What flight training at AeroForge Flight Training costs
Hillsboro, OR · Checked October 17, 2026
Website forge.aero
Cost estimate
Estimate cost to reach
Flying
Two seats, Garmin G3X Touch, GTN 650Xi and autopilot. The school's one airplane.
PilotBound estimate · Private
Examiner dataCost of your Private at AeroForge Flight Training
range $13.9K – $18.4K · about 6 months at 2×/week
Priced on AeroForge's published rates: Van's RV-12iS at $159/hr + $40/hr instruction, checked October 17, 2026.
Against a minimums quote
+$6,128 on AeroForge'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 AeroForge Flight Training's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not AeroForge Flight Training'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 siteThe rate card
What AeroForge publishes
Checked October 17, 2026AeroForge gave its solo and ground rates to PilotBound directly on October 17, 2026: $159/hr for the RV-12iS solo, fuel included, and $50/hr for ground instruction. The $199/hr dual rate is on its site. Two lessons in the same week earn a 5% account credit and three or more earn 10%, about $179/hr dual for students who fly often.
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.
Discovery flight
$199
Checked October 17, 2026
About 30 minutes of briefing and about an hour of flight in the RV-12iS, from Hillsboro or Aurora.
Paying for it
Two ways to cover $16,143.
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 for50 open to anyone. Top awards reach $22,200.No Oregon-only awards in the directory yet.
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- Money you pay backLenders that cover $16,143All six lenders in our comparison lend this much. That is whether a loan this size is on offer, not whether you would be approved.
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Turn this into a plan.
Your $16,143 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.
In the app
Track it against AeroForge's rates.
AeroForge Flight Training's rate card is in the PilotBound app. Choose AeroForge when you set up and the app prices your training at its rates, then tracks every flight you log against the projection.
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What to ask
What to ask when you call
What turns an hourly rate into a real bill.
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 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.
Questions
How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at AeroForge Flight Training?
AeroForge Flight Training publishes $159 per hour for the Van's RV-12iS and $40 per hour for instruction on it, checked October 17, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $16,143, in a range of $13,900 to $18,400. 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 AeroForge Flight Training.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at AeroForge Flight Training?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at AeroForge Flight Training 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 AeroForge Flight Training a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
AeroForge Flight Training trains under Part 61, the flexible path. There is no FAA-approved syllabus to follow, so lessons can be scheduled around your life and adapted to your pace. The tradeoff is a slightly higher paper minimum for the private certificate (40 hours versus 35) and, for most students, no VA benefit eligibility.
Do AeroForge Flight Training's aircraft rates include fuel?
AeroForge Flight Training publishes $159 per hour for the Van's RV-12iS, 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 October 17, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at AeroForge Flight Training?
AeroForge Flight Training trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Flight Instructor and Instrument Instructor. Instruction is $40 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on AeroForge Flight Training's own published rates.
Sources
Estimates use AeroForge Flight Training's published Van's RV-12iS and instructor rates (checked October 17, 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 AeroForge Flight Training. 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 AeroForge? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.
2 other schools fly from Portland-Hillsboro Airport.
1 of them publishes at least one rate. HIO is the identifier to give when you ask.
- NW Wings AviationPublishes Cessna 152 at $135/hr, no instructor rateHillsboro
- TNG AviationPublishes no ratesHillsboro
Other Oregon flight schools.
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