW)Fly Now Aviation·Superior Aviation
North Little Rock Municipal Airport (ORK)North Little Rock Air·Wallis Aviation
Searcy Regional Airport (SRC)Flying C Aviation·Skillfly

Discovery flights in Arkansas

One Arkansas school publishes a discovery flight price. See each price with its source

How these estimates work

We apply one consistent method to every school: PilotBound's own completion-hours model, examiner-completion data where it exists (like the Private and Commercial) and FAA minimums where no credible public data exists (like the Instrument and CFI), times that school's published aircraft and instructor rates (linked on every card, with the date we verified them), plus the one-time fees most quotes leave out. Holding the hours model identical across schools means the only thing that changes card to card is the school's actual rates.

So the number is PilotBound's estimate, not the school's quote, and it will differ from a school's own cost figures, which are often based on FAA-minimum hours. The schools do not set or endorse it.

Want a number tied to your own pace and aircraft choice? Run the estimator or read the full methodology.

These estimates are ours, not the schools' quotes, and we are not affiliated with the schools. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime. Disclaimer & removal policy.

Common questions about Arkansas flight schools

How much does flight school cost in Arkansas?: Across the 4 Arkansas flight schools here that publish full rates, trainer rentals run $95 to $182 per hour and instruction $55 to $80 per hour, checked as recently as September 10, 2026. On each school's own published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate between $12,985 and $18,959, with a median of $15,325. These are PilotBound estimates built on published rates, not quotes from the schools.
What is the cheapest flight school in Arkansas?: North Little Rock Air in North Little Rock publishes the lowest trainer rental of the 4 Arkansas schools listed here, $95 per hour for its Piper Cherokee 140, a wet rate, so fuel is included in the hourly figure, checked September 5, 2026. The lowest hourly rate is not automatically the lowest total: instructor rates, fuel basis, and the hours you actually fly decide that, which is what the per-school estimates on this page hold constant.
How current are these Arkansas flight school rates?: Every rate here is the school's own published figure, linked to its source and dated; the newest check in Arkansas is September 10, 2026, and each card and school page shows the exact date its rates were read. The directory is re-checked on a monthly cycle, and 14 more schools in Arkansas are listed without an estimate because they do not publish a full rate card. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime.