PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · Fort Worth & Dallas, TX · Checked September 5, 2026

What flight training at Pilot Rise Flight School costs

Website pilotrise.com

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

Wet on the Hobbs. N447DK is the same.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Pilot Rise Flight School

$15,795

range $13.6K – $18K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Pilot Rise's published rates: Cessna 150 at $130/hr + $70/hr instruction, checked September 5, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$9,815
at the hours students actually take$15,795

+$5,980 on Pilot Rise's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$13.6K – $18K
Aircraft rental$9,360
Instruction$4,060
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$13,420
72 hrs in Cessna 150 @ $130/hr + 58 dual @ $70/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 Pilot Rise Flight School's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Pilot Rise Flight School'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 →

Section 2The rate card

What Pilot Rise publishes

checked September 5, 2026
Cessna 150 (N714FW)Wet on the Hobbs. N447DK is the same.$130/hr wet
Cessna 172 (N172JA)Wet. N6087R, N46198, N89878 and N912AT are the same.$165/hr wet
Cessna 172 (N738TZ, Garmin 500 and air conditioning)Wet.$180/hr wet
Instructionstandard $70/hr · CFI candidates $90/hr$70 – $90/hr

Rates are wet (fuel included). A temporary $0.90/gal fuel surcharge applied as of May 11, 2026, and is not included in this estimate. Every dual flight also includes 0.6 hr of ground instruction (pre/post-flight briefing) billed at the instruction rate, which this estimate does not add.

Not published: the examiner's checkride fee. Listed as missing rather than guessed.

See the published rates →Put this estimate on your site

Section 3Paying for it

Two ways to cover $15,795.

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 Texas-only awards in the directory yet.
46
Money you pay backLenders that cover $15,795All six lenders in our comparison lend this much. That is whether a loan this size is on offer, not whether you would be approved.
6 of 6
See scholarshipsCompare lenders

Section 4Add to my plan

Turn this into a plan.

Your $15,795 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. Which instructor rate applies to each rating I plan to do, and does the higher tier start on day one of that rating?

    This school prices some instruction above its primary rate. Knowing when the step-up starts keeps the later ratings from surprising you.

  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 Pilot Rise Flight School?
Pilot Rise Flight School publishes $130 per hour for the Cessna 150 and $70 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 5, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $15,795, in a range of $13,600 to $18,000. 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 Pilot Rise Flight School.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Pilot Rise Flight School?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Pilot Rise Flight School 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 Pilot Rise Flight School a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
Pilot Rise Flight School 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 Pilot Rise Flight School's aircraft rates include fuel?
Pilot Rise Flight School publishes $130 per hour for the Cessna 150, 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 September 5, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Pilot Rise Flight School?
Pilot Rise Flight School trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Flight Instructor and Instrument Instructor. Instruction runs $70 to $90 per hour depending on the rating and the aircraft, since advanced and type-specific instruction is priced above the standard rate. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Pilot Rise Flight School's own published rates.

Section 7Sources

Estimates use Pilot Rise Flight School's published Cessna 150 and instructor rates (checked September 5, 2026), shown in USD for planning only. Real cost varies by student, weather, and pace. An honest range, not a quote.

PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Pilot Rise Flight School. 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.

One other school flies from Dallas Executive Airport.

It does not publish a rate either, so that one is a phone call too. RBD is the identifier to give when you ask.

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