PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · Warwick, RI · Checked August 20, 2026

What flight training at Horizon Aviation costs

Website horizonaviation.com

Conveniently located near

  • Norwood, MA

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Horizon Aviation

$19,965

range $17.2K – $22.8K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Horizon's published rates: Cessna 152 at $150/hr + $95/hr instruction, checked August 20, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$10,285
at the hours students actually take$19,965

+$9,680 on Horizon's own rates. Quotes usually price the 35-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$17.2K – $22.8K
Aircraft rental$11,700
Instruction$5,890
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$17,590
78 hrs in Cessna 152 @ $150/hr + 62 dual @ $95/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 pace78 hrs

Examiner records (DPE dataset). Note: Part 141 typically runs higher, not lower.

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

checked August 20, 2026
Cessna 152$150/hr wet
Cessna 172R$210/hr wet
Cessna 172S$215/hr wet
Cessna 172S G1000$230/hr wet
Cessna 172RGRetractable complex single.$245/hr wet
Beechcraft BE-76 DuchessTwin, multi-engine trainer. Instruction in this airplane $95/hr.$415/hr wet
Instruction$95/hr

Rates are wet (fuel included); rate sheet revised April 2025. One operator across Warwick, RI (KPVD) and Norwood, MA (KOWD).

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 →

Section 3Paying for it

Two ways to cover $19,965.

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, plus 1 in Rhode Island. Top awards reach $22,200.
47
Money you pay backLenders that cover $19,965All 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 $19,965 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 Horizon Aviation?
Horizon Aviation publishes $150 per hour for the Cessna 152 and $95 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 20, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $19,965, in a range of $17,200 to $22,800. That covers roughly 78 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 Horizon Aviation.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Horizon Aviation?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Horizon Aviation to reach the private pilot checkride, at roughly 78 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 Horizon Aviation a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
Horizon Aviation trains under Part 141, an FAA-approved syllabus with a structured course of study. Part 141 can finish the private certificate in fewer required hours on paper (35 versus 40), though in practice most students at either kind of school fly past the minimum. Part 141 also matters if you plan to use VA benefits, which generally require an approved 141 course.
Do Horizon Aviation's aircraft rates include fuel?
Horizon Aviation publishes $150 per hour for the Cessna 152, 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 20, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Horizon Aviation?
Horizon Aviation trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Multi-Engine (AMEL), Flight Instructor and Instrument Instructor. Instruction is $95 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Horizon Aviation's own published rates.

Section 7Sources

Estimates use Horizon Aviation's published Cessna 152 and instructor rates (checked August 20, 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 Horizon 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 Horizon? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.

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