Flight training at Airborrn Aviation Services

Rates shown are the wet figures. Two airplanes are also published dry at $115/hr, so fuel is running roughly $70 to $80 an hour at this operator, which is worth knowing when comparing against schools that publish dry rates only. A Beechcraft D55 Baron is in the fleet and listed as currently unavailable, so the twin is not priced. The site states that rental rates do not include an instructor.

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

   Your rates say they do not include an instructor. What does instruction cost per hour?Missing from their site

   The site names the exclusion without ever pricing it, so this is the one figure that would make the rest usable.

4. 4

   Is the Baron coming back, and what will it rent for?

   It is the only twin, so the multi rating depends entirely on it returning to service.

5. 5

   How much of your flying is training versus scenic tours and photography flights?

   The operation sells both, and that decides how much instructor and aircraft availability there is for a student.

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 Airborrn's rates. The middle of what 60 California 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. Airborrn is not in it.

What we checked

A rental operation at the gateway to Yosemite that also instructs, and sells scenic and photography flights alongside. It publishes both WET and DRY rates on two airplanes, which is unusual and puts a real figure on hourly fuel. It states that rates exclude the instructor and then never prices one. Listed by AOPA as Airborrn Aviation Services; the site trades as Yosemite Aviation. Checked August 6, 2026.