PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · Hammond, LA · Checked September 10, 2026

What flight training at Fly By Knight costs

Website flybyknight.biz

Phone (985) 340-8800

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

Warrior 1/2/3 fleet, one shared rate.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Fly By Knight

$18,343

range $15.8K – $20.9K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Fly By Knight's published rates: Piper Warrior at $161/hr + $55/hr instruction, checked September 10, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$9,550
at the hours students actually take$18,343

+$8,793 on Fly By Knight's own rates. Quotes usually price the 35-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$15.8K – $20.9K
Aircraft rental$12,558
Instruction$3,410
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$15,968
78 hrs in Piper Warrior @ $161/hr + 62 dual @ $55/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 pace78 hrs

Examiner records (DPE dataset). Note: Part 141 typically runs higher, not lower.

The hourly flying is priced on Fly By Knight's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Fly By Knight'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 Fly By Knight publishes

checked September 10, 2026
Piper Warrior (fleet of 8)Warrior 1/2/3 fleet, one shared rate.$161/hr wet
Piper Seneca II PA-34-200T (x2)Multi-engine trainer; experience minimums apply for solo rental. Instruction in this airplane $75/hr.$375/hr wet
Instructionstandard $55/hr · multi-engine instruction $75/hr$55 – $75/hr

Fly By Knight's rates are wet and quoted plus tax; tax is not included in this estimate.

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 →

Section 3Paying for it

Two ways to cover $18,343.

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 Louisiana-only awards in the directory yet.
46
Money you pay backLenders that cover $18,343All 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 $18,343 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. 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.

  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 Fly By Knight?
Fly By Knight publishes $161 per hour for the Piper Warrior and $55 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 10, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $18,343, in a range of $15,800 to $20,900. That covers roughly 78 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 Fly By Knight.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Fly By Knight?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Fly By Knight to reach the private pilot checkride, at roughly 78 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 Fly By Knight a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
Fly By Knight trains under Part 141, an FAA-approved syllabus with a structured course of study. Part 141 can finish the private certificate in fewer required hours on paper (35 versus 40), though in practice most students at either kind of school fly past the minimum. Part 141 also matters if you plan to use VA benefits, which generally require an approved 141 course.
Do Fly By Knight's aircraft rates include fuel?
Fly By Knight publishes $161 per hour for the Piper Warrior, 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 10, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Fly By Knight?
Fly By Knight trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot and Multi-Engine (AMEL). Instruction runs $55 to $75 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 Fly By Knight's own published rates.

Section 7Sources

Estimates use Fly By Knight's published Piper Warrior and instructor rates (checked September 10, 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 Fly By Knight. 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 Fly By Knight? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.

One other school flies from Hammond Northshore Regional Airport.

It does not publish a rate either, so that one is a phone call too. HDC is the identifier to give when you ask.

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