PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · Van Nuys, CA · Checked September 8, 2026

What flight training at Corsair Aviation costs

Website corsairaviation.com

Phone (818) 906-4024

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

Two-seat light-sport, Garmin G300 glass.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Corsair Aviation

$18,835

range $16.2K – $21.5K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Corsair's published rates: Cessna 162 Skycatcher at $140/hr + $110/hr instruction, checked September 8, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$11,495
at the hours students actually take$18,835

+$7,340 on Corsair's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$16.2K – $21.5K
Aircraft rental$10,080
Instruction$6,380
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$16,460
72 hrs in Cessna 162 Skycatcher @ $140/hr + 58 dual @ $110/hr

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
Hours at a steady pace72 hrs

Examiner records (DPE dataset).

The hourly flying is priced on Corsair Aviation's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Corsair Aviation'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 →

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Section 2The rate card

What Corsair publishes

checked September 8, 2026
Cessna 162 Skycatcher (N6050A)2011Two-seat light-sport, Garmin G300 glass.$140/hr wet
Cessna 162 Skycatcher (N5216L)2011Two-seat light-sport, Garmin G300 glass.$140/hr wet
Cessna 162 Skycatcher (N30265)Two-seat light-sport, Garmin G300 glass.$140/hr wet
Cessna 172S (N508ND)2010Garmin G1000 glass.$180/hr wet
Cessna 172S (N618DH)2012Garmin G1000 glass.$190/hr wet
Instruction$110/hr

Airframes built 2010 to 2012. Years of manufacture from the FAA aircraft registry, read September 16, 2026.

Rates are wet and billed on Hobbs time. Instruction is booked in a minimum block of two hours unless stated otherwise. The Turbo Stationair and the Aero Commander twin are published as "Call for Rate", so neither is priced here and the multi-engine rating is not costed.

The examiner's checkride fee is not on this card: the examiner sets it, not the school. The estimate above includes PilotBound's own figure for it. Corsair trains under both parts, and the estimate above is built on Part 61 hours.

See the published rates →Source 2 →

Section 3Discovery flight

$205

Checked September 14, 2026

In a Cessna 162, with about 45 minutes of flight and 45 minutes of ground. $255 in a Cessna 172S.

See it on their siteCall (818) 906-4024

Discovery flight prices in California

Section 4Paying for it

Two ways to cover $18,835.

Win what you can first, then borrow only what is left. Neither figure assumes anything about you: one is what our scholarship directory holds, the other is what the lenders publish.

Money you keepScholarships you could apply for46 open to anyone, plus 1 in California. Top awards reach $22,200.
47
Money you pay backLenders that cover $18,835All six lenders in our comparison lend this much. That is whether a loan this size is on offer, not whether you would be approved.
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Section 5Add to my plan

Turn this into a plan.

Your $18,835 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.

Add to my plan

Section 6What to ask

What to ask when you call

What turns an hourly rate into a real bill.

  1. 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.

  2. Does the instructor rate change for the Instrument, Commercial, or CFI, or is it flat across everything?

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

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

Section 7Questions

How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Corsair Aviation?
Corsair Aviation publishes $140 per hour for the Cessna 162 Skycatcher and $110 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 8, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $18,835, in a range of $16,200 to $21,500. 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 Corsair Aviation.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Corsair Aviation?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Corsair Aviation 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 Corsair Aviation a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
Corsair Aviation trains under both Part 61 and Part 141, so you can pick the structured FAA-approved course or the flexible path. Part 141 is the one that matters for VA benefits and for the lower paper minimum on the private certificate; Part 61 is the one that bends around a full-time job.
Do Corsair Aviation's aircraft rates include fuel?
Corsair Aviation publishes $140 per hour for the Cessna 162 Skycatcher, a wet rate, so fuel is included in the hourly figure. A wet rate is the easier one to compare, because the number you see is the number you fly on. Rates checked September 8, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Corsair Aviation?
Corsair Aviation trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor. Instruction is $110 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Corsair Aviation's own published rates.

Section 8Sources

Estimates use Corsair Aviation's published Cessna 162 Skycatcher and instructor rates (checked September 8, 2026), shown in USD for planning only. Real cost varies by student, weather, and pace. A range, not a quote.

PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Corsair Aviation. 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.

Are you Corsair? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.

14 other schools fly from Van Nuys Airport.

9 of them publish at least one rate. VNY is the identifier to give when you ask.

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