Flight training at Weltzien Skypark

Flight instruction: $40/hr

Skypark publishes a full instructor rate card and no aircraft rate at all, which is the reverse of almost every other partial listing here. Instruction is $40/hr basic, described as the standard CFI rate recommended for initial training, $45/hr advanced for instrument and CFII work, and $50/hr for multi-engine. The site's own "Rental Rates" navigation link leads to a page that returns 404, so there is no fleet pricing to read. It is a privately owned public-use airport that also sells fuel, hangars and lodging.

1. 1

   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.

2. 2

   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.

3. 3

   What do your aeroplanes rent for per hour? The Rental Rates page on your site is broken.Missing from their site

   The nav link is there in the header and it 404s, so the fleet pricing is either gone or moved. Instruction is already published.

4. 4

   Which aeroplane would I train in, and do you have a twin on the field for the multi?

   A $50/hr multi-engine instruction rate is published, which implies multi training happens here, but no aircraft is named anywhere.

5. 5

   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.

6. 6

   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.

7. 7

   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 Skypark'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. Skypark is not in it.

What we checked

A privately owned, public-use airport thirty-five miles south of Cleveland that trains, sells fuel, rents hangars and hosts EAA Chapter 846. It publishes three instructor tiers and no aircraft rate, and its own Rental Rates link is broken. The $10 figure on the site is a per-day lodging fee, not training.