PilotBound
PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · Citrus Heights, CA · Checked August 12, 2026

What flight training at Flying Panthers Flight School costs

Website flyingpanthers.org

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

Two-seat, the cheapest line in the California set. $145/hr with primary instruction.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Flying Panthers Flight School

$12,325

range $10.6K – $14.1K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Flying Panthers's published rates: Cessna 150 at $110/hr + $35/hr instruction, checked August 12, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$7,895
at the hours students actually take$12,325

+$4,430 on Flying Panthers's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$10.6K – $14.1K
Aircraft rental$7,920
Instruction$2,030
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$9,950
72 hrs in Cessna 150 @ $110/hr + 58 dual @ $35/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 Flying Panthers Flight School's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Flying Panthers Flight School'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 Flying Panthers publishes

checked August 12, 2026
Cessna 150 (N11746)Two-seat, the cheapest line in the California set. $145/hr with primary instruction.$110/hr wet
Cessna 152 (N4962L, 1980)Two-seat. $165/hr with primary instruction.$130/hr wet
Cessna 172 (N737GL, 1977, 180 HP)Garmin GPS 175 and GNC 355. $215/hr with primary instruction.$170/hr wet
Instructionstandard $35/hr · instrument instruction $40/hr · commercial instruction $40/hr$35 – $40/hr

Flying Panthers is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, and instruction is paid directly to your instructor at $35/hr primary or $40/hr advanced, not billed by the school. Aircraft rates are wet. The site also publishes combined aircraft-plus-instruction figures ($165/hr in the 152, $215/hr in the 172 for primary), which cross-check these rates.

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

See the published rates→

Step 2

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Your $12,325 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 Flying Panthers'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 Flying Panthers Flight School's published Cessna 150 and instructor rates (checked August 12, 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 Flying Panthers Flight School. 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 Flying Panthers Flight School

How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Flying Panthers Flight School?
Flying Panthers Flight School publishes $110 per hour for the Cessna 150 and $35 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 12, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $12,325, in a range of $10,600 to $14,100. 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 Flying Panthers Flight School.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Flying Panthers Flight School?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Flying Panthers Flight School 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 Flying Panthers Flight School a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
Flying Panthers Flight School 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 Flying Panthers Flight School's aircraft rates include fuel?
Flying Panthers Flight School publishes $110 per hour for the Cessna 150, 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 12, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Flying Panthers Flight School?
Flying Panthers Flight School trains Private Pilot and Instrument Rating. Instruction runs $35 to $40 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 Flying Panthers Flight School's own published rates.

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