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Flight training at Take Flight San Diego

El Cajon, CA · Rates partly published

No aircraft rate. Take Flight publishes a $180/hr instructor rate and nothing for the airplanes, so there is no total on this page.

Checked September 13, 2026 against Take Flight San Diego site.

Based at
Gillespie Field(SEE)
FAA part
Not stated on their site
Trains
IR · CFI · CFII
Phone
858-254-7504
Website
takeflightsandiego.com

What is published

Take Flight's own figures

Checked September 13, 2026 · Source

Flight instruction: $180/hr

Accelerated finish-up and CFI training sold by the day: $1,440 full day, $720 half day, or $180 an hour where that fits better. The school owns no airplanes; students rent from a San Diego club at Gillespie, Montgomery, Ramona or Carlsbad, which the site says averages $170 to $180 an hour, and the simulator is $45. Those are another operator's rates, so no aircraft rate is recorded here.

Why there is no total

An estimate needs an aircraft rate.

A training total is hours multiplied by rates. With the airplanes unpriced there is nothing to multiply, and we will not fill the gap with a plausible number: every figure on this site carries a link that shows it today.

  • Aircraft rateMissing from their site

    The airplane is the biggest line on a training bill.

What to compare their answer against

Not Take Flight's rates. The middle of what 65 California schools charge, to hold your phone quote against.

Trainer, medianWhat the airplane costsRange $95 to $269 per hour.
$160
Instruction, medianWhat the instructor costsAcross 65 schools with published rates.
$80

From the schools here that publish full rate cards, the same sample behind the Flight Training Cost Report. Take Flight is not in it.

Paying for it

Two ways to pay for it.

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 for50 open to anyone, plus 1 in California. Top awards reach $22,200.
51
Money you pay backLenders that fund flight trainingSix lenders, compared on the limits and rates they publish. That is what is on offer, not whether you would be approved.
6
See scholarshipsCompare lenders

What to ask

What to ask when you call

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

858-254-7504

  1. What is the hourly rate on your cheapest trainer, and which airplane is that?Missing from their site

    This is the number that is missing from the site, and it is the largest line on your bill.

  2. Is that rate wet or dry, meaning does it include fuel?Missing from their site

    A dry rate and a wet rate are not comparable. Dry rates can run $40 to $60 an hour lower for the same airplane.

  3. Which club do students rent from, and what does that airplane cost today?Missing from their site

    The instruction is priced by the day and the airplane belongs to a separate club.

  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.

Called them? Send us what they said.

Send the number over and Take Flight San Diego gets a full listing with an estimate, marked as sourced by phone on the date you called.

Send what they told you

In the app

Track your training at Take Flight.

Take Flight San Diego is in the PilotBound app. Choose Take Flight when you set up and enter the rates it gives you; the app prices your training on them and tracks every flight you log against the projection.

Download on the App Store

Nearby schools

5 other schools fly from Gillespie Field.

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

Every school in the state

65 California schools publish a full rate card.

Each one has an estimate built on its own published rates. Listed alphabetically, because ordering them by price would be a ranking this page is not making.

All California flight schools

Sources

That the school exists
Take Flight San Diego siteChecked September 13, 2026
The rates above
Take Flight San Diego CFI program pageChecked September 13, 2026

Are you Take Flight San Diego? Send your rate card and this becomes a full listing with an estimate, free. Or have it removed.

This page says one thing is not stated on your site. Send us where it is published and it shows here instead.

  • What your aircraft rent for per hourSend it

PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Take Flight San Diego. School names are used only to identify the school. Rates shown are the school's own published figures with the date we checked them. This page carries no PilotBound estimate, because the school does not publish enough for one. Disclaimer & removal policy.

Other California flight schools.

All California flight schools →All El Cajon flight schools →

Plan the money before you commit.

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

What each rating costs

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

Scholarships 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.