PilotBound estimate · Reno, NV · Checked August 12, 2026
What flight training at Biggest Little Flight School costs
Website biggestlittleflightschool.com
Your plan
Estimate cost to reach
Flying
PilotBound estimate · Private
Examiner dataCost of your Private at Biggest Little Flight School
range $16K – $21.2K · about 6 months at 2×/week
Priced on Biggest Little's published rates: Cessna 172N at $169/hr + $70/hr instruction, checked August 12, 2026.
Against a minimums quote
+$7,228 on Biggest Little'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 Biggest Little Flight School's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Biggest Little Flight School'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 Biggest Little publishes
checked August 12, 2026Published rates are wet. Instruction is posted per instructor: $70/hr primary and $80/hr advanced, the same two figures for every instructor on staff, with the chief pilot at a flat $80/hr. The site does not define where primary ends and advanced begins, so this estimate applies the advanced rate to everything past the Private. The advanced/complex line uses the Piper Arrow, the one retractable; the school also badges one $175 Cessna 172 as TAA-qualified, which can serve the commercial's ten complex-or-TAA hours for less. A PFC12 AATD simulator is published at $85/hr and is not part of this estimate. Multi-engine training is referred to Sierra Flight Training, a separate business at the same airport, so no multi-engine estimate is offered here even though the two Twin Comanches carry published rates.
Not published: the examiner's checkride fee. Listed as missing rather than guessed.
Step 2
Turn this into a plan.
Your $18,603 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 Biggest Little'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 Biggest Little Flight School's published Cessna 172N and instructor rates (checked August 12, 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 Biggest Little Flight School. 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 Biggest Little Flight School
- How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Biggest Little Flight School?
- Biggest Little Flight School publishes $169 per hour for the Cessna 172N and $70 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 12, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $18,603, in a range of $16,000 to $21,200. 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 Biggest Little Flight School.
- How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Biggest Little Flight School?
- Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Biggest Little Flight School 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 Biggest Little Flight School a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
- Biggest Little Flight School 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 Biggest Little Flight School's aircraft rates include fuel?
- Biggest Little Flight School publishes $169 per hour for the Cessna 172N, 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 12, 2026.
- What ratings can you train for at Biggest Little Flight School?
- Biggest Little Flight School trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor. Instruction runs $70 to $80 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 Biggest Little Flight School's own published rates.
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