PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · Eden Prairie, MN · Checked September 12, 2026

What flight training at AV8 Flight School costs

Website av8flight.com

Phone 952-944-2628

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

Wet. 180 HP, four seats.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at AV8 Flight School

$23,075

range $19.8K – $26.3K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on AV8's published rates: Piper Archer at $215/hr + $90/hr instruction, checked September 12, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$13,855
at the hours students actually take$23,075

+$9,220 on AV8's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$19.8K – $26.3K
Aircraft rental$15,480
Instruction$5,220
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$20,700
72 hrs in Piper Archer @ $215/hr + 58 dual @ $90/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 AV8 Flight School's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not AV8 Flight School'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 AV8 publishes

checked September 12, 2026
Piper Archer (G1000)Wet. 180 HP, four seats.$215/hr wet
CitabriaWet. Tailwheel endorsement aircraft.$228/hr wet
Diamond DA-42 (N16FA, N638AK)2006Wet. Twin, G1000 with KAP 140 autopilot.$431/hr wet
Diamond DA-42 (N230PA)2023Wet. Twin, G1000 with GFC 700 autopilot.$451/hr wet
Instruction$90/hr

Airframes built 2006 to 2023. Years of manufacture from the FAA aircraft registry, read September 16, 2026.

Rates are wet and include fuel. They exclude instruction, taxes and MAC fees, which the Metropolitan Airports Commission charges at Flying Cloud and which AV8 does not quantify. AV8 states that it charges no membership fee of any kind. Simulators are $60/hr for the FMX and $49/hr for the crosswind trainer. Instruction in a customer's own aircraft is $100/hr.

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. AV8 trains under both parts, and the estimate above is built on Part 61 hours.

See the published rates →

Section 3Discovery flight

$305

Checked September 14, 2026

One hour in an airplane, with tax and MAC fees on top. A helicopter discovery flight is $480.

See it on their siteCall 952-944-2628

Discovery flight prices in Minnesota

Section 4Paying for it

Two ways to cover $23,075.

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, plus 2 in Minnesota. Top awards reach $22,200.
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Money you pay backLenders that cover $23,075Five 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.
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Section 5Add to my plan

Turn this into a plan.

Your $23,075 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 6What 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. 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.

  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 7Questions

How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at AV8 Flight School?
AV8 Flight School publishes $215 per hour for the Piper Archer and $90 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 12, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $23,075, in a range of $19,800 to $26,300. 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 AV8 Flight School.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at AV8 Flight School?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at AV8 Flight School 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 AV8 Flight School a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
AV8 Flight School 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 AV8 Flight School's aircraft rates include fuel?
AV8 Flight School publishes $215 per hour for the Piper Archer, 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 12, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at AV8 Flight School?
AV8 Flight School trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot and Multi-Engine (AMEL). Instruction is $90 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on AV8 Flight School's own published rates.

Section 8Sources

Estimates use AV8 Flight School's published Piper Archer 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 AV8 Flight School. 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 AV8? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.

2 other schools fly from Flying Cloud Airport.

1 of them publishes at least one rate. FCM is the identifier to give when you ask.

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