PilotBound estimate · Loveland, CO · Checked September 16, 2026
What flight training at Colorado Sport Pilot costs
Website coloradosportpilot.org
Phone 1-303-641-9800
Section 1Cost estimate
Your plan
Estimate cost to reach
Flying
Light-sport aircraft, published wet rate (effective 9/10/26).
PilotBound estimate · Private
Examiner dataCost of your Private at Colorado Sport Pilot
range $17.1K – $22.7K · about 6 months at 2×/week
Priced on Colorado Sport Pilot's published rates: Van's RV-12iS at $195/hr + $60/hr instruction, checked September 16, 2026.
Against a minimums quote
+$7,800 on Colorado Sport Pilot's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-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).
The hourly flying is priced on Colorado Sport Pilot's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Colorado Sport Pilot'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 →
Put this calculator on your siteSection 2The rate card
What Colorado Sport Pilot publishes
checked September 16, 2026The 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. Colorado Sport Pilot does not state whether it trains under Part 61 or Part 141, so the estimate above is built on Part 61 hours.
Section 3Paying for it
Two ways to cover $19,895.
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 for51 open to anyone, plus 1 in Colorado. Top awards reach $22,200.
- Walt and Terry Barbo PPL Scholarship$2,500 · Opens Jan 1, 2027
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- Money you pay backLenders that cover $19,895All six lenders in our comparison lend this much. That is whether a loan this size is on offer, not whether you would be approved.
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Section 4Add to my plan
Turn this into a plan.
Your $19,895 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.
Add to my planSection 5In the app
Track it against Colorado Sport Pilot's rates.
Colorado Sport Pilot's rate card is in the PilotBound app. Choose Colorado Sport Pilot when you set up and the app prices your training at its rates, then tracks every flight you log against the projection.
Scan to download on your iPhone
Section 6What to ask
What to ask when you call
The marked one is what Colorado Sport Pilot's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.
Does the instructor rate change for the Instrument, Commercial, or CFI, or is it flat across everything?
Plenty of schools charge more for advanced instruction. A flat rate quoted for the Private can climb later.
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 7Questions
- How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Colorado Sport Pilot?
- Colorado Sport Pilot publishes $195 per hour for the Van's RV-12iS and $60 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 16, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $19,895, in a range of $17,100 to $22,700. 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 Colorado Sport Pilot.
- How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Colorado Sport Pilot?
- Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Colorado Sport Pilot 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 Colorado Sport Pilot a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
- Colorado Sport Pilot 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 Colorado Sport Pilot's aircraft rates include fuel?
- Colorado Sport Pilot publishes $195 per hour for the Van's RV-12iS, 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 16, 2026.
- What ratings can you train for at Colorado Sport Pilot?
- Colorado Sport Pilot trains Private Pilot. Instruction is $60 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Colorado Sport Pilot's own published rates.
Section 8Sources
Estimates use Colorado Sport Pilot's published Van's RV-12iS and instructor rates (checked September 16, 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 Colorado Sport Pilot. 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 Colorado Sport Pilot? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.
2 other schools fly from Northern Colorado Regional Airport.
1 of them publishes at least one rate. FNL is the identifier to give when you ask.
- Leading Edge Flight TrainingFull rate card, Diamond DA40 at $170/hr and $70/hr instructionLoveland
- Mountain Flying AviationPublishes no ratesFort Collins
Other Colorado flight schools
- Alliance Flight Training · Watkins
- Alpine Flight Training · Gypsum
- Arapahoe Flight Club · Colorado Springs
- Aspen Flight Academy · Aspen
- Aspen Flying Club · Englewood
- Centennial Flyers · Englewood
- Colorado Flight Center · Grand Junction
- Colorado's BEST Flight School · Englewood
- Cortez Flying Service · Cortez
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.