PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · Marion, IN · Checked September 12, 2026

What flight training at Air Marion costs

Website airmarion.com

Phone (765) 674-7777

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

Wet.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Air Marion

$17,805

range $15.3K – $20.3K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Air Marion's published rates: Cessna 172N at $170/hr + $55/hr instruction, checked September 12, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$10,935
at the hours students actually take$17,805

+$6,870 on Air Marion's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$15.3K – $20.3K
Aircraft rental$12,240
Instruction$3,190
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$15,430
72 hrs in Cessna 172N @ $170/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 Air Marion's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Air Marion'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 Air Marion publishes

checked September 12, 2026
Cessna 172N (N2630M, 1979)1979Wet.$170/hr wet
Cessna 172S (N806SP, 1999)1999Wet.$170/hr wet
Cessna 172 (N5309J)Wet. Avionics upgrade in progress.$170/hr wet
Instruction$55/hr

Airframes built 1979 to 1999. 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. Air Marion trains under both parts, and the estimate above is built on Part 61 hours.

See the published rates →

Section 3Discovery flight

$110

Checked September 14, 2026

About 25 to 30 minutes of flying.

See it on their siteCall (765) 674-7777

Discovery flight prices in Indiana

Section 4Paying for it

Two ways to cover $17,805.

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 Indiana-only awards in the directory yet.
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Money you pay backLenders that cover $17,805All 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 $17,805 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.

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Section 6What to ask

What to ask when you call

What turns an hourly rate into a real bill.

  1. 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.

  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 Air Marion?
Air Marion publishes $170 per hour for the Cessna 172N and $55 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 12, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $17,805, in a range of $15,300 to $20,300. 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 Air Marion.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Air Marion?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Air Marion 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 Air Marion a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
Air Marion trains under both Part 61 and Part 141, so you can pick the structured FAA-approved course or the flexible path. Part 141 is the one that matters for VA benefits and for the lower paper minimum on the private certificate; Part 61 is the one that bends around a full-time job.
Do Air Marion's aircraft rates include fuel?
Air Marion publishes $170 per hour for the Cessna 172N, 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 12, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Air Marion?
Air Marion trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Flight Instructor and Instrument Instructor. Instruction is $55 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Air Marion's own published rates.

Section 8Sources

Estimates use Air Marion's published Cessna 172N and instructor rates (checked September 12, 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 Air Marion. 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 Air Marion? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.

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