Flight training at Crystal Air

Flight instruction: $70/hr

Only three of Crystal Air's aeroplanes carry a single figure. Its two TRAINERS are priced as ranges: the Cessna 172 at $190 to $275/hr on one page and $190 to $245/hr on another, and the Vans RV-12 at $140 to $160/hr. A range is not a rate, and the two pages do not agree about the top of the 172's.

1. 1

   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.

2. 2

   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.

3. 3

   What does the Cessna 172 actually cost per hour, and what puts it at the bottom or the top of the range?Missing from their site

   The 172 is the trainer and it is the one aeroplane with no single price: $190 to $275/hr on the flight instruction page and $190 to $245/hr on the about page.

4. 4

   Which aeroplane would I fly for a Private, and at which end of its range?

   The RV-12 is also a range, so both of the aeroplanes a beginner would use are quoted as bands rather than prices.

5. 5

   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.

6. 6

   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.

7. 7

   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 Crystal Air's rates. The middle of what 11 Tennessee 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. Crystal Air is not in it.

What we checked

This one publishes an instructor rate cleanly, at $70/hr, and then prices its trainers as RANGES. The Cessna 172 is $190-$275/hr on one page and $190-$245/hr on another, so the two live pages do not even agree on the width of the band. A $85 spread on the aeroplane is most of the difference between a cheap school and an expensive one, which is why this stays a partial rather than being estimated at either end. The single-figure tails, a Skycatcher, a 182 and a Tecnam twin, are recorded above.