PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · Philadelphia, PA · Checked August 17, 2026

What flight training at Tailwinds Academy of Aviation costs

Website tailwindsacademy.org

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

Two-seat.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Tailwinds Academy of Aviation

$19,475

range $16.7K – $22.2K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Tailwinds's published rates: Cessna 150L at $165/hr + $90/hr instruction, checked August 17, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$11,855
at the hours students actually take$19,475

+$7,620 on Tailwinds's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$16.7K – $22.2K
Aircraft rental$11,880
Instruction$5,220
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$17,100
72 hrs in Cessna 150L @ $165/hr + 58 dual @ $90/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 Tailwinds Academy of Aviation's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Tailwinds Academy of 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 Tailwinds publishes

checked August 17, 2026
Cessna 150L (N861TW)Two-seat.$165/hr wet
Cessna 172N (N862TW)1978$225/hr wet
Cessna 172N (N733PN)1976$235/hr wet
Cessna 172N (N20105)$235/hr wet
Instruction$90/hr

Airframes built 1976 to 1978. Years of manufacture from the FAA aircraft registry, read September 16, 2026.

Tailwinds' rates are wet and billed in tenths of an hour. Its instructor is paid for classroom, simulator and flight time alike at one rate. A one-G Foundation 1000 simulator is $86/hr. The school notes that renters need their own insurance, around $300, for solo flights.

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.

See the published rates →Source 2 →

Section 3Paying for it

Two ways to cover $19,475.

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 Pennsylvania-only awards in the directory yet.
46
Money you pay backLenders that cover $19,475All 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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Section 4Add to my plan

Turn this into a plan.

Your $19,475 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

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. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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 Tailwinds Academy of Aviation?
Tailwinds Academy of Aviation publishes $165 per hour for the Cessna 150L and $90 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 17, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $19,475, in a range of $16,700 to $22,200. 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 Tailwinds Academy of Aviation.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Tailwinds Academy of Aviation?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Tailwinds Academy of 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 Tailwinds Academy of Aviation a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
Tailwinds Academy of Aviation 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 Tailwinds Academy of Aviation's aircraft rates include fuel?
Tailwinds Academy of Aviation publishes $165 per hour for the Cessna 150L, 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 Tailwinds Academy of Aviation?
Tailwinds Academy of Aviation trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Flight Instructor and Instrument Instructor. Instruction is $90 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Tailwinds Academy of Aviation's own published rates.

Section 7Sources

Estimates use Tailwinds Academy of Aviation's published Cessna 150L 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 Tailwinds Academy of 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 Tailwinds? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.

4 other schools fly from Northeast Philadelphia Airport.

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