Flight training at Learn 2 Fly CT

Flight instruction: $74.45/hr

Learn 2 Fly does not print an hourly instruction figure anywhere. The $74.45 above is its own published cost table divided out: that table gives both the hours and the dollar total on every line, and four separate cells across two line items agree on it. Ask the school to confirm it before budgeting. Rentals are stated as wet, and a Block Rate saves 5% off the aircraft's dry rate and applies to instruction too, for students who put over $5,000 on account. Paying that deposit by card adds a 4% fee.

1. 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. 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. 3

   Which aeroplane is the cost table priced on, and what do the other five rent for per hour?Missing from their site

   The table's aircraft line works out to about $191/hr, but it never says which of the six aeroplanes that is. The fleet runs from a Pipistrel Alpha light sport to a 180hp Cherokee, and those do not cost the same.

4. 4

   Is the $74 or so instruction rate the same for the Instrument and Commercial as for the Private?Missing from their site

   The cost table only models the Private. Many schools charge more for advanced instruction, and this one does not say either way.

5. 5

   Do you still fly out of Simsbury, and are the rates the same there as at Brainard?

   The school lists two fields. Rates sometimes differ by location and the cost table does not distinguish them.

6. 6

   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.

7. 7

   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.

8. 8

   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.

What to compare their answer against

Not Learn 2 Fly CT's rates. The middle of what 4 Connecticut schools charge, to hold your phone quote against.

From the schools here that publish full rate cards, the same sample behind the Flight Training Cost Report. Learn 2 Fly CT is not in it.

What we checked

Learn 2 Fly publishes more of its cost model than almost any school in this directory: a full three-column table for the Private with hours, per-line totals, a Standard and a Block price, and a written explanation of the difference. What it never publishes is a rate. The instruction figure here is that table divided out and cross-checked four ways; the aircraft figure is not recorded because the table never says which aeroplane it is pricing.