How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Custom Flight Training?

Custom Flight Training publishes $110 per hour for the Cessna 172 and $55 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 5, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $13,485, in a range of $11,600 to $15,400. 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 Custom Flight Training.

How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Custom Flight Training?

Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Custom Flight Training 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 Custom Flight Training a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?

Custom Flight Training 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 Custom Flight Training's aircraft rates include fuel?

Custom Flight Training publishes $110 per hour for the Cessna 172, 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 5, 2026.

What ratings can you train for at Custom Flight Training?

Custom Flight Training trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating and Commercial Pilot. Instruction is $55 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Custom Flight Training's own published rates.

PilotBoundEvery hour. Every dollar.

PilotBound estimate · Rio Linda, CA · Checked September 5, 2026

What flight training at Custom Flight Training costs

Website customflighttraining.com

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

Which airplane?

Cessna 172, $110/hr

Wet.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Custom Flight Training

$13,485

range $11.6K – $15.4K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Custom Flight's published rates: Cessna 172 at $110/hr + $55/hr instruction, checked September 5, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$8,535

at the hours students actually take$13,485

+$4,950 on Custom Flight's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$11.6K – $15.4K

Aircraft rental$7,920

Instruction$3,190

One-time costs$2,375

Aircraft + instruction$11,110

72 hrs in Cessna 172 @ $110/hr + 58 dual @ $55/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 Custom Flight Training's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Custom Flight Training'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 Custom Flight publishes

checked September 5, 2026

Cessna 172Wet.$110/hr wet

Instruction$55/hr

The same pair of rates appears on the private, instrument and commercial pages. The instructor figure is per FLIGHT hour. IFR simulator time is billed at $100 per dual hour, which covers the sim and the instructor together and is not an instructor rate.

Not published: the examiner's checkride fee. Listed as missing rather than guessed.

See the published rates→

Paying for it

Two ways to cover $13,485.

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.

Scholarships you could apply forTop awards reach $22,200. Every dollar won is a dollar you never finance.: 68
Lenders that cover $13,485All six lenders in our comparison lend this much. That is whether a loan this size is on offer, not whether you would be approved.: 6 of 6

See what you could win →or compare the six lenders →

Next leg

Turn this into a plan.

Your $13,485 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.

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What to ask when you call

The marked one is what Custom Flight's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.

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.
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.
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 Custom Flight Training's published Cessna 172 and instructor rates (checked September 5, 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 Custom Flight Training. 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 Custom Flight Training

How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Custom Flight Training?: Custom Flight Training publishes $110 per hour for the Cessna 172 and $55 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 5, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $13,485, in a range of $11,600 to $15,400. 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 Custom Flight Training.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Custom Flight Training?: Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Custom Flight Training 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 Custom Flight Training a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?: Custom Flight Training 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 Custom Flight Training's aircraft rates include fuel?: Custom Flight Training publishes $110 per hour for the Cessna 172, 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 5, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Custom Flight Training?: Custom Flight Training trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating and Commercial Pilot. Instruction is $55 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Custom Flight Training's own published rates.

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