PilotBound estimate · Farmingdale, NY · Checked September 10, 2026
What flight training at Long Island Aviators costs
Website longislandaviators.com
Section 1Cost estimate
Your plan
Estimate cost to reach
Flying
Two-seat. Lowest-cost way to start the Private.
PilotBound estimate · Private
Examiner dataCost of your Private at Long Island Aviators
range $15.6K – $20.7K · about 6 months at 2×/week
Priced on LI Aviators's published rates: Cessna 152 at $155/hr + $80/hr instruction, checked September 10, 2026.
Against a minimums quote
+$7,040 on LI Aviators'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 Long Island Aviators's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Long Island Aviators'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 LI Aviators publishes
checked September 10, 2026The 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. LI Aviators 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 $18,175.
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. Top awards reach $22,200.No New York-only awards in the directory yet.
- 46
- Money you pay backLenders that cover $18,175All 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 4Add to my plan
Turn this into a plan.
Your $18,175 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 LI Aviators's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.
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 Long Island Aviators?
- Long Island Aviators publishes $155 per hour for the Cessna 152 and $80 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 10, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $18,175, in a range of $15,600 to $20,700. 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 Long Island Aviators.
- How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Long Island Aviators?
- Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Long Island Aviators 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 Long Island Aviators a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
- Long Island Aviators 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 Long Island Aviators's aircraft rates include fuel?
- Long Island Aviators publishes $155 per hour for the Cessna 152, 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 10, 2026.
- What ratings can you train for at Long Island Aviators?
- Long Island Aviators trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Multi-Engine (AMEL) and Flight Instructor. Instruction runs $80 to $90 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 Long Island Aviators's own published rates.
Section 7Sources
Estimates use Long Island Aviators's published Cessna 152 and instructor rates (checked September 10, 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 Long Island Aviators. 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 LI Aviators? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.
6 other schools fly from Republic Airport.
1 of them publishes at least one rate. FRG is the identifier to give when you ask.
- Global Aviation CenterFull rate card, Piper Warrior III at $192/hr and $89/hr instructionFarmingdale
- Farmingdale AviationPublishes no ratesFarmingdale
- Icarus Flying AcademyPublishes no ratesFarmingdale
- Nassau FlyersPublishes no ratesFarmingdale
- O'Toole AirwaysPublishes no ratesFarmingdale
- Tasco AviationPublishes no ratesFarmingdale
Other New York flight schools
- 7:47 Aviation · Cortland
- Adirondack Flying Service · Lake Placid
- Aero Techniques · Johnson City
- Airborne Elite · Farmingdale
- American Airman Flying School · Ronkonkoma
- Aviator.NYC · New York
- Bauer Flight Instruction · Lake View
- Bird's Eye View Aviation Services · Jamestown
- Centric Aviation · Jamestown
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
Verified flight training scholarships. Every scholarship dollar is a dollar you never finance.
If you borrow
Compare lenders and see the real monthly payment before you sign.