PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · El Dorado, KS · Checked September 12, 2026

What flight training at Marsh Flying Services costs

Website marshflyingservices.com

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

160 hp, IFR certified. $137/hr on a ten-hour prepaid block.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Marsh Flying Services

$16,193

range $13.9K – $18.5K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Marsh's published rates: Cessna 172P at $146/hr + $57/hr instruction, checked September 12, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$10,039
at the hours students actually take$16,193

+$6,154 on Marsh's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$13.9K – $18.5K
Aircraft rental$10,512
Instruction$3,306
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$13,818
72 hrs in Cessna 172P @ $146/hr + 58 dual @ $57/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 Marsh Flying Services's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Marsh Flying Services'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 Marsh publishes

checked September 12, 2026
Cessna 172P (N54165, 1981)1981160 hp, IFR certified. $137/hr on a ten-hour prepaid block.$146/hr wet
Cessna 172L (N968HC, 1971)1971150 hp, IFR certified. $137/hr on a ten-hour prepaid block.$146/hr wet
Instruction$57/hr

Airframes built 1971 to 1981. Years of manufacture from the FAA aircraft registry, read September 16, 2026.

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.

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.

See the published rates →Source 2 →

Section 3Paying for it

Two ways to cover $16,193.

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.
46
Money you pay backLenders that cover $16,193All 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 $16,193 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

What turns an hourly rate into a real bill.

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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 Marsh Flying Services?
Marsh Flying Services publishes $146 per hour for the Cessna 172P and $57 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 12, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $16,193, in a range of $13,900 to $18,500. 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 Marsh Flying Services.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Marsh Flying Services?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Marsh Flying Services 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 Marsh Flying Services a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
Marsh Flying Services 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 Marsh Flying Services's aircraft rates include fuel?
Marsh Flying Services publishes $146 per hour for the Cessna 172P, a wet rate, so fuel is included in the hourly figure. A wet rate is the easier one to compare, because the number you see is the number you fly on. Rates checked September 12, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Marsh Flying Services?
Marsh Flying Services trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor. Instruction is $57 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Marsh Flying Services's own published rates.

Section 7Sources

Estimates use Marsh Flying Services's published Cessna 172P and instructor rates (checked September 12, 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 Marsh Flying Services. 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 Marsh? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.

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