PilotBound

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

What flight training at Ortega Aviation Services costs

Website ortegaaviation.com

Phone (316) 925-7700

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

180 HP fuel injected, Garmin G1000 with a King KAP 140 autopilot, AmSafe front seat airbags.

Shown at Ortega Aviation Services'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 Ortega Aviation Services

$22,135

range $19K – $25.2K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Ortega Aviation's published rates: Cessna 172 Skyhawk at $210/hr dry + $80/hr instruction, checked September 8, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$13,335
at the hours students actually take$22,135

+$8,800 on Ortega Aviation's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$19K – $25.2K
Aircraft rental$15,120
Instruction$4,640
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$19,760
72 hrs in Cessna 172 Skyhawk @ $210/hr + 58 dual @ $80/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 Ortega Aviation Services'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 Ortega Aviation 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 →

Put this calculator on your site

Section 2The rate card

What Ortega Aviation publishes

checked September 8, 2026
Cessna 172 Skyhawk180 HP fuel injected, Garmin G1000 with a King KAP 140 autopilot, AmSafe front seat airbags.$210/hr dry
Piper Pilot 100i180 HP fuel injected, Garmin G3X touchscreen with G500 autopilot and flight director, WAAS. Flies RNAV approaches to LPV minimums.$210/hr dry
Diamond DA-42 TwinstarCounter-rotating props, Garmin G1000, KAP 140. The multi trainer: private and commercial multi add-ons, multi recurrent, MEI and the ATP multi.$425/hr dry
Instruction$80/hr

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.

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. Ortega Aviation 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 →Source 2 →Source 3 →

Section 3Paying for it

Two ways to cover $22,135.

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 $22,135Five of the six lenders in our comparison lend this much. That is whether a loan this size is on offer, not whether you would be approved.
5 of 6
See scholarshipsCompare lenders

Section 4Add to my plan

Turn this into a plan.

Your $22,135 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 Ortega Aviation'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. 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.

  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 Ortega Aviation Services?
Ortega Aviation Services publishes $210 per hour for the Cessna 172 Skyhawk and $80 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 8, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $22,135, in a range of $19,000 to $25,200. 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 Ortega Aviation Services.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Ortega Aviation Services?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Ortega Aviation 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 Ortega Aviation Services a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
Ortega Aviation Services 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 Ortega Aviation Services's aircraft rates include fuel?
Ortega Aviation Services publishes $210 per hour for the Cessna 172 Skyhawk, 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 Ortega Aviation Services?
Ortega Aviation Services trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Multi-Engine (AMEL), Multi-Engine Instructor, Flight Instructor and Instrument Instructor. Instruction is $80 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Ortega Aviation Services's own published rates.

Section 7Sources

Estimates use Ortega Aviation Services's published Cessna 172 Skyhawk 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 Ortega Aviation 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 Ortega Aviation? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.

Send your training part

2 other schools fly from Wichita Eisenhower National Airport.

None of them publishes a rate, so every one is a phone call. ICT is the identifier to give when you ask.

Every school in the state

Other Kansas flight schools

All Kansas flight schoolsAll Wichita flight schools

Plan the money before you commit

A program price only makes sense next to what each rating costs on its own, what free money exists, and what borrowing actually looks like.

What each rating costs

Honest per-rating ranges, with the fees most quotes leave out.

Free money first

Verified flight training scholarships. Every scholarship dollar is a dollar you never finance.

If you borrow

Compare lenders and see the real monthly payment before you sign.