PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · Sanford, NC · Checked September 16, 2026

What flight training at Elite Aircraft Services costs

Website flyeliteaircraft.com

Phone 919-576-0174

Conveniently located near

  • Raleigh-Durham

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Elite Aircraft Services

$36,693

range $31.6K – $41.8K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Elite Aircraft's published rates: Cirrus SR20 at $384/hr + $115/hr instruction, checked September 16, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$21,415
at the hours students actually take$36,693

+$15,278 on Elite Aircraft's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$31.6K – $41.8K
Aircraft rental$27,648
Instruction$6,670
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$34,318
72 hrs in Cirrus SR20 @ $384/hr + 58 dual @ $115/hr

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
Hours at a steady pace72 hrs

Examiner records (DPE dataset).

The hourly flying is priced on Elite Aircraft Services's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Elite Aircraft Services'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 →

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Section 2The rate card

What Elite Aircraft publishes

checked September 16, 2026
Cirrus SR20 (G3)$384/hr wet
Cirrus SR20 (G6)$434/hr wet
Cirrus SR20 (G7)$459/hr wet
Cirrus SR22 (G7)High performance.$606/hr wet
Instruction$115/hr

Every aircraft here is a Cirrus and every rate is wet. There is no cheap trainer: the SR20 is the entry point and the SR22s are half as much again. Instruction is $115/hr, and Elite teaches the Cirrus Approach curriculum. It also flies from Raleigh-Durham in North Carolina and from two Charleston airports in South Carolina, which are not modeled here.

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. Elite Aircraft does not state whether it trains under Part 61 or Part 141, so the estimate above is built on Part 61 hours.

See the published rates →Source 2 →

Section 3Paying for it

Two ways to cover $36,693.

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, plus 1 in North Carolina. Top awards reach $22,200.
47
Money you pay backLenders that cover $36,693Four 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
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Section 4Add to my plan

Turn this into a plan.

Your $36,693 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.

Add to my plan

Section 5What to ask

What to ask when you call

The marked one is what Elite Aircraft's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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 Elite Aircraft Services?
Elite Aircraft Services publishes $384 per hour for the Cirrus SR20 and $115 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 16, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $36,693, in a range of $31,600 to $41,800. 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 Elite Aircraft Services.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Elite Aircraft Services?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Elite Aircraft Services 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 Elite Aircraft Services a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
Elite Aircraft Services 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 Elite Aircraft Services's aircraft rates include fuel?
Elite Aircraft Services publishes $384 per hour for the Cirrus SR20, 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 16, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Elite Aircraft Services?
Elite Aircraft Services trains Private Pilot and Instrument Rating. Instruction is $115 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Elite Aircraft Services's own published rates.

Section 7Sources

Estimates use Elite Aircraft Services's published Cirrus SR20 and instructor rates (checked September 16, 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 Elite Aircraft Services. 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 Elite Aircraft? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.

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