Flight training at Captain Drake's Family Aerial Adventures

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

   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.

4. 4

   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.

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

   Do you train toward a Private Pilot certificate, or only Sport Pilot and ultralight?Missing from their site

   The site describes itself as a sport pilot and ultralight training experience and also mentions primary flight instruction in airplanes, and those are different certificates with different costs.

7. 7

   What does the aircraft cost per hour and what does the instructor cost?Missing from their site

   Seventeen pages were read, including a payment-options page, and none carries an hourly figure.

8. 8

   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.

9. 9

   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.

10. 10

    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 Captain Drake's'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. Captain Drake's is not in it.

What we checked

A sport pilot, ultralight, gyroplane and light-sport operation on the Illinois Valley airfield near the California line, listing itself as a flight school and pilot testing centre. AOPA credits it with Sport Pilot, Private Pilot, CFI and CFIS. Which of those a student can actually complete here is the first thing to establish.