PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · Stratford, CT · Checked September 9, 2026

What flight training at Three Wing Aviation Group costs

Website threewing.com

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

Dry. Dual Garmin G5 EFIS, GNX-375 GPS/ADS-B, GNC-215. IFR capable.

Shown at Three Wing Aviation Group's published dry rate. Fuel is billed separately and is not included in this estimate.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Three Wing Aviation Group

$16,735

range $14.4K – $19.1K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Three Wing's published rates: Piper Archer II at $135/hr dry + $80/hr instruction, checked September 9, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$10,335
at the hours students actually take$16,735

+$6,400 on Three Wing's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$14.4K – $19.1K
Aircraft rental$9,720
Instruction$4,640
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$14,360
72 hrs in Piper Archer II @ $135/hr + 58 dual @ $80/hr

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
Hours at a steady pace72 hrs

Examiner records (DPE dataset).

The hourly flying is priced on Three Wing Aviation Group's published rates (dry; fuel billed separately). About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Three Wing Aviation Group'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 →

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Section 2The rate card

What Three Wing publishes

checked September 9, 2026
Piper Archer II (N454X)1978Dry. Dual Garmin G5 EFIS, GNX-375 GPS/ADS-B, GNC-215. IFR capable.$135/hr dry
Piper Warrior II (N80964)1981Dry. King dual KX155, Garmin AERA 660, L-3 Lynx ADS-B. VFR only, so it is not the right trainer for the Instrument or Commercial.$135/hr dry
Piper Warrior II (N4332N)1983Dry. Garmin GTN-650xi, dual G5 EFIS, GTX-345 ADS-B. IFR capable.$150/hr dry
Piper Warrior II (N2884D)1979Dry. Garmin GNS 430W, STEC 55x autopilot, dual G5 EFIS. IFR capable.$155/hr dry
Piper Archer II (N33CT)1977Dry. Garmin 430W, KX155, GDL 88 ADS-B. IFR capable.$165/hr dry
Piper Archer II (N4315Y)1983Dry. Aspen EFD-1000 PFD, Garmin GTN 650xi, GNS 430w, GTX-345 ADS-B. IFR capable.$170/hr dry
Piper Arrow II (N1469T)1972Dry. Retractable gear and constant-speed prop, so this is the complex trainer for the Commercial, not a primary trainer.$180/hr dry
Precision Flight Control CRX MAX AATDSimulator, not an aircraft.$89/hr dry
Instruction$80/hr

Airframes built 1972 to 1983. Years of manufacture from the FAA aircraft registry, read September 16, 2026.

Rates are dry, so fuel is billed on top; the club packet puts it at roughly $80 per hour. Connecticut sales tax of 6.35 percent and an airport user assessment of 2 percent are also added. These are flying club prices: dues are $1,026 a year prepaid or $90 a month, and the monthly fee is waived for flight school students until their solo check ride. Instruction is $80/hr for both primary and advanced. Paying at least $2,000 in advance by cash or cheque earns a 3 percent discount.

The 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.

See the published rates →Source 2 →

Section 3Paying for it

Two ways to cover $16,735.

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 for46 open to anyone, plus 1 in Connecticut. Top awards reach $22,200.
47
Money you pay backLenders that cover $16,735All 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 $16,735 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.

Add to my plan

Section 5What to ask

What to ask when you call

What turns an hourly rate into a real bill.

  1. Your published rates are dry. Roughly what does fuel add per hour on the trainer?

    The published figures leave fuel out, so they understate the real hourly cost until you add it.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  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.

Section 6Questions

How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Three Wing Aviation Group?
Three Wing Aviation Group publishes $135 per hour for the Piper Archer II and $80 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 9, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $16,735, in a range of $14,400 to $19,100. 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 Three Wing Aviation Group.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Three Wing Aviation Group?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Three Wing Aviation Group 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 Three Wing Aviation Group a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
Three Wing Aviation Group trains under Part 61, the flexible path. There is no FAA-approved syllabus to follow, so lessons can be scheduled around your life and adapted to your pace. The tradeoff is a slightly higher paper minimum for the private certificate (40 hours versus 35) and, for most students, no VA benefit eligibility.
Do Three Wing Aviation Group's aircraft rates include fuel?
Three Wing Aviation Group publishes $135 per hour for the Piper Archer II, a dry rate, so fuel is billed separately on top. Fuel typically adds roughly $30 to $60 per hour, so compare a dry rate against a wet one carefully. PilotBound's estimate uses the published dry rate exactly as listed and does not add a guessed fuel figure. Rates checked September 9, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Three Wing Aviation Group?
Three Wing Aviation Group trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating and Commercial Pilot. Instruction is $80 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Three Wing Aviation Group's own published rates.

Section 7Sources

Estimates use Three Wing Aviation Group's published Piper Archer II and instructor rates (checked September 9, 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 Three Wing Aviation Group. 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 Three Wing? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.

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