PilotBound estimate · Bozeman & Billings, MT · Checked September 8, 2026
What flight training at Ridgeline Aviation costs
Website flyridgelinemt.com
Section 1Cost estimate
Your plan
Estimate cost to reach
Flying
PilotBound estimate · Private
Examiner dataCost of your Private at Ridgeline Aviation
range $17.7K – $23.4K · about 6 months at 2×/week
Priced on Ridgeline's published rates: Cessna 172M at $184/hr + $85/hr instruction, checked September 8, 2026.
Against a minimums quote
+$8,098 on Ridgeline'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 Ridgeline Aviation's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Ridgeline 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 →
Put this calculator on your siteSection 2The rate card
What Ridgeline publishes
checked September 8, 2026Bozeman (KBZN)
Billings (KBIL)
Airframes built 1975 to 1979. Years of manufacture from the FAA aircraft registry, read September 16, 2026.
Instructor rates vary by base: primary instruction is $85/hr at Bozeman and $72/hr at Billings (advanced $100/$85). This estimate uses the Bozeman rates.
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. Ridgeline does not state whether it trains under Part 61 or Part 141, so the estimate above is built on Part 61 hours.
Section 3Paying for it
Two ways to cover $20,553.
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 1 in Montana. Top awards reach $22,200.
- Montana Aviation Scholarship Program$500 – $4,000 · Check dates
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- Money you pay backLenders that cover $20,553Five 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.
- 5 of 6
Section 4Add to my plan
Turn this into a plan.
Your $20,553 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 5What to ask
What to ask when you call
The marked one is what Ridgeline'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.
Section 6Questions
- How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Ridgeline Aviation?
- Ridgeline Aviation publishes $184 per hour for the Cessna 172M and $85 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 8, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $20,553, in a range of $17,700 to $23,400. 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 Ridgeline Aviation.
- How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Ridgeline Aviation?
- Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Ridgeline 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 Ridgeline Aviation a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
- Ridgeline 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 Ridgeline Aviation's aircraft rates include fuel?
- Ridgeline Aviation publishes $184 per hour for the Cessna 172M, 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 8, 2026.
- What ratings can you train for at Ridgeline Aviation?
- Ridgeline Aviation trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Multi-Engine (AMEL), Flight Instructor, Instrument Instructor and Multi-Engine Instructor. Instruction runs $85 to $100 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 Ridgeline Aviation's own published rates.
Section 7Sources
Estimates use Ridgeline Aviation's published Cessna 172M and instructor rates (checked September 8, 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 Ridgeline 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.
Are you Ridgeline? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.
3 other schools fly from Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport.
1 of them publishes at least one rate. BZN is the identifier to give when you ask.
- Northern Wings AviationPublishes no ratesBozeman
- Paragon Air AdventuresPublishes a $120/hr instructor rate, no aircraft rateBelgrade
- Summit AviationPublishes no ratesBelgrade
Other Montana flight schools
- A-Tec Aircraft Maintenance Center · Hamilton
- Angle of Attack AEROnautics · Anaconda
- Backcountry Flying Experience · Bigfork
- Bitterroot Aviation · Stevensville
- Blue Goose Aviation · Polson
- Bridger Aviation Services · Three Forks
- Butte Aviation · Butte
- Cloud Catcher Aviation · Great Falls
- Dillon Flying Service · Dillon
Plan the money before you commit
A program price only makes sense next to what each rating costs on its own, what free money exists, and what borrowing actually looks like.
What each rating costs
Honest per-rating ranges, with the fees most quotes leave out.
Free money first
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If you borrow
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