PilotBound

Published rates, sourced · Updated September 13, 2026

What flight training costs at Gaithersburg flight schools

4 schools train out of Gaithersburg. One publishes a full rate card, shown with the source and the date it was read, next to a PilotBound estimate for your Private pilot certificate. The other 3 are listed with what they do publish.

Washington International Flight Academy in Gaithersburg is the one Gaithersburg school here with a full published rate card: $180 per hour for its Cessna 172 plus $70 per hour instruction, a PilotBound private pilot estimate of about $19,395.

2 fields: Montgomery County Airpark (GAI) and Davis Airport (W50). Whole state instead? Maryland flight schools

Flight school costs in Gaithersburg, in numbers

Computed from the 1 Gaithersburg school that publishes both an aircraft and an instructor rate, on the same method every card below uses. The 3 listings without a full rate card are left out of every figure.

$19,395
PilotBound Private estimate at the one school with published rates
$180/hr
Published trainer rental, per hour
$70/hr
Published instruction, per hour
1 of 4
Schools publishing a full rate card (aircraft and instructor)

Lowest published trainer rates in Gaithersburg

Airports with Gaithersburg flight schools

Estimate cost toflying
Showing 4 of 4 schools

Totals to reach your Private goal at this pace. 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. How we estimate.

Private estimate range across Gaithersburg

lowest $16.7Khighest $22.1K

  • Washington International Flight Academy

    Part not stated

    Gaithersburg, MD·learntoflydc.com

    Published rates

    $180/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)+$70/hr instructor

    Checked August 31, 2026·Source

    One $180/hr rate covers most of the fleet (Cessna 172s, Piper Archers and Warriors); the 172XP is $190, the Arrow $205, the Seminoles $320 and the Seneca $340. Instruction is $70/hr on every certificate page including multi-engine. The Redbird FMX is $75/hr with cheaper 10- and 20-hour packages.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $19,395

    range $16.7K – $22.1K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planWIFA cost breakdown →
  • Below: schools without a full published rate card. They cannot be priced, so they sit at the end of a cost sort.

  • A.T.C. Flight Training Center

    Part not stated

    Gaithersburg, MD·GAI·lrn2fly.com

    Published rates

    aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published

    No PilotBound estimate

    A.T.C. Flight does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    Nothing to total without it.

    See what to ask themWhat they do publish →

  • Davis Flying Services

    Part not stated

    Gaithersburg, MD·W50

    Published rates

    aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published

    No PilotBound estimate

    Davis does not publish a website, an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    Nothing to total without it.

    See what to ask themWhat they do publish →

  • Pilot In Training Flight Academy

    Part not stated

    Gaithersburg, MD·GAI·pilotintraining.com

    Published rates

    $190/hr aircraft+instructor rate not published

    Checked September 13, 2026·Source

    The rates block gives the aircraft at $190 an hour and adds a fuel surcharge on top, which the school attributes to fuel price rises. Beside it the site quotes market ranges, $185 to $220 for an airplane and $70 to $85 for an instructor; those are other schools' numbers, not this one's, so no instructor rate is recorded.

    No PilotBound estimate

    Pilot In Training does not publish an instructor rate

    Nothing to total without it.

    See what to ask themWhat they do publish →

Flight schools in other Maryland cities

All Maryland flight schoolsFlight school costs by state

Common questions about Gaithersburg flight schools

How much does flight school cost in Gaithersburg?
Washington International Flight Academy in Gaithersburg is the one Gaithersburg school here with a full published rate card: $180 per hour for its Cessna 172 and $70 per hour for instruction, checked August 31, 2026. On those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $19,395. That is a PilotBound estimate, not a quote from the school.
How current are these Gaithersburg flight school rates?
Every rate here is the school's own published figure, linked to its source and dated; the newest check in Gaithersburg is September 13, 2026, and each card and school page shows the exact date its rates were read. The directory is re-checked on a monthly cycle, and 3 more schools in Gaithersburg are listed without an estimate because they do not publish a full rate card. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime.
Which Gaithersburg airports have flight schools?
2 fields carry the listed schools: Montgomery County Airpark (GAI) with 3, and Davis Airport (W50) with one. A school that does not state its field on the pages we read is counted in Gaithersburg without one.

Estimates use the same method as every Maryland school page: PilotBound's own completion-hours model times each school's published rates, plus the one-time fees most quotes leave out. They are ours, not the schools' quotes, and we are not affiliated with the schools. How these estimates work·Disclaimer & removal policy