What flight training costs at Kansas flight schools
Across the 6 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 $16,840.
25 schools listed · Updated October 12, 2026
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.
Lyddon Aero Center
Part not statedLowest in KSLiberal, KS·lyddonaero.com
$52/hr aircraft (dry, fuel billed separately)·$35/hr instructor
Checked October 12, 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 to $9.3K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planLyddon Aero cost breakdown →Marsh Flying Services
Part 61El Dorado, KS·marshflyingservices.com
$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 to $18.5K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planMarsh cost breakdown →Azure Aviation Academy
Part 61Salina, KS·azureaviationacademy.com
$140/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)·$75/hr instructor
Checked October 4, 2026·Source
The fleet page prices each aircraft by the hour and does not say whether fuel is included. Flight and ground instruction are both $75/hr and simulator instruction is $50/hr; those figures come from the cost tables on the school's course pages, whose totals it describes as estimates. The aircraft are owned and maintained by Schilling Aviation Services.
PilotBound estimate, Private
$16,805
range $14.5K to $19.2K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planAzure cost breakdown →JoeBravo Aviation
Part 61Largest fleetAugusta, KS·joebravoaviation.com
$145/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)·$70/hr instructor
Checked October 4, 2026·Source
Rates are from the fleet page, which does not say whether fuel is included; the school says its scheduling app carries its most current prices. Instruction is $70/hr, and $80/hr in the twin and for tailwheel and aerobatic training. Prepaying $1,000 takes 5% off aircraft rates and prepaying $2,500 takes 7.5%. The fleet is spread across Cook Airfield, Augusta and Newton.
PilotBound estimate, Private
$16,875
range $14.5K to $19.2K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planJoeBravo cost breakdown →Hetrick Air Services
Part not statedLawrence, KS·hetrickairservices.com
$167/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)·$45/hr instructor
Checked October 12, 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 to $19.4K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planHetrick cost breakdown →Ortega Aviation Services
Part not statedWichita, KS·ortegaaviation.com
$210/hr aircraft (dry, fuel billed separately)·$80/hr instructor
Checked October 12, 2026·Source
Each rate below is per Hobbs hour and a $20/hr fuel surcharge is added on top, stated separately for both aircraft. Instruction is a flat $80/hr. The school no longer lists a twin or multi-engine training.
PilotBound estimate, Private
$22,135
range $19K to $25.2K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planOrtega 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.
Air Capital Aviators Club
Part not statedWichita, KS·AAO·aircapitalaviators.club
$130/hr aircraft·instructor rate not published
Checked October 4, 2026·Source·5 aircraft published
Every rate is a member rate, wet, and subject to a monthly fuel surcharge and sales tax. Joining is $1,500 and dues are $95 a month. Membership is drawn from employees and former employees of approved aerospace companies, along with others the club accepts. Instructors are members who set their own rates and bill separately from the club.
No PilotBound estimate
Air Capital Aviators does not publish an instructor rate
What to ask Air Capital AviatorsAviation Academy
Part not statedWichita, KS·ICT·aviationacademyict.com
No PilotBound estimate
Aviation Academy does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
What to ask Aviation AcademyBeckAir FBO
Part not statedGreat Bend, KS·GBD·beckairfbo.com
No PilotBound estimate
BeckAir does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
What to ask BeckAirButterfly Aviation
Part not statedGoodland, KS·GLD·butterflyaviation.net
$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
What to ask ButterflyCoulson Aviation
Part not statedGreat Bend, KS·GBD·fly-kansas.com
No PilotBound estimate
Coulson does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
What to ask CoulsonCrotts Aircraft Service
Part not statedDodge City, KS·DDC·crottsaircraft.com
No PilotBound estimate
Crotts does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
What to ask Crotts
Flight school costs in Kansas, in numbers
Computed from the 6 Kansas schools that publish both an aircraft and an instructor rate, on the same method every card above uses. The 19 listings without a full rate card are left out of every figure.
- Median PilotBound Private estimate across the 6 schools with published rates
- $16,840
- Published trainer rental, per hour
- $52 to $210
- Published instruction, per hour
- $35 to $80
- Schools publishing a full rate card (aircraft and instructor)
- 6 of 25
Lowest published trainer rates in Kansas
Part 141 flight schools in Kansas
Flight schools by city in Kansas
Airports with more than one Kansas flight school
Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport ICT
Aviation AcademyOrtega Aviation ServicesTextron Aviation Employees' Flying Club
Augusta Municipal Airport 3AU
Great Bend Municipal Airport GBD
Manhattan Regional Airport MHK
Discovery flights in Kansas
5 Kansas schools publish a discovery flight price, median $134. 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 6 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 October 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 $16,840. 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 6 Kansas schools listed here, $52 per hour for its Cessna 172, a dry rate, so fuel is billed separately on top, checked October 12, 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 October 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 19 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.