PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · Gainesville, GA · Checked September 16, 2026

What flight training at SkyWings Aviation costs

Website skywingsaviation.net

Phone (678) 350-1634

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at SkyWings Aviation

$17,445

range $15K – $19.9K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on SkyWings's published rates: Cessna 150M at $165/hr + $55/hr instruction, checked September 16, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$10,735
at the hours students actually take$17,445

+$6,710 on SkyWings's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$15K – $19.9K
Aircraft rental$11,880
Instruction$3,190
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$15,070
72 hrs in Cessna 150M @ $165/hr + 58 dual @ $55/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 SkyWings Aviation's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not SkyWings 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 →

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Section 2The rate card

What SkyWings publishes

checked September 16, 2026
Cessna 150M (N45623)1975$165/hr wet
Cessna 150L (N5318Q)$165/hr wet
Instructionstandard $55/hr · instrument instruction $70/hr · commercial instruction $70/hr · CFI candidates $70/hr$55 – $70/hr

Airframe built 1975. Years of manufacture from the FAA aircraft registry, read September 16, 2026.

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 →

Section 3Discovery flight

$200

Checked September 16, 2026

One hour in the air. Plus tax.

See it on their siteCall (678) 350-1634

Discovery flight prices in Georgia

Section 4Paying for it

Two ways to cover $17,445.

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. Top awards reach $22,200.No Georgia-only awards in the directory yet.
46
Money you pay backLenders that cover $17,445All 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 5Add to my plan

Turn this into a plan.

Your $17,445 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 6What to ask

What to ask when you call

What turns an hourly rate into a real bill.

  1. Which instructor rate applies to each rating I plan to do, and does the higher tier start on day one of that rating?

    This school prices some instruction above its primary rate. Knowing when the step-up starts keeps the later ratings from surprising you.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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 7Questions

How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at SkyWings Aviation?
SkyWings Aviation publishes $165 per hour for the Cessna 150M and $55 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 16, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $17,445, in a range of $15,000 to $19,900. 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 SkyWings Aviation.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at SkyWings Aviation?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at SkyWings 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 SkyWings Aviation a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
SkyWings Aviation 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 SkyWings Aviation's aircraft rates include fuel?
SkyWings Aviation publishes $165 per hour for the Cessna 150M, 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 September 16, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at SkyWings Aviation?
SkyWings Aviation trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor. Instruction runs $55 to $70 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 SkyWings Aviation's own published rates.

Section 8Sources

Estimates use SkyWings Aviation's published Cessna 150M 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 SkyWings 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.

Are you SkyWings? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.

2 other schools fly from Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport.

None of them publishes a rate, so every one is a phone call. GVL is the identifier to give when you ask.

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