Flight training at Sandhills Aero

1. 1

   What do you charge per hour for flight instruction, and is ground instruction billed at the same rate?Missing from their site

   This is the number that is missing from the site. Ground is often billed separately and at a different rate.

2. 2

   Does the instructor rate change for the Instrument, Commercial, or CFI, or is it flat across everything?Missing from their site

   Plenty of schools charge more for advanced instruction. A flat rate quoted for the Private can climb later.

3. 3

   What is the hourly rate on your cheapest trainer, and which airplane is that?Missing from their site

   This is the number that is missing from the site, and it is the largest line on your bill.

4. 4

   Is that rate wet or dry, meaning does it include fuel?Missing from their site

   A dry rate and a wet rate are not comparable. Dry rates can run $40 to $60 an hour lower for the same airplane.

5. 5

   What do you charge per hour for the airplane and for instruction?Missing from their site

   Nothing is published anywhere, so the whole budget starts with this call.

6. 6

   Is there an instructor based at Valentine, or does one fly in?Missing from their site

   This is the most remote school in the state. If the instructor travels, your schedule is theirs, and that matters more than the hourly rate.

7. 7

   Can I do all my training here, or will I need to go to Lincoln or Omaha for parts of it?

   Knowing that before you start is the difference between a plan and a surprise, given the distances involved.

8. 8

   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.

9. 9

   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.

10. 10

    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.

What to compare their answer against

Not Sandhills Aero's rates. Nebraska has too few published rate cards for a state median, so this is all 271 schools we track, to hold your phone quote against.

From the schools here that publish full rate cards, the same sample behind the Flight Training Cost Report. Sandhills Aero is not in it.

What we checked

No website. AOPA's Flight School Finder records a Part 61 operation at Miller Field, Valentine, offering intro flights with single-engine rental. This is the most isolated school in the directory: the nearest alternatives are hours away, which is exactly why a page with a phone number is worth more here than anywhere else.