PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · Miami, FL · Checked September 16, 2026

What flight training at Pilot Training Center costs

Website faapilottraining.com

Phone 305-232-6009

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

The primary trainer.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Pilot Training Center

$18,965

range $16.3K – $21.6K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Pilot Training Center's published rates: Cessna 172M at $165/hr + $60/hr instruction, checked September 16, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$9,830
at the hours students actually take$18,965

+$9,135 on Pilot Training Center's own rates. Quotes usually price the 35-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$16.3K – $21.6K
Aircraft rental$12,870
Instruction$3,720
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$16,590
78 hrs in Cessna 172M @ $165/hr + 62 dual @ $60/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 pace78 hrs

Examiner records (DPE dataset). Note: Part 141 typically runs higher, not lower.

The hourly flying is priced on Pilot Training Center's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Pilot Training Center'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 Pilot Training Center publishes

checked September 16, 2026
Cessna 172MThe primary trainer.$165/hr fuel basis not stated
Piper Cadet PA28-161$165/hr fuel basis not stated
Piper Cadet PA28-161 (G500)Glass.$170/hr fuel basis not stated
Tecnam P92 (light-sport)Light-sport, the lowest-cost line.$155/hr fuel basis not stated
Piper Archer PA28-181$220/hr fuel basis not stated
Piper Arrow PA28R-201Complex/retractable, for the commercial's complex hours.$220/hr fuel basis not stated
Tecnam P2006T (twin)Twin, for the multi-engine ratings.$360/hr fuel basis not stated
Instruction$60/hr

Regular rates shown; a block (prepaid) account lowers each aircraft by about $5/hr. The site does not state whether rates include fuel.

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. Pilot Training Center's site does not state whether its rates include fuel.

See the published rates →

Section 3Paying for it

Two ways to cover $18,965.

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 2 in Florida. Top awards reach $22,200.
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Money you pay backLenders that cover $18,965All 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 $18,965 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

The marked one is what Pilot Training Center's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.

  1. Do the published aircraft rates include fuel, or is fuel billed separately?Missing from their site

    The site does not say, and it is the difference between two rates that look identical and are not.

  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 Pilot Training Center?
Pilot Training Center publishes $165 per hour for the Cessna 172M 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 $18,965, in a range of $16,300 to $21,600. That covers roughly 78 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 Pilot Training Center.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Pilot Training Center?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Pilot Training Center to reach the private pilot checkride, at roughly 78 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 Pilot Training Center a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
Pilot Training Center trains under Part 141, an FAA-approved syllabus with a structured course of study. Part 141 can finish the private certificate in fewer required hours on paper (35 versus 40), though in practice most students at either kind of school fly past the minimum. Part 141 also matters if you plan to use VA benefits, which generally require an approved 141 course.
Do Pilot Training Center's aircraft rates include fuel?
Pilot Training Center publishes $165 per hour for the Cessna 172M, a rate that does not say whether fuel is included. Ask before you budget: if the rate turns out to be dry, fuel adds roughly $30 to $60 per hour on top. PilotBound's estimate uses the rate exactly as published. Rates checked September 16, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Pilot Training Center?
Pilot Training Center trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot and Multi-Engine (AMEL). Instruction is $60 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Pilot Training Center's own published rates.

Section 7Sources

Estimates use Pilot Training Center's published Cessna 172M 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 Pilot Training Center. 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 Pilot Training Center? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.

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