PilotBound estimate · Augusta, KS · Checked October 4, 2026
What flight training at JoeBravo Aviation costs
Website joebravoaviation.com
Phone (316) 807-4950
Section 1Cost estimate
Your plan
Estimate cost to reach
Flying
Garmin 250XL.
PilotBound estimate · Private
Examiner dataCost of your Private at JoeBravo Aviation
range $14.5K – $19.2K · about 6 months at 2×/week
Priced on JoeBravo's published rates: Piper Cherokee PA-28-140 at $145/hr + $70/hr instruction, checked October 4, 2026.
Against a minimums quote
+$6,460 on JoeBravo'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 JoeBravo Aviation's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not JoeBravo Aviation'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 JoeBravo publishes
checked October 4, 2026Airframes built 1946 to 2010. Years of manufacture from the FAA aircraft registry, read October 4, 2026.
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.
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. JoeBravo's site does not state whether its rates include fuel.
Section 3Paying for it
Two ways to cover $16,875.
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 for51 open to anyone. Top awards reach $22,200.No Kansas-only awards in the directory yet.
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- Money you pay backLenders that cover $16,875All 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 $16,875 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 5In the app
Track it against JoeBravo's rates.
JoeBravo Aviation's rate card is in the PilotBound app. Choose JoeBravo when you set up and the app prices your training at its rates, then tracks every flight you log against the projection.
Scan to download on your iPhone
Section 6What to ask
What to ask when you call
The marked one is what JoeBravo'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.
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 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 JoeBravo Aviation?
- JoeBravo Aviation publishes $145 per hour for the Piper Cherokee PA-28-140 and $70 per hour for instruction on it, checked October 4, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $16,875, in a range of $14,500 to $19,200. 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 JoeBravo Aviation.
- How long does it take to get a private pilot license at JoeBravo Aviation?
- Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at JoeBravo Aviation 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 JoeBravo Aviation a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
- JoeBravo Aviation trains under Part 61, the flexible path. There is no FAA-approved syllabus to follow, so lessons can be scheduled around your life and adapted to your pace. The tradeoff is a slightly higher paper minimum for the private certificate (40 hours versus 35) and, for most students, no VA benefit eligibility.
- Do JoeBravo Aviation's aircraft rates include fuel?
- JoeBravo Aviation publishes $145 per hour for the Piper Cherokee PA-28-140, 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 October 4, 2026.
- What ratings can you train for at JoeBravo Aviation?
- JoeBravo Aviation trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Multi-Engine (AMEL), Flight Instructor and Instrument Instructor. Instruction runs $70 to $80 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 JoeBravo Aviation's own published rates.
Section 8Sources
Estimates use JoeBravo Aviation's published Piper Cherokee PA-28-140 and instructor rates (checked October 4, 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 JoeBravo Aviation. 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 JoeBravo? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.
One other school flies from Augusta Municipal Airport.
It does not publish a rate either, so that one is a phone call too. 3AU is the identifier to give when you ask.
- Schreib-Air, Kansas CoptersPublishes no ratesAugusta
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