PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · McMinnville, OR · Checked August 17, 2026

What flight training at Trimble Aviation costs

Website trimbleaviation.com

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

Solo rate. Dual is $217, which is this plus the $47 instruction rate. Fuel surcharge $12/hr on top.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Trimble Aviation

$17,341

range $14.9K – $19.8K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Trimble's published rates: Cessna 172 at $170/hr + $47/hr instruction, checked August 17, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$10,679
at the hours students actually take$17,341

+$6,662 on Trimble's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$14.9K – $19.8K
Aircraft rental$12,240
Instruction$2,726
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$14,966
72 hrs in Cessna 172 @ $170/hr + 58 dual @ $47/hr

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
Hours at a steady pace72 hrs

Examiner records (DPE dataset).

The hourly flying is priced on Trimble Aviation's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Trimble Aviation'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 →

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Section 2The rate card

What Trimble publishes

checked August 17, 2026
Cessna 172Solo rate. Dual is $217, which is this plus the $47 instruction rate. Fuel surcharge $12/hr on top.$170/hr wet
Cessna 140Tailwheel, and dual only: the sheet quotes $217 dual and no solo rate, so the aircraft figure here is that $217 less the $47 instruction rate.$170/hr wet
Piper Aztec PA-23-250Twin, dual only: $530 dual less the $67 multi-engine instruction rate. Fuel surcharge $36/hr on top.$463/hr wet
Instructionstandard $47/hr · multi-engine instruction $67/hr$47 – $67/hr

This estimate uses Trimble's published aircraft and instruction rates, dated May 15, 2026. It does not include the surcharges Trimble itemises separately on every invoice: a fuel surcharge of $12/hr on the Cessna and $36/hr on the Aztec, a $17/hr admin fee, and $10/hr each on instructor and aircraft for Sunday or night flying. Instruction with Jerry Trimble is $83/hr rather than $47.

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. Trimble does not state whether it trains under Part 61 or Part 141, so the estimate above is built on Part 61 hours.

See the published rates →Source 2 →

Section 3Paying for it

Two ways to cover $17,341.

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 for46 open to anyone. Top awards reach $22,200.No Oregon-only awards in the directory yet.
46
Money you pay backLenders that cover $17,341All six lenders in our comparison lend this much. That is whether a loan this size is on offer, not whether you would be approved.
6 of 6
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Section 4Add to my plan

Turn this into a plan.

Your $17,341 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.

Add to my plan

Section 5What to ask

What to ask when you call

The marked one is what Trimble's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.

  1. 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.

  2. Which instructor rate applies to each rating I plan to do, and does the higher tier start on day one of that rating?

    This school prices some instruction above its primary rate. Knowing when the step-up starts keeps the later ratings from surprising you.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

Section 6Questions

How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Trimble Aviation?
Trimble Aviation publishes $170 per hour for the Cessna 172 and $47 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 17, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $17,341, in a range of $14,900 to $19,800. 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 Trimble Aviation.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Trimble Aviation?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Trimble Aviation 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 Trimble Aviation a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
Trimble Aviation does not state on its own website whether it trains under Part 61 or Part 141, so we do not list one. It is worth asking directly before you enroll: Part 141 follows an FAA-approved syllabus and is generally what VA benefits require, while Part 61 is more flexible on scheduling.
Do Trimble Aviation's aircraft rates include fuel?
Trimble Aviation publishes $170 per hour for the Cessna 172, 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 August 17, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Trimble Aviation?
Trimble Aviation trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Multi-Engine (AMEL), Flight Instructor and Instrument Instructor. Instruction runs $47 to $67 per hour depending on the rating and the aircraft, since advanced and type-specific instruction is priced above the standard rate. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Trimble Aviation's own published rates.

Section 7Sources

Estimates use Trimble Aviation's published Cessna 172 and instructor rates (checked August 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 Trimble Aviation. 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 Trimble? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.

Send your training part

One other school flies from McMinnville Municipal Airport.

It does not publish a rate either, so that one is a phone call too. MMV is the identifier to give when you ask.

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