PilotBound

Published rates, sourced · Updated September 16, 2026

What flight training costs at Tennessee flight schools

Every listing shows the school's own published rates with the source and date, next to an honest PilotBound estimate for your Private pilot certificate. Add any school to your plan to map your whole route on their real rates.

Across the 11 Tennessee schools here with published rates, trainer rentals run $135 to $205 per hour and instruction $50 to $85, and PilotBound's private pilot estimate lands between $15,285 and $20,905, with a median of $17,549.

Search, filter by city, and sort by cost. Each card marks where it falls among the state's schools on cost. Estimates are ours, not quotes, and we are not affiliated with these schools. See a wrong number? Every card has a correct-this-listing link.

Estimate cost toflying
Showing 1–12 of 30 schools

Totals to reach your Private goal at this pace. 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. How we estimate.

Private estimate range across Tennessee

lowest $13.1Khighest $23.8K

  • Hixson Aviation Flying Club

    Part not stated
    Lowest in TN

    Chattanooga, TN·hixsonaviation.com

    Published rates

    $135/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)+$55/hr instructor

    Checked September 16, 2026·Source

    Hixson is a flying club with $20 a year in dues. Its multi-engine training is sold as a $5,495 course covering ten hours, with $495/hr beyond that; the site does not say whether that hourly figure includes the instructor, so no twin rate is used here. The site does not say whether fuel is included.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $15,285

    range $13.1K – $17.4K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planHixson Aviation cost breakdown →

  • Morristown Flying Service

    Part not stated

    Morristown, TN·morristownflyingserviceinc.com

    Published rates

    $145/hr aircraft (wet)+$50/hr instructor

    Checked September 16, 2026·Source

    Morristown publishes instruction as a range, $45 to $50/hr, and this estimate uses the top of it. Its aircraft rates are wet and carry the school's own update dates, the Cessna 172 from December 2023 and the Piper Arrow from March 2022. Block time rates are offered on every aircraft and not published. A Cessna 182 is available for dual rental only, with no published rate.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $15,715

    range $13.5K – $17.9K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planMorristown Flying Service cost breakdown →

  • The Flying Service

    Part not stated

    Blountville (Tri-Cities), TN·theflyingservice.com

    Published rates

    $145/hr aircraft (wet)+$50/hr instructor

    Checked September 10, 2026·Source

    The Flying Service's rate page is dated December 2023 and notes prices are subject to change and tax is extra. Block time rates are available on request.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $15,715

    range $13.5K – $17.9K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planThe Flying Service cost breakdown →

  • Old School Aircraft

    Part 61

    Jackson, TN·oldschoolaircraft.com

    Published rates

    $140/hr aircraft (wet)+$60/hr instructor

    Checked August 17, 2026·Source

    This estimate uses Old School Aircraft's published wet rates, which include fuel and exclude instruction. A ten-hour block buys $5/hr off. Renters are required to carry a non-owner policy with at least $100,000 of hull liability, or $150,000 for the Cessna 182. Instruction in a student's own aircraft is $70/hr, and ground instruction is $60/hr.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $15,935

    range $13.7K – $18.2K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planOld School Aircraft cost breakdown →

  • The CAVU Pilot

    Part 61

    Knoxville, TN·thecavupilot.com

    Published rates

    $145/hr aircraft (wet)+$75/hr instructor

    Checked August 20, 2026·Source

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $17,165

    range $14.8K – $19.6K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planCAVU Pilot cost breakdown →

  • Murfreesboro Aviation

    Part 61

    Murfreesboro, TN·murfreesboroaviation.com

    Published rates

    $160/hr aircraft (wet)+$63/hr instructor

    Checked September 10, 2026·Source

    Rates are Murfreesboro's published wet solo-rental rates. The site posts a temporary fuel surcharge (amount not stated); confirm current pricing with the school.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $17,549

    range $15.1K – $20K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planMurfreesboro Aviation cost breakdown →

  • Sevier County Choppers

    Part not stated

    Sevierville, TN·seviercountychoppers.com

    Published rates

    $175/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)+$75/hr instructor

    Checked September 16, 2026·Source

    Sevier County Choppers publishes a solo and a with-instructor rate for each aircraft rather than an instructor rate. The $75/hr used here is the difference, and it is the same on both aircraft. Ground instruction is charged separately at $30/hr. The site does not say whether fuel is included.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $19,325

    range $16.6K – $22K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planSevier County Choppers cost breakdown →

  • Knoxville Flight Training Academy

    Part not stated

    Knoxville, TN·knoxflight.com

    Published rates

    $185/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)+$65/hr instructor

    Checked September 16, 2026·Source

    Knoxville Flight Training prices every single-engine aircraft at $185/hr and adds an unquantified fuel surcharge on top. An instructor is required to rent, and solo rental of the Seminole is prohibited. The Seminole's $410/hr is the airplane alone: the school says instructor and fuel charges may apply on top. A full-motion simulator is $150/hr including the instructor, plus tax, and a multi-engine prepay is $5,990. Instruction in a customer's own aircraft is $85/hr, which does not apply to this fleet.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $19,465

    range $16.7K – $22.2K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planKnoxville Flight Training cost breakdown →

  • Fast Track Flight Training

    Part not stated
    Largest fleet

    Knoxville, TN·fasttrackflighttraining.com

    Published rates

    $180/hr aircraft (wet)+$75/hr instructor

    Checked September 16, 2026·Source

    This estimate uses Fast Track's published wet rates. Its multi-engine courses are also quoted at $500/hr wet including the instructor, which is the $425 aircraft plus the $75 instructor rather than a separate price. Ground instruction is charged at the same $75/hr.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $19,685

    range $16.9K – $22.4K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planFast Track cost breakdown →

  • Flying High Again

    Part not stated

    Smyrna, TN·flyinghighagainllc.com

    Published rates

    $205/hr aircraft (wet)+$60/hr instructor

    Checked September 16, 2026·Source

    Flying High Again prints the aircraft rate and the instructor rate against every tail. Instruction is $60/hr in the singles and $85/hr in the DA42 twin. All aircraft rates are wet.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $20,615

    range $17.7K – $23.5K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planFlying High Again cost breakdown →

  • Wings of Eagles Aviation

    Part 61 & 141

    Smyrna, TN·flywingsofeagles.com

    Published rates

    $205/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)+$65/hr instructor

    Checked August 20, 2026·Source

    Wings of Eagles Aviation does not say whether its published rates include fuel. This estimate uses the rate exactly as published, so ask before you budget: a dry rate adds roughly $30 to $60 per hour once fuel is on top.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $20,905

    range $18K – $23.8K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planWings of Eagles cost breakdown →
  • Below: schools without a full published rate card. They cannot be priced, so they sit at the end of a cost sort.

  • Aileron Aviation

    Part 61

    Sparta, TN·SRB·aileronaviation.com

    Published rates

    aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published

    No PilotBound estimate

    Aileron does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    Nothing to total without it.

    See what to ask themWhat they do publish →

Flight school costs in Tennessee, in numbers

Computed from the 11 Tennessee schools that publish both an aircraft and an instructor rate, on the same method every card above uses. The 19 listings without a full rate card are left out of every figure.

$17,549
Median PilotBound Private estimate across the 11 schools with published rates
$135 to $205
Published trainer rental, per hour
$50 to $85
Published instruction, per hour
11 of 30
Schools publishing a full rate card (aircraft and instructor)

Lowest published trainer rates in Tennessee

Part 141 flight schools in Tennessee

Flight schools by city in Tennessee

Airports with more than one Tennessee flight school

Discovery flights in Tennessee

4 Tennessee schools publish a discovery flight price, median $231. See each price with its source

How these estimates work

We apply one consistent method to every school: PilotBound's own completion-hours model, examiner-completion data where it exists (like the Private and Commercial) and FAA minimums where no credible public data exists (like the Instrument and CFI), times that school's published aircraft and instructor rates (linked on every card, with the date we verified them), plus the one-time fees most quotes leave out. Holding the hours model identical across schools means the only thing that changes card to card is the school's actual rates.

So the number is PilotBound's estimate, not the school's quote, and it will differ from a school's own cost figures, which are often based on FAA-minimum hours. The schools do not set or endorse it.

Want a number tied to your own pace and aircraft choice? Run the estimator or read the full methodology.

These estimates are ours, not the schools' quotes, and we are not affiliated with the schools. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime. Disclaimer & removal policy.

Common questions about Tennessee flight schools

How much does flight school cost in Tennessee?
Across the 11 Tennessee flight schools here that publish full rates, trainer rentals run $135 to $205 per hour and instruction $50 to $85 per hour, checked as recently as September 16, 2026. On each school's own published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate between $15,285 and $20,905, with a median of $17,549. These are PilotBound estimates built on published rates, not quotes from the schools.
What is the cheapest flight school in Tennessee?
Hixson Aviation Flying Club in Chattanooga publishes the lowest trainer rental of the 11 Tennessee schools listed here, $135 per hour for its Cessna 152, a rate that does not say whether fuel is included, checked September 16, 2026. The lowest hourly rate is not automatically the lowest total: instructor rates, fuel basis, and the hours you actually fly decide that, which is what the per-school estimates on this page hold constant.
How current are these Tennessee flight school rates?
Every rate here is the school's own published figure, linked to its source and dated; the newest check in Tennessee is September 16, 2026, and each card and school page shows the exact date its rates were read. The directory is re-checked on a monthly cycle, and 19 more schools in Tennessee are listed without an estimate because they do not publish a full rate card. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime.