PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · Waterford, MI · Checked September 12, 2026

What flight training at Apogee Air costs

Website flyapogee.com

Phone (248) 742-9118

Conveniently located near

  • Grand Rapids

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

Dry. Plus 6% Michigan use tax.

Shown at Apogee Air'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 Apogee Air

$39,805

range $34.2K – $45.4K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Apogee's published rates: Cirrus SR20 G7 at $395/hr dry + $155/hr instruction, checked September 12, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$23,135
at the hours students actually take$39,805

+$16,670 on Apogee's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$34.2K – $45.4K
Aircraft rental$28,440
Instruction$8,990
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$37,430
72 hrs in Cirrus SR20 G7 @ $395/hr + 58 dual @ $155/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 Apogee Air'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 Apogee Air'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 Apogee publishes

checked September 12, 2026
Cirrus SR20 G7Dry. Plus 6% Michigan use tax.$395/hr dry
Cirrus SR22T (Turbo) G6Dry. High-performance turbo, not the primary trainer.$545/hr dry
Cirrus SF50 Vision JetDry. Single-engine jet; instruction is $225/hr. Instruction in this airplane $225/hr.$1,780/hr dry
Instructionstandard $155/hr$155 – $225/hr

Apogee publishes DRY rates: fuel is billed on top, and Apogee's own current fuel surcharge is $120/hr for the SR20, $170/hr for the SR22T and $600/hr for the SF50. A 6% Michigan use tax is charged on top as well. This estimate uses the published dry rates only and adds neither. Apogee also flies from Grand Rapids under the same rate card.

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. Apogee 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 →

Section 3Paying for it

Two ways to cover $39,805.

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 Michigan-only awards in the directory yet.
46
Money you pay backLenders that cover $39,805Four 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.
4 of 6
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Section 4Add to my plan

Turn this into a plan.

Your $39,805 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 Apogee'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. 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.

Section 6Questions

How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Apogee Air?
Apogee Air publishes $395 per hour for the Cirrus SR20 G7 and $155 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 12, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $39,805, in a range of $34,200 to $45,400. 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 Apogee Air.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Apogee Air?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Apogee Air 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 Apogee Air a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
Apogee Air 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 Apogee Air's aircraft rates include fuel?
Apogee Air publishes $395 per hour for the Cirrus SR20 G7, 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 12, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Apogee Air?
Apogee Air trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating and Commercial Pilot. Instruction runs $155 to $225 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 Apogee Air's own published rates.

Section 7Sources

Estimates use Apogee Air's published Cirrus SR20 G7 and instructor rates (checked September 12, 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 Apogee Air. 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 Apogee? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.

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