How much does flight school cost in Kansas?

Across the 4 Kansas flight schools here that publish full rates, trainer rentals run $52 to $210 per hour and instruction $35 to $80 per hour, checked as recently as September 12, 2026. On each school's own published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate between $8,149 and $22,135, with a median of $16,601. These are PilotBound estimates built on published rates, not quotes from the schools.

What is the cheapest flight school in Kansas?

Lyddon Aero Center in Liberal publishes the lowest trainer rental of the 4 Kansas schools listed here, $52 per hour for its Cessna 172, a dry rate, so fuel is billed separately on top, checked September 8, 2026. The lowest hourly rate is not automatically the lowest total: instructor rates, fuel basis, and the hours you actually fly decide that, which is what the per-school estimates on this page hold constant.

How current are these Kansas flight school rates?

Every rate here is the school's own published figure, linked to its source and dated; the newest check in Kansas is September 12, 2026, and each card and school page shows the exact date its rates were read. The directory is re-checked on a monthly cycle, and 17 more schools in Kansas are listed without an estimate because they do not publish a full rate card. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime.

PilotBoundEvery hour. Every dollar.

Published rates, sourced · Updated September 12, 2026

What flight training costs at Kansas flight schools

Every listing shows the school's own published rates with the source and date, next to an honest PilotBound estimate for your Private pilot certificate. Add any school to your plan to map your whole route on their real rates.

Across the 4 Kansas schools here with published rates, trainer rentals run $52 to $210 per hour and instruction $35 to $80, and PilotBound's private pilot estimate lands between $8,149 and $22,135, with a median of $16,601.

Search, filter by city, and sort by cost. Each card marks where it falls among the state's schools on cost. Estimates are ours, not quotes, and we are not affiliated with these schools. See a wrong number? Every card has a correct-this-listing link.

Estimate cost toflying

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Showing 1–12 of 21 schools

Totals to reach your Private goal at this pace. 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. How we estimate.

Private estimate range across Kansas

lowest $7Khighest $25.2K

Lyddon Aero Center
Part not stated
Lowest in KS
Liberal, KS·lyddonaero.com
Published rates
$52/hr aircraft (dry, fuel billed separately)+$35/hr instructor
Checked September 8, 2026·Source
The $52/hr is a DRY rate and Lyddon adds fuel at 10 gallons per hour on top of it, quoted in gallons rather than dollars, so what an hour actually costs depends on the fuel price on the day. No fuel figure is added here because none is published. Instruction is $35/hr in the air and $25/hr on the ground. Only one of the two Cessna 172s is priced. The site advertises an introductory flight at $49 in one paragraph and $99 in the next, so confirm which is current. Its published cost breakdown totals $4,834.93 for a Private, but that table implies a $25/hr instructor against the $35 quoted above it and appears to be older than the rate line.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$8,149
range $7K – $9.3K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my plan Lyddon Aero cost breakdown →
Marsh Flying Services
Part 61
El Dorado, KS·marshflyingservices.com
Published rates
$146/hr aircraft (wet)+$57/hr instructor
Checked September 12, 2026·Source
Both aircraft are the same price and the rate includes fuel but NOT Kansas sales tax. Ten prepaid hours take $9/hr off. Instruction is $57/hr in a Marsh aircraft, $65/hr in an aircraft that is not theirs, and $85/hr for specialised or advanced training; the estimate uses the in-house rate. Marsh notes all rates are subject to change. THE $40/HR ON ITS EMPLOYMENT PAGE IS WHAT MARSH PAYS ITS INSTRUCTORS, not what a student pays.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$16,193
range $13.9K – $18.5K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my plan Marsh cost breakdown →
Hetrick Air Services
Part not stated
Lawrence, KS·hetrickairservices.com
Published rates
$167/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)+$45/hr instructor
Checked September 8, 2026·Source
Rates shown are Hetrick's block rates, which require buying 10 rental hours in advance with a $1,000 minimum deposit. Standard rates are $5/hr higher.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$17,009
range $14.6K – $19.4K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my plan Hetrick cost breakdown →
Ortega Aviation Services
Part not stated
Largest fleet
Wichita, KS·ortegaaviation.com
Published rates
$210/hr aircraft (dry, fuel billed separately)+$80/hr instructor
Checked September 8, 2026·Source
Each rate below is per Hobbs hour and a fuel surcharge is added on top, stated separately for every aircraft: $20/hr on the two singles and $40/hr on the twin. Instruction is a flat $80/hr in everything, including the multi, which is unusual since twin instruction normally costs more. The Twinstar page contradicts itself on the surcharge, saying "$30 per hour" in its description and "$40.00/hour" in its specification line; the specification line is used here and the difference is worth confirming.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$22,135
range $19K – $25.2K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my plan Ortega Aviation cost breakdown →
Below: schools without a full published rate card. They cannot be priced, so they sit at the end of a cost sort.
Aviation Academy
Part not stated
Wichita, KS·ICT·aviationacademyict.com
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
Aviation Academy does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
BeckAir FBO
Part not stated
Great Bend, KS·GBD·beckairfbo.com
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
BeckAir does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
Butterfly Aviation
Part not stated
Goodland, KS·GLD·butterflyaviation.net
Published rates
$150/hr aircraft+instructor rate not published
Checked August 7, 2026·Source
One aircraft, priced both ways: $150/hr wet or $100/hr dry. The wet figure is used here because it is what an hour costs without buying fuel separately. Butterfly does not employ instructors: the site says to phone and it will put you in touch with one of the local instructors, and lists instructor rates as being "per instructor".
No PilotBound estimate
Butterfly does not publish an instructor rate and a list of ratings taught
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
Coulson Aviation
Part not stated
Great Bend, KS·GBD·fly-kansas.com
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
Coulson does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
Crotts Aircraft Service
Part not stated
Dodge City, KS·DDC·crottsaircraft.com
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
Crotts does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
Empyrean Aero
Part not stated
Olathe, KS·empyreanaero.com
Published rates
$125/hr aircraft+instructor rate not published
Checked September 13, 2026·Source·2 aircraft published
Both aircraft are published "Rate/Hour (wet)", so fuel is included. Nothing else on the site carries an hourly figure. The $200 and $250 figures are for Kansas City Plaza sightseeing tours and have nothing to do with training.
No PilotBound estimate
Empyrean does not publish an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
Flex Air
Part 61 & 141
Manhattan, KS·MHK·goflexair.com
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
Flex Air does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
Flying Club of Kansas City
Part not stated
Olathe, KS·OJC·flyingclubkansascity.org
Published rates
$89/hr aircraft+instructor rate not published
Checked September 13, 2026·Source·6 aircraft published
THESE RATES ARE FOR MEMBERS AND MEMBERSHIP IS EXPENSIVE. Joining costs a NON-REFUNDABLE $3,000 for an individual, plus $2,000 for each additional family member, and dues are $135 a month. Applications go to the board, which votes, followed by an interview with the club president. This is shared ownership rather than rental, which is why the hourly figures are so far below local school rates: the club states outright that you are "an owner, not a renter". Seven aircraft across Johnson County Executive in Kansas and Lee's Summit Municipal in Missouri. Instructors are not club employees and set their own rates, which the club says most commonly run $50 to $60 an hour, paid to the instructor directly.
No PilotBound estimate
Flying Club of KC does not publish an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →

Flight school costs in Kansas, in numbers

Computed from the 4 Kansas schools that publish both an aircraft and an instructor rate, on the same method every card above uses. The 17 listings without a full rate card are left out of every figure.

$16,601: Median PilotBound Private estimate across the 4 schools with published rates
$52 to $210: Published trainer rental, per hour
$35 to $80: Published instruction, per hour
4 of 21: Schools publishing a full rate card (aircraft and instructor)

Lowest published trainer rates in Kansas

Lyddon Aero Center · $52/hr Cessna 172, Liberal
Marsh Flying Services · $146/hr Cessna 172P, El Dorado
Hetrick Air Services · $167/hr Cessna 172S, Lawrence
Ortega Aviation Services · $210/hr Cessna 172 Skyhawk, Wichita

Part 141 flight schools in Kansas

Flex Air · Part 61 & 141, Manhattan

Flight schools by city in Kansas

Wichita · 3 schools, 1 with rates

Airports with more than one Kansas flight school

Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (ICT)Aviation Academy·Ortega Aviation Services·Textron Aviation Employees' Flying Club
Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD)BeckAir FBO·Coulson Aviation
Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK)Flex Air·JO Flying Service

Discovery flights in Kansas

One Kansas school publishes a discovery flight price. See each price with its source

How these estimates work

We apply one consistent method to every school: PilotBound's own completion-hours model, examiner-completion data where it exists (like the Private and Commercial) and FAA minimums where no credible public data exists (like the Instrument and CFI), times that school's published aircraft and instructor rates (linked on every card, with the date we verified them), plus the one-time fees most quotes leave out. Holding the hours model identical across schools means the only thing that changes card to card is the school's actual rates.

So the number is PilotBound's estimate, not the school's quote, and it will differ from a school's own cost figures, which are often based on FAA-minimum hours. The schools do not set or endorse it.

Want a number tied to your own pace and aircraft choice? Run the estimator or read the full methodology.

These estimates are ours, not the schools' quotes, and we are not affiliated with the schools. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime. Disclaimer & removal policy.

Common questions about Kansas flight schools

How much does flight school cost in Kansas?: Across the 4 Kansas flight schools here that publish full rates, trainer rentals run $52 to $210 per hour and instruction $35 to $80 per hour, checked as recently as September 12, 2026. On each school's own published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate between $8,149 and $22,135, with a median of $16,601. These are PilotBound estimates built on published rates, not quotes from the schools.
What is the cheapest flight school in Kansas?: Lyddon Aero Center in Liberal publishes the lowest trainer rental of the 4 Kansas schools listed here, $52 per hour for its Cessna 172, a dry rate, so fuel is billed separately on top, checked September 8, 2026. The lowest hourly rate is not automatically the lowest total: instructor rates, fuel basis, and the hours you actually fly decide that, which is what the per-school estimates on this page hold constant.
How current are these Kansas flight school rates?: Every rate here is the school's own published figure, linked to its source and dated; the newest check in Kansas is September 12, 2026, and each card and school page shows the exact date its rates were read. The directory is re-checked on a monthly cycle, and 17 more schools in Kansas are listed without an estimate because they do not publish a full rate card. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime.