Flight training at Aero Flight

Flight instruction: $60/hr

1. 1

   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.

2. 2

   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.

3. 3

   Can I earn a Private Pilot certificate with you, and is the Champ the aeroplane I would fly for it?Missing from their site

   The site lists "New Ratings to Flight Reviews to FAA Wings Levels to proficiency training" without naming a certificate, and the only aeroplane it has is a tailwheel Champ.

4. 4

   Does the 210 lb student weight limit rule me out?

   The Champ's page states it as a hard limit, and it is the only aeroplane.

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 Aero Flight's rates. The middle of what 8 Oregon 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. Aero Flight is not in it.

What we checked

This one publishes BOTH halves of a rate card and is still not listable, because what is missing is what the price buys. One aeroplane, an Aeronca Champ on a tailwheel, one instructor, and no certificate named anywhere on a single-page site. A tailwheel Champ is a legal primary trainer and an unusual one, so the question is worth asking rather than assumed either way. Same shape as Hendrickson in Montana.