PilotBound estimate · Colorado Springs, CO · Checked August 16, 2026
What flight training at Arapahoe Flight Club costs
Website arapahoefc.com
Your plan
Estimate cost to reach
Flying
PilotBound estimate · Private
Examiner dataCost of your Private at Arapahoe Flight Club
range $16.6K – $22K · about 6 months at 2×/week
Priced on Arapahoe's published rates: Piper Warrior 151 at $165/hr + $65/hr instruction, checked August 16, 2026.
Against a minimums quote
+$9,305 on Arapahoe's own rates. Quotes usually price the 35-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.
Where it goes
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
Examiner records (DPE dataset). Note: Part 141 typically runs higher, not lower.
The hourly flying is priced on Arapahoe Flight Club's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Arapahoe Flight Club'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 Arapahoe publishes
checked August 16, 2026Not published: the examiner's checkride fee. Listed as missing rather than guessed.
Step 2
Turn this into a plan.
Your $19,275 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.
Add to my planWhat to ask when you call
What turns an hourly rate into a real bill.
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 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 Arapahoe Flight Club's published Piper Warrior 151 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 Arapahoe Flight Club. 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 Arapahoe Flight Club
- How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Arapahoe Flight Club?
- Arapahoe Flight Club publishes $165 per hour for the Piper Warrior 151 and $65 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 16, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $19,275, in a range of $16,600 to $22,000. That covers roughly 78 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 Arapahoe Flight Club.
- How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Arapahoe Flight Club?
- Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Arapahoe Flight Club to reach the private pilot checkride, at roughly 78 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 Arapahoe Flight Club a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
- Arapahoe Flight Club trains under Part 141, an FAA-approved syllabus with a structured course of study. Part 141 can finish the private certificate in fewer required hours on paper (35 versus 40), though in practice most students at either kind of school fly past the minimum. Part 141 also matters if you plan to use VA benefits, which generally require an approved 141 course.
- Do Arapahoe Flight Club's aircraft rates include fuel?
- Arapahoe Flight Club publishes $165 per hour for the Piper Warrior 151, 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 Arapahoe Flight Club?
- Arapahoe Flight Club trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot and Multi-Engine (AMEL). Instruction runs $65 to $75 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 Arapahoe Flight Club's own published rates.
Other Colorado flight schools
- Aspen Flight Academy · Aspen
- Colorado Flight Center · Grand Junction
- Colorado Sport Pilot · Loveland
- Cortez Flying Service · Cortez
- Independence Aviation · Centennial & Broomfield
- Leading Edge Flight Training · Loveland
- Peak Aviation · Colorado Springs
- Springs Aviation · Colorado Springs
- The Flight School at Colorado Springs · Colorado Springs
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.