PilotBound
PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · San Diego, CA · Checked August 16, 2026

What flight training at First Flight Corporation costs

Website firstflightcorp.net

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

VFR only, so it is not the airplane for the Instrument.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at First Flight Corporation

$12,045

range $10.4K – $13.7K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on First Flight's published rates: Cessna 172H at $90/hr + $55/hr instruction, checked August 16, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$7,735
at the hours students actually take$12,045

+$4,310 on First Flight's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$10.4K – $13.7K
Aircraft rental$6,480
Instruction$3,190
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$9,670
72 hrs in Cessna 172H @ $90/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 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 →

What First Flight publishes

checked August 16, 2026
Aeronca 7AC (1947)Tailwheel, for the endorsement. Instruction in it is billed at the higher $65/hr tier.$70/hr wet
Cessna 172H (1967)VFR only, so it is not the airplane for the Instrument.$90/hr wet
Cessna 172H (1967, second aircraft)VFR only.$90/hr wet
Cessna 172M (1975)VFR only.$90/hr wet
Cessna 172M (1974)VFR only.$90/hr wet
Cessna 172M (1973)VFR only.$90/hr wet
Piper Cherokee 180 (1968)The school's IFR trainer, and the cheapest airplane here that can fly the Instrument.$110/hr wet
Cessna 182J (1966)IFR certified and Mexico equipped. High performance, so it needs an endorsement.$130/hr wet
Piper Cherokee Six 32-300 (1967)Six seats, IFR certified, Mexico equipped. High performance, not a trainer.$155/hr wet
Instructionstandard $55/hr · instrument instruction $65/hr$55 – $65/hr

Rates are per Hobbs hour with fuel included. Instruction is tiered: $55/hr for the Private, Commercial, a rental checkout, a flight review, CFI training, a Mexico checkout and a high-performance endorsement, and $65/hr for tailwheel, Instrument and an IPC. Every Cessna 172 in the fleet is VFR only, so the instrument work prices on the Piper 28-180 rather than the cheapest airplane.

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

See the published rates→Source 2→

Step 2

Turn this into a plan.

Your $12,045 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

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.

  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. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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 First Flight Corporation's published Cessna 172H and instructor rates (checked August 16, 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 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.

Common questions about First Flight Corporation

How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at First Flight Corporation?
First Flight Corporation publishes $90 per hour for the Cessna 172H and $55 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 16, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $12,045, in a range of $10,400 to $13,700. 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 $90 per hour for the Cessna 172H, 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 August 16, 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 $55 to $65 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.

Other California flight schools

All California flight schools

Plan the money before you commit

A program price only makes sense next to what each rating costs on its own, what free money exists, and what borrowing actually looks like.

What each rating costs

Honest per-rating ranges, with the fees most quotes leave out.

Free money first

Verified flight training scholarships. Every scholarship dollar is a dollar you never finance.

If you borrow

Compare lenders and see the real monthly payment before you sign.