PilotBound estimate · Marion, IA · Checked September 20, 2026
What flight training at V1 Flight costs
Website v1flight.org
Phone 319-261-9761
Section 1Cost estimate
Your plan
Estimate cost to reach
Flying
PilotBound estimate · Private
Examiner dataCost of your Private at V1 Flight
range $16.3K – $21.6K · about 6 months at 2×/week
Priced on V1 Flight's published rates: Cessna 172 at $180/hr dry + $63/hr instruction, checked September 20, 2026.
Against a minimums quote
+$7,398 on V1 Flight'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 V1 Flight's published rates (dry; fuel billed separately). About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not V1 Flight'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 V1 Flight publishes
checked September 20, 2026V1 bills a fuel surcharge of $13.25 an hour on top of the plane rental, so the hourly figure here is before fuel. Paying from a prepaid account on deposit rather than by card lowers the plane to $170 and primary instruction to $57. Instrument, flight-review and commercial dual is charged at the advanced rate, and ground instruction is separate at $48 an hour primary and $53 advanced. There is a $100 enrollment fee and a monthly membership fee of $49.68. The pricing sheet V1 publishes is dated March 24, 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. V1 Flight does not state whether it trains under Part 61 or Part 141, so the estimate above is built on Part 61 hours.
Section 3Paying for it
Two ways to cover $18,989.
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 Iowa-only awards in the directory yet.
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- Money you pay backLenders that cover $18,989All 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 $18,989 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 5What to ask
What to ask when you call
The marked one is what V1 Flight's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.
Your published rates are dry. Roughly what does fuel add per hour on the trainer?
The published figures leave fuel out, so they understate the real hourly cost until you add it.
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.
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.
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 6Questions
- How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at V1 Flight?
- V1 Flight publishes $180 per hour for the Cessna 172 and $63 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 20, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $18,989, in a range of $16,300 to $21,600. 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 V1 Flight.
- How long does it take to get a private pilot license at V1 Flight?
- Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at V1 Flight 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 V1 Flight a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
- V1 Flight 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 V1 Flight's aircraft rates include fuel?
- V1 Flight publishes $180 per hour for the Cessna 172, a dry rate, so fuel is billed separately on top. Fuel typically adds roughly $30 to $60 per hour, so compare a dry rate against a wet one carefully. PilotBound's estimate uses the published dry rate exactly as listed and does not add a guessed fuel figure. Rates checked September 20, 2026.
- What ratings can you train for at V1 Flight?
- V1 Flight trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor. Instruction runs $63 to $73 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 V1 Flight's own published rates.
Section 7Sources
Estimates use V1 Flight's published Cessna 172 and instructor rates (checked September 20, 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 V1 Flight. 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 V1 Flight? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.
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