Flight training at Pitcairn Aviation

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

   Which certificates do you train, and what does it cost?Missing from their site

   AOPA lists no certificates for this business and its website field points at the airport's own site, misspelled.

7. 7

   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.

8. 8

   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.

9. 9

   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 Pitcairn Aviation's rates. The middle of what 16 Pennsylvania 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. Pitcairn Aviation is not in it.

What we checked

Listed WITHOUT a website. AOPA's record points at HeritgeField.org, the airport's own domain with a typo in it, and lists no certificates for the business at all. One of two Pitcairn-named operators at Heritage Field; the other has its own site. Whether they are one business is worth asking. Checked August 17, 2026.