PilotBound estimate · Reading, PA · Checked September 16, 2026
What flight training at Top Flight of Reading costs
Website topflightofreading.com
Phone (610) 741-6838
Section 1Cost estimate
Your plan
Estimate cost to reach
Flying
140 HP.
PilotBound estimate · Private
Examiner dataCost of your Private at Top Flight of Reading
range $16.2K – $21.4K · about 6 months at 2×/week
Priced on Top Flight's published rates: Piper PA-28-140 at $180/hr + $60/hr instruction, checked September 16, 2026.
Against a minimums quote
+$7,320 on Top Flight'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 Top Flight of Reading's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Top Flight of Reading'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 siteSection 2The rate card
What Top Flight publishes
checked September 16, 2026Top Flight repeats its $60/hr instruction rate under every aircraft. The site does not say whether fuel is included.
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. Top Flight's site does not state whether its rates include fuel.
Section 3Discovery flight
$180
Checked September 16, 2026
About 30 minutes flying and 30 minutes on the ground with the instructor.
Section 4Paying for it
Two ways to cover $18,815.
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.
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- Money you pay backLenders that cover $18,815All 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 5Add to my plan
Turn this into a plan.
Your $18,815 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.
Add to my planSection 6What to ask
What to ask when you call
The marked one is what Top Flight's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.
Do the published aircraft rates include fuel, or is fuel billed separately?Missing from their site
The site does not say, and it is the difference between two rates that look identical and are not.
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.
Section 7Questions
- How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Top Flight of Reading?
- Top Flight of Reading publishes $180 per hour for the Piper PA-28-140 and $60 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 16, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $18,815, in a range of $16,200 to $21,400. 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 Top Flight of Reading.
- How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Top Flight of Reading?
- Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Top Flight of Reading 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 Top Flight of Reading a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
- Top Flight of Reading 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 Top Flight of Reading's aircraft rates include fuel?
- Top Flight of Reading publishes $180 per hour for the Piper PA-28-140, a rate that does not say whether fuel is included. Ask before you budget: if the rate turns out to be dry, fuel adds roughly $30 to $60 per hour on top. PilotBound's estimate uses the rate exactly as published. Rates checked September 16, 2026.
- What ratings can you train for at Top Flight of Reading?
- Top Flight of Reading trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Flight Instructor and Instrument Instructor. Instruction is $60 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Top Flight of Reading's own published rates.
Section 8Sources
Estimates use Top Flight of Reading's published Piper PA-28-140 and instructor rates (checked September 16, 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 Top Flight of Reading. 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 Top Flight? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.
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