Flight training at Clearwater Aviation

The whole fleet is priced wet and the multi-engine instructor is $105/hr, but no primary instruction rate exists anywhere: the Private is priced only as a Part 141 course total ($14,870 at the 35-hour minimum).

1. 1

   What do you charge per hour for flight instruction, and is ground instruction billed at the same rate?Missing from their site

   This is the number that is missing from the site. Ground is often billed separately and at a different rate.

2. 2

   Does the instructor rate change for the Instrument, Commercial, or CFI, or is it flat across everything?Missing from their site

   Plenty of schools charge more for advanced instruction. A flat rate quoted for the Private can climb later.

3. 3

   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.

4. 4

   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.

5. 5

   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 Clearwater's rates. The middle of what 44 Florida 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. Clearwater is not in it.

What we checked

A June 2026 Tier-2 hold that now publishes its fleet: everything wet, per tail, plus the multi instructor rate, and still no primary CFI rate. Part 141 stated on the Private course page. Checked September 1, 2026.