PilotBound
PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · Plymouth, MA · Checked August 8, 2026

What flight training at Alpha One Flight Services costs

Website alpha-1.com

Your plan

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Flying

Two-seat trainer. A second 152, N46249, is published at the same rate.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Alpha One Flight Services

$15,507

range $13.3K – $17.7K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Alpha One's published rates: Cessna 152 at $126/hr + $70/hr instruction, checked August 8, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$9,655
at the hours students actually take$15,507

+$5,852 on Alpha One's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$13.3K – $17.7K
Aircraft rental$9,072
Instruction$4,060
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$13,132
72 hrs in Cessna 152 @ $126/hr + 58 dual @ $70/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 Alpha One Flight Services's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Alpha One Flight 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 →

What Alpha One publishes

checked August 8, 2026
Cessna 152 (N48990)Two-seat trainer. A second 152, N46249, is published at the same rate.$126/hr fuel basis not stated
Piper Warrior (N8285B)$146/hr fuel basis not stated
Bellanca Citabria 7-GCBC (N5031Y)Tailwheel, so an endorsement aeroplane rather than a primary trainer.$151/hr fuel basis not stated
Cessna 172 (four tails)N51890, N738XA, N144BF and N8958V, all published at $161. The type the school's own cost table budgets the Private in.$161/hr fuel basis not stated
Piper Archer II (N7653F)$161/hr fuel basis not stated
Piper Arrow II (N4354T)Retractable/complex.$192/hr fuel basis not stated
Instruction$70/hr

Alpha One prices each aircraft on its own page. The instruction rate is not posted hourly; it is derived from the school's own October 2025 Private Pilot cost table (20 hours minimum instruction at $1,400), whose aircraft line independently matches the published C172 rate. An older cost table still on the site implies a lower figure, so confirm the current instruction rate with the school. The site does not say whether fuel is included.

Not published: the examiner's checkride fee, whether rates include fuel. Listed as missing rather than guessed.

See the published rates→Source 2→

Step 2

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Your $15,507 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.

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What to ask when you call

The marked ones are what Alpha One's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.

  1. Do the published aircraft rates include fuel, or is fuel billed separately?Missing from their site

    The site does not say, and it is the difference between two rates that look identical and are not.

  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. 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.

  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.

Estimates use Alpha One Flight Services's published Cessna 152 and instructor rates (checked August 8, 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 Alpha One Flight 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.

Common questions about Alpha One Flight Services

How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Alpha One Flight Services?
Alpha One Flight Services publishes $126 per hour for the Cessna 152 and $70 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 8, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $15,507, in a range of $13,300 to $17,700. 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 Alpha One Flight Services.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Alpha One Flight Services?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Alpha One Flight 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 Alpha One Flight Services a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
Alpha One Flight 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 Alpha One Flight Services's aircraft rates include fuel?
Alpha One Flight Services publishes $126 per hour for the Cessna 152, 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 8, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Alpha One Flight Services?
Alpha One Flight Services trains Private Pilot. Instruction is $70 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Alpha One Flight Services's own published rates.

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