PilotBound estimate · Bloomington, IL · Checked September 10, 2026
What flight training at Fly Synergy costs
Website flysynergy.aero
Phone (309) 718-1234
Conveniently located near
- Wheeling
Section 1Cost estimate
Your plan
Estimate cost to reach
Flying
Non-member rate. Glass + parachute, IFR-capable.
PilotBound estimate · Private
Examiner dataCost of your Private at Fly Synergy
range $34.9K – $46.3K · about 6 months at 2×/week
Priced on Fly Synergy's published rates: Cirrus SR20 G7+ at $430/hr + $125/hr instruction, checked September 10, 2026.
Against a minimums quote
+$17,010 on Fly Synergy's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.
Where it goes
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
Examiner records (DPE dataset).
The hourly flying is priced on Fly Synergy's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Fly Synergy'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 →
Put this calculator on your siteSection 2The rate card
What Fly Synergy publishes
checked September 10, 2026Fly Synergy prices by membership tier. This estimate uses the standard non-member rate; member/club rates are lower and are not modeled. Fly Synergy does not state whether fuel is included.
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. Fly Synergy's site does not state whether its rates include fuel. Fly Synergy does not state whether it trains under Part 61 or Part 141, so the estimate above is built on Part 61 hours.
Section 3Discovery flight
$395
Checked September 14, 2026
An hour with an instructor.
Section 4Paying for it
Two ways to cover $40,585.
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 Illinois-only awards in the directory yet.
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- Money you pay backLenders that cover $40,585Four of the six lenders in our comparison lend this much. That is whether a loan this size is on offer, not whether you would be approved.
- 4 of 6
Section 5Add to my plan
Turn this into a plan.
Your $40,585 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.
Add to my planSection 6What to ask
What to ask when you call
The marked ones are what Fly Synergy's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.
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.
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.
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.
Do you train under Part 61 or Part 141?Missing from their site
It changes the minimum hours, and for some students it changes financing eligibility.
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.
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.
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 Fly Synergy?
- Fly Synergy publishes $430 per hour for the Cirrus SR20 G7+ and $125 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 10, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $40,585, in a range of $34,900 to $46,300. 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 Fly Synergy.
- How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Fly Synergy?
- Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Fly Synergy 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 Fly Synergy a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
- Fly Synergy does not state on its own website whether it trains under Part 61 or Part 141, so we do not list one. It is worth asking directly before you enroll: Part 141 follows an FAA-approved syllabus and is generally what VA benefits require, while Part 61 is more flexible on scheduling.
- Do Fly Synergy's aircraft rates include fuel?
- Fly Synergy publishes $430 per hour for the Cirrus SR20 G7+, 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 10, 2026.
- What ratings can you train for at Fly Synergy?
- Fly Synergy trains Private Pilot and Instrument Rating. Instruction is $125 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Fly Synergy's own published rates.
Section 8Sources
Estimates use Fly Synergy's published Cirrus SR20 G7+ and instructor rates (checked September 10, 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 Fly Synergy. 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 Fly Synergy? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.
6 other schools fly from Chicago Executive Airport.
5 of them publish at least one rate. PWK is the identifier to give when you ask.
- Boraam AviationFull rate card, Cessna 152 at $140/hr and $90 to $100/hr instructionProspect Heights
- Chicago Executive Flight SchoolFull rate card, Cessna 150 at $130/hr and $85/hr instructionWheeling
- WAir AviationFull rate card, Cessna 150J at $175/hr and $85/hr instructionWheeling
- Fly TherePublishes no ratesWheeling
- Leading Edge Flying ClubPublishes Piper Archer III at $220/hr, no instructor rateWheeling
- Zain AviationPublishes Cessna 152 at $190/hr, no instructor rateWheeling
Other Illinois flight schools
- Achieve Aviation · West Chicago
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- Aeronautics Academy · Chicago
- Airgo Academy · Centralia
- Allmond Aviation, LLC · Sparta
- Avel Flight School · West Chicago
- Aviation Professionals · Chicago
- Blue Skies Flying Services · Lake in the Hills
- Blue Sky Aero · Morris
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