PilotBound estimate · Little Falls, MN · Checked August 14, 2026
What flight training at Lakes Area Aviation costs
Website lakesareaaviation.com
Your plan
Estimate cost to reach
Flying
Wet. Two-seat trainer. $115/hr on the prepay tier.
PilotBound estimate · Private
Examiner dataCost of your Private at Lakes Area Aviation
range $12.8K – $16.9K · about 6 months at 2×/week
Priced on Lakes Area's published rates: Cessna 150 "Elliot" at $125/hr + $60/hr instruction, checked August 14, 2026.
Against a minimums quote
+$5,560 on Lakes Area's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.
Where it goes
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
Examiner records (DPE dataset).
The hourly flying is priced on Lakes Area Aviation's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Lakes Area 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 Lakes Area publishes
checked August 14, 2026All rates are wet and include fuel and insurance, with state tax charged on top. The prepay column applies automatically once a student or renter holds $500 or more on account; the figures here are the regular rates. Instruction in an aeroplane that is not the school's is $70/hr, which is not the rate used here. Lakes Area also trains helicopters and has a second base at Platte Valley Airpark in Colorado.
Not published: the examiner's checkride fee. Listed as missing rather than guessed.
Step 2
Turn this into a plan.
Your $14,855 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.
Add to my planWhat to ask when you call
The marked one is what Lakes Area'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.
Which instructor rate applies to each rating I plan to do, and does the higher tier start on day one of that rating?
This school prices some instruction above its primary rate. Knowing when the step-up starts keeps the later ratings from surprising you.
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 Lakes Area Aviation's published Cessna 150 "Elliot" 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 Lakes Area 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 Lakes Area Aviation
- How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Lakes Area Aviation?
- Lakes Area Aviation publishes $125 per hour for the Cessna 150 "Elliot" and $60 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 14, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $14,855, in a range of $12,800 to $16,900. 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 Lakes Area Aviation.
- How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Lakes Area Aviation?
- Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Lakes Area 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 Lakes Area Aviation a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
- Lakes Area 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 Lakes Area Aviation's aircraft rates include fuel?
- Lakes Area Aviation publishes $125 per hour for the Cessna 150 "Elliot", 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 Lakes Area Aviation?
- Lakes Area Aviation trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot and Multi-Engine (AMEL). Instruction runs $60 to $75 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 Lakes Area Aviation's own published rates.
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