PilotBound estimate · Centennial & Broomfield, CO · Checked August 20, 2026
What flight training at Independence Aviation costs
Website flywithia.com
Your plan
Estimate cost to reach
Flying
Garmin Perspective+, air conditioning. The school's trainer, and technically advanced.
PilotBound estimate · Private
Examiner dataCost of your Private at Independence Aviation
range $31.1K – $41.3K · about 6 months at 2×/week
Priced on Independence's published rates: Cirrus SR20 at $385/hr + $105/hr instruction, checked August 20, 2026.
Against a minimums quote
+$15,050 on Independence'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 Independence Aviation's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Independence Aviation'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 Independence publishes
checked August 20, 2026Independence publishes one rate card, an image dated February 1, 2022, and these are its MEMBER rates: dues are required to fly at them and the dues themselves are not published. The SR20s and the 182s are priced with fuel included and the SR22 Turbos without it. Instruction is priced per instructor and per aeroplane, from $105/hr up to $145/hr. Confirm all of it with the school before you budget.
Not published: the examiner's checkride fee. Listed as missing rather than guessed.
Step 2
Turn this into a plan.
Your $36,185 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
The marked one is what Independence's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.
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.
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.
Estimates use Independence Aviation's published Cirrus SR20 and instructor rates (checked August 20, 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 Independence Aviation. 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 Independence Aviation
- How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Independence Aviation?
- Independence Aviation publishes $385 per hour for the Cirrus SR20 and $105 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 20, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $36,185, in a range of $31,100 to $41,300. 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 Independence Aviation.
- How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Independence Aviation?
- Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Independence Aviation 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 Independence Aviation a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
- Independence Aviation 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 Independence Aviation's aircraft rates include fuel?
- Independence Aviation publishes $385 per hour for the Cirrus SR20, 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 20, 2026.
- What ratings can you train for at Independence Aviation?
- Independence Aviation trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating and Commercial Pilot. Instruction runs $105 to $115 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 Independence Aviation's own published rates.
Other Colorado flight schools
- Arapahoe Flight Club · Colorado Springs
- Aspen Flight Academy · Aspen
- Colorado Flight Center · Grand Junction
- Colorado Sport Pilot · Loveland
- Cortez Flying Service · Cortez
- Leading Edge Flight Training · Loveland
- Peak Aviation · Colorado Springs
- Springs Aviation · Colorado Springs
- The Flight School at Colorado Springs · Colorado Springs
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