PilotBound estimate · Latham (Albany), NY · Checked September 12, 2026
What flight training at Vasi Aviation costs
Website vasi.co
Phone (518) 633-1155
Section 1Cost estimate
Your plan
Estimate cost to reach
Flying
215 HP, the school's only aircraft. Dry: the school suggests budgeting about $80/hr of fuel and oil on top.
Shown at Vasi Aviation's published dry rate. Fuel is billed separately and is not included in this estimate.
PilotBound estimate · Private
Examiner dataCost of your Private at Vasi Aviation
range $32.6K – $43.2K · about 6 months at 2×/week
Priced on Vasi's published rates: Cirrus SR-20 G7 / G7+ at $380/hr dry + $140/hr instruction, checked September 12, 2026.
Against a minimums quote
+$15,800 on Vasi'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 Vasi Aviation's published rates (dry; fuel billed separately). About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Vasi 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 Vasi publishes
checked September 12, 2026Vasi publishes a DRY rate: fuel and oil are billed on top at actual cost, and the school itself says to plan for about $80/hr on top of the $380 aircraft rate. It is a Cirrus-only operation, so this is a premium single-type fleet rather than a Cessna trainer line. Instruction is tiered by instructor qualification: $140/hr TCI and $160/hr CSIP (Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilot); this estimate uses the TCI rate. A RealSimGear SR7x simulator is $125/hr and must be booked with a qualified instructor.
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. Vasi does not state whether it trains under Part 61 or Part 141, so the estimate above is built on Part 61 hours.
Section 3Discovery flight
$550
Checked September 14, 2026
In a Cirrus SR20, with a 30-minute ground briefing.
Section 4Paying for it
Two ways to cover $37,855.
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 $37,855Four 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.
- 4 of 6
Section 5Add to my plan
Turn this into a plan.
Your $37,855 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 6What to ask
What to ask when you call
The marked one is what Vasi's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.
Your published rates are dry. Roughly what does fuel add per hour on the trainer?
The published figures leave fuel out, so they understate the real hourly cost until you add it.
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.
Does the instructor rate change for the Instrument, Commercial, or CFI, or is it flat across everything?
Plenty of schools charge more for advanced instruction. A flat rate quoted for the Private can climb later.
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 7Questions
- How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Vasi Aviation?
- Vasi Aviation publishes $380 per hour for the Cirrus SR-20 G7 / G7+ and $140 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 12, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $37,855, in a range of $32,600 to $43,200. 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 Vasi Aviation.
- How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Vasi Aviation?
- Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Vasi 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 Vasi Aviation a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
- Vasi 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 Vasi Aviation's aircraft rates include fuel?
- Vasi Aviation publishes $380 per hour for the Cirrus SR-20 G7 / G7+, a dry rate, so fuel is billed separately on top. Fuel typically adds roughly $30 to $60 per hour, so compare a dry rate against a wet one carefully. PilotBound's estimate uses the published dry rate exactly as listed and does not add a guessed fuel figure. Rates checked September 12, 2026.
- What ratings can you train for at Vasi Aviation?
- Vasi Aviation trains Private Pilot. Instruction is $140 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Vasi Aviation's own published rates.
Section 8Sources
Estimates use Vasi Aviation's published Cirrus SR-20 G7 / G7+ and instructor rates (checked September 12, 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 Vasi 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 Vasi? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.
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.