Flight training at Desert Dogs Aviation

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 does each airplane rent for per hour, and what does instruction cost?Missing from their site

   There is no website to read, so every figure has to come from this call.

6. 6

   Is there a website or a rate sheet you can email me?Missing from their site

   The address AOPA lists is a Google business.site page, and Google retired that product, so the link is dead. A current page or PDF would let you compare before committing.

7. 7

   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.

8. 8

   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.

9. 9

   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 Desert Dogs's rates. The middle of what 11 Nevada schools charge, to hold your phone quote against.

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

What we checked

No working website. The address in AOPA's record is a Google business.site page, and Google retired that service, so it now returns a Google 404; the desertdogsaviation.com domain that search engines still surface does not resolve at all. That is a fact about their web presence and not about their prices, which are simply unknown. AOPA's business-confirmed record tags them Part 61 and lists private pilot, instrument and commercial training plus flight reviews and intro flights. They share a building with two other KVGT schools at 2722 Perimeter Road.