How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at First Flight Corporation?

First Flight Corporation publishes $110 per hour for the Piper PA-28-140 and $60 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 5, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $13,775, in a range of $11,800 to $15,700. 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 First Flight Corporation.

How long does it take to get a private pilot license at First Flight Corporation?

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

First Flight Corporation 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 First Flight Corporation's aircraft rates include fuel?

First Flight Corporation publishes $110 per hour for the Piper PA-28-140, 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 First Flight Corporation?

First Flight Corporation trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor. Instruction runs $60 to $70 per hour depending on the rating and the aircraft, since advanced and type-specific instruction is priced above the standard rate. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on First Flight Corporation's own published rates.

PilotBoundEvery hour. Every dollar.

PilotBound estimate · San Diego, CA · Checked September 5, 2026

What flight training at First Flight Corporation costs

Website firstflightcorp.net

Phone (619) 661-6522

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

Which airplane?

Marked VFR ONLY, so it is not the aircraft for the Instrument.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at First Flight Corporation

$13,775

range $11.8K – $15.7K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on First Flight's published rates: Piper PA-28-140 at $110/hr + $60/hr instruction, checked September 5, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$8,695

at the hours students actually take$13,775

+$5,080 on First Flight's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$11.8K – $15.7K

Aircraft rental$7,920

Instruction$3,480

One-time costs$2,375

Aircraft + instruction$11,400

72 hrs in Piper PA-28-140 @ $110/hr + 58 dual @ $60/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 First Flight Corporation's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not First Flight Corporation'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 First Flight publishes

checked September 5, 2026

Piper PA-28-140 (1969)Marked VFR ONLY, so it is not the aircraft for the Instrument.$110/hr wet

Cessna 172H (1967)VFR only. A second 1967 172H and three 172Ms, 1973 to 1975, are the same rate and also VFR only.$110/hr wet

Piper Cherokee 180 (1968)The school's IFR trainer, and the only aircraft here that can fly the Instrument.$130/hr wet

Instructionstandard $60/hr · instrument instruction $70/hr · CFII candidates $70/hr$60 – $70/hr

Rates are per Hobbs hour with fuel included. Instruction is tiered: $60/hr for the Private, Commercial, a rental checkout, a flight review, CFI training, a Mexico checkout and a high-performance endorsement, and $70/hr for tailwheel, Instrument and an IPC. Every Cessna 172 in the fleet is marked VFR ONLY, so the instrument work prices on the Piper 28-180 rather than the cheapest airplane. The 182J, the Cherokee Six and the Aeronca have come off the published rental fleet since August.

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. First Flight does not state whether it trains under Part 61 or Part 141, so the estimate above is built on Part 61 hours.

See the published rates →Source 2 →

Section 3Paying for it

Two ways to cover $13,775.

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. Hiller Aviation Museum Flight Training Scholarship$15,000 · San Francisco Bay Area · Opens Feb 5, 2027: 47
Money you pay backLenders that cover $13,775All 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

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Section 4Add to my plan

Turn this into a plan.

Your $13,775 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 5What to ask

What to ask when you call

The marked one is what First 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.
Which instructor rate applies to each rating I plan to do, and does the higher tier start on day one of that rating?
This school prices some instruction above its primary rate. Knowing when the step-up starts keeps the later ratings from surprising you.
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.

Section 6Questions

How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at First Flight Corporation?: First Flight Corporation publishes $110 per hour for the Piper PA-28-140 and $60 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 5, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $13,775, in a range of $11,800 to $15,700. 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 First Flight Corporation.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at First Flight Corporation?: Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at First Flight Corporation 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 First Flight Corporation a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?: First Flight Corporation 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 First Flight Corporation's aircraft rates include fuel?: First Flight Corporation publishes $110 per hour for the Piper PA-28-140, 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 First Flight Corporation?: First Flight Corporation trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor. Instruction runs $60 to $70 per hour depending on the rating and the aircraft, since advanced and type-specific instruction is priced above the standard rate. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on First Flight Corporation's own published rates.

Section 7Sources

Estimates use First Flight Corporation's published Piper PA-28-140 and instructor rates (checked September 5, 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 First Flight Corporation. 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 First Flight? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.

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What flight training at First Flight Corporation costs

Section 1 · Cost estimate

Section 2 · The rate card