PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · Liberal, KS · Checked September 8, 2026

What flight training at Lyddon Aero Center costs

Website lyddonaero.com

Phone 620.624.1646

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

Cessna 172 (N3271E), $52/hr dry

180 HP. The only priced tail. Both of Lyddon's 172s are IFR equipped with a glideslope receiver and ADF.

Shown at Lyddon Aero Center's published dry rate. Fuel is billed separately and is not included in this estimate.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Lyddon Aero Center

$8,149

range $7K – $9.3K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Lyddon Aero's published rates: Cessna 172 at $52/hr dry + $35/hr instruction, checked September 8, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$5,575
at the hours students actually take$8,149

+$2,574 on Lyddon Aero's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$7K – $9.3K
Aircraft rental$3,744
Instruction$2,030
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$5,774
72 hrs in Cessna 172 @ $52/hr + 58 dual @ $35/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 Lyddon Aero Center'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 Lyddon Aero Center'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 Lyddon Aero publishes

checked September 8, 2026
Cessna 172 (N3271E)180 HP. The only priced tail. Both of Lyddon's 172s are IFR equipped with a glideslope receiver and ADF.$52/hr dry
Instruction$35/hr

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.

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. Lyddon Aero does not state whether it trains under Part 61 or Part 141, so the estimate above is built on Part 61 hours.

See the published rates →

Section 3Paying for it

Two ways to cover $8,149.

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 Kansas-only awards in the directory yet.
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Money you pay backLenders that cover $8,149All 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 $8,149 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.

Add to my plan

Section 5What to ask

What to ask when you call

The marked one is what Lyddon Aero's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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 Lyddon Aero Center?
Lyddon Aero Center publishes $52 per hour for the Cessna 172 and $35 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 8, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $8,149, in a range of $7,000 to $9,300. 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 Lyddon Aero Center.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Lyddon Aero Center?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Lyddon Aero Center 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 Lyddon Aero Center a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
Lyddon Aero Center 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 Lyddon Aero Center's aircraft rates include fuel?
Lyddon Aero Center publishes $52 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 8, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Lyddon Aero Center?
Lyddon Aero Center trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor. Instruction is $35 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Lyddon Aero Center's own published rates.

Section 7Sources

Estimates use Lyddon Aero Center's published Cessna 172 and instructor rates (checked September 8, 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 Lyddon Aero Center. 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 Lyddon Aero? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.

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