Flight training at Bluffton Flying Service

One aeroplane, one rate, and the site does not say whether fuel is included. The rate is presented as a RENTAL offer aimed at people who already fly, so confirm it is also the training rate.

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

   Do the published aircraft rates include fuel, or is fuel billed separately?

   The site does not say, and it is the difference between two rates that look identical and are not.

4. 4

   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.

5. 5

   Which certificates and ratings do you train all the way through, and where would I have to go elsewhere?Missing from their site

   This is the difference between one school for your whole path and switching partway.

6. 6

   What does an instructor cost per hour, and which certificates do you train for?Missing from their site

   The site publishes one aircraft rate and names no certificates, so both halves of a budget are missing.

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 Bluffton's rates. The middle of what 9 Ohio 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. Bluffton is not in it.

What we checked

Fourteen pages were read on August 7, 2026 and the only figure on the site is $165/hr for a Cessna 172M, phrased as an offer to pilots who "might enjoy our rentals" rather than as a training rate.