PilotBound estimate · Sanford, ME
What flight training at Southern Maine Aviation costs
Your plan
Estimate cost to reach
Flying
PilotBound estimate · Private
Examiner dataCost of your Private at Southern Maine Aviation
range $19.7K – $26.1K · about 6 months at 2×/week
Priced on Southern Maine's published rates: Cessna 172 Skyhawk at $220/hr + $80/hr instruction, checked August 6, 2026.
Against a minimums quote
+$9,000 on Southern Maine'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 Southern Maine Aviation's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Southern Maine 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 →
What Southern Maine publishes
checked August 6, 2026Neither rate is published on a rate card: both come from Southern Maine's own Private Pilot cost breakdown, whose arithmetic checks out. Nothing says whether fuel is included. The training fleet is Cessna 172 Skyhawks alongside a 2004 Citabria and a Redbird simulator, and neither the Citabria nor the simulator carries a published rate. The maintenance shop's hourly labour rates appear elsewhere on the site and are not flight training.
Not published: the examiner's checkride fee, whether rates include fuel. Listed as missing rather than guessed.
Step 2
Turn this into a plan.
Your $22,855 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.
Add to my planEstimates use Southern Maine Aviation's published Cessna 172 Skyhawk and instructor rates (checked August 6, 2026), shown in USD for planning only. Real cost varies by student, weather, and pace. An honest range, not a quote.
PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Southern Maine 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.
Common questions about Southern Maine Aviation
- How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Southern Maine Aviation?
- Southern Maine Aviation publishes $220 per hour for the Cessna 172 Skyhawk and $80 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 6, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $22,855, in a range of $19,700 to $26,100. 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 Southern Maine Aviation.
- How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Southern Maine Aviation?
- Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Southern Maine 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 Southern Maine Aviation a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
- Southern Maine Aviation trains under both Part 61 and Part 141, so you can pick the structured FAA-approved course or the flexible path. Part 141 is the one that matters for VA benefits and for the lower paper minimum on the private certificate; Part 61 is the one that bends around a full-time job.
- Do Southern Maine Aviation's aircraft rates include fuel?
- Southern Maine Aviation publishes $220 per hour for the Cessna 172 Skyhawk, 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 August 6, 2026.
- What ratings can you train for at Southern Maine Aviation?
- Southern Maine Aviation trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating and Commercial Pilot. Instruction is $80 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Southern Maine Aviation's own published rates.
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