Flight training at Alpine Aviation

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

   What is the hourly rate on your cheapest trainer, and which airplane is that?Missing from their site

   This is the number that is missing from the site, and it is the largest line on your bill.

4. 4

   Is that rate wet or dry, meaning does it include fuel?Missing from their site

   A dry rate and a wet rate are not comparable. Dry rates can run $40 to $60 an hour lower for the same airplane.

5. 5

   Which aircraft would I train in for the Private, and what does it cost per hour wet?Missing from their site

   The fleet is named and never priced, and it spans a Diamond trainer to a King Air, so the training airplane needs identifying before any of it means anything.

6. 6

   What does instruction cost, and does aerobatic or tailwheel instruction cost more?Missing from their site

   Alpine teaches both, and specialty instruction usually carries a higher rate than primary.

7. 7

   How much of the operation is charter and maintenance versus training?

   Alpine is a Part 135 operator and a repair station as well as a school, and that decides how much aircraft and instructor time is actually available to students.

8. 8

   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.

9. 9

   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.

10. 10

    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 Alpine Aviation'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. Alpine Aviation is not in it.

What we checked

A full-service operation at Nevada County Air Park: charter under Part 135, an FAA-certified repair station, and flight training, all given equal weight on the site. It names a fleet spanning a Diamond Eclipse, a Super Decathlon, a Cessna Skylane, a Diamond DA-50 and a King Air F-90, and prices none of it. Training runs Private through CFI plus tailwheel and aerobatics. Checked August 6, 2026.