PilotBound estimate · Blaine, MN · Checked September 16, 2026
What flight training at Twin Cities Flight Training costs
Website twincitiesflight.com
Phone (763) 780-4375
Section 1Cost estimate
Your plan
Estimate cost to reach
Flying
Two-seat, lowest-cost way to start.
Shown at Twin Cities Flight Training's published dry rate. Fuel is billed separately and is not included in this estimate.
PilotBound estimate · Private
Examiner dataCost of your Private at Twin Cities Flight Training
range $12.3K – $16.3K · about 6 months at 2×/week
Priced on Twin Cities Flight's published rates: Cessna 150L at $85/hr dry + $100/hr instruction, checked September 16, 2026.
Against a minimums quote
+$5,320 on Twin Cities Flight'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 Twin Cities Flight Training'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 Twin Cities Flight Training'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 →
Put this calculator on your siteSection 2The rate card
What Twin Cities Flight publishes
checked September 16, 2026Airframes built 1971 to 2004. Years of manufacture from the FAA aircraft registry, read September 16, 2026.
This estimate uses Twin Cities Flight Training's published dry rates. It does not include fuel or the 2% MAC (Metropolitan Airports Commission) fee, which are billed separately per their website.
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.
Section 3Discovery flight
$234.99
Checked September 16, 2026
Section 4Paying for it
Two ways to cover $14,295.
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.
- Minnesota Pilots Association Aviation Scholarships$3,000 · Open · closes in 197 days
- MNYAF Private Pilot Certificate Program ScholarshipAmount varies · Southern Minnesota · Check dates
- 48
- Money you pay backLenders that cover $14,295All six lenders in our comparison lend this much. That is whether a loan this size is on offer, not whether you would be approved.
- 6 of 6
Section 5Add to my plan
Turn this into a plan.
Your $14,295 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.
Add to my planSection 6What to ask
What to ask when you call
What turns an hourly rate into a real bill.
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.
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 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.
Section 7Questions
- How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Twin Cities Flight Training?
- Twin Cities Flight Training publishes $85 per hour for the Cessna 150L and $100 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 16, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $14,295, in a range of $12,300 to $16,300. 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 Twin Cities Flight Training.
- How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Twin Cities Flight Training?
- Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Twin Cities Flight Training 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 Twin Cities Flight Training a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
- Twin Cities Flight Training trains under Part 61, the flexible path. There is no FAA-approved syllabus to follow, so lessons can be scheduled around your life and adapted to your pace. The tradeoff is a slightly higher paper minimum for the private certificate (40 hours versus 35) and, for most students, no VA benefit eligibility.
- Do Twin Cities Flight Training's aircraft rates include fuel?
- Twin Cities Flight Training publishes $85 per hour for the Cessna 150L, 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 16, 2026.
- What ratings can you train for at Twin Cities Flight Training?
- Twin Cities Flight Training trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor. Instruction is $100 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Twin Cities Flight Training's own published rates.
Section 8Sources
Estimates use Twin Cities Flight Training's published Cessna 150L and instructor rates (checked September 16, 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 Twin Cities Flight Training. 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 Twin Cities Flight? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.
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