How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Great Planes Aviation?

Great Planes Aviation publishes $166 per hour for the Piper Warrior II and $90 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 14, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $19,547, in a range of $16,800 to $22,300. 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 Great Planes Aviation.

How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Great Planes Aviation?

Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Great Planes 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 Great Planes Aviation a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?

Great Planes Aviation 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 Great Planes Aviation's aircraft rates include fuel?

Great Planes Aviation publishes $166 per hour for the Piper Warrior II, 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 August 14, 2026.

What ratings can you train for at Great Planes Aviation?

Great Planes Aviation 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 Great Planes Aviation's own published rates.

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PilotBound estimate · Rochester, MN · Checked August 14, 2026

What flight training at Great Planes Aviation costs

Website flygreatplanes.com

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Flying

Which airplane?

Wet. VFR only.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Great Planes Aviation

$19,547

range $16.8K – $22.3K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Great Planes's published rates: Piper Warrior II at $166/hr + $90/hr instruction, checked August 14, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$11,895

at the hours students actually take$19,547

+$7,652 on Great Planes's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$16.8K – $22.3K

Aircraft rental$11,952

Instruction$5,220

One-time costs$2,375

Aircraft + instruction$17,172

72 hrs in Piper Warrior II @ $166/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 Great Planes Aviation's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Great Planes 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 Great Planes publishes

checked August 14, 2026

Piper Warrior II (N2091M, VFR)Wet. VFR only.$166/hr wet

Piper Warrior II (N2836N)Wet. Garmin GTN 650.$166/hr wet

Piper Archer III (N2877B)Wet. Garmin G5 and G430W.$177/hr wet

Piper Archer III TAA (N50637)Wet. Garmin G600 and GTN 750, so this would cover the Commercial's TAA time.$228/hr wet

Piper Seminole Turbo (N466RB)Wet. The multi-engine trainer, Garmin GTN 750.$405/hr wet

Instruction$90/hr

Great Planes' rate sheet is stamped effective September 16, 2024, so confirm it is current before budgeting. Instruction of six to twelve hours in a day is billed at a $700 day rate rather than hourly, and instructor lodging, meals and transport are invoiced separately. A 4% discount applies to cash, cheque or on-account payment; the school no longer accepts credit cards for account deposits. Instruction in an aeroplane that is not the school's is $100/hr. A separate AeroClub membership prices Cirrus time and is not modelled here.

Not published: the examiner's checkride fee. Listed as missing rather than guessed.

See the published rates→Source 2→

Step 2

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Your $19,547 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 one is what Great Planes's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Great Planes Aviation's published Piper Warrior II and instructor rates (checked August 14, 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 Great Planes 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 Great Planes Aviation

How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Great Planes Aviation?: Great Planes Aviation publishes $166 per hour for the Piper Warrior II and $90 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 14, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $19,547, in a range of $16,800 to $22,300. 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 Great Planes Aviation.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Great Planes Aviation?: Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Great Planes 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 Great Planes Aviation a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?: Great Planes Aviation 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 Great Planes Aviation's aircraft rates include fuel?: Great Planes Aviation publishes $166 per hour for the Piper Warrior II, 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 August 14, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Great Planes Aviation?: Great Planes Aviation 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 Great Planes Aviation's own published rates.

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