PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · Fort Worth, TX · Checked August 18, 2026

What flight training at Rich Aviation Services costs

Website richaviationservices.com

Phone (817) 625-1111

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Rich Aviation Services

$18,675

range $16.1K – $21.3K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Rich Aviation's published rates: Cessna 172G at $170/hr + $70/hr instruction, checked August 18, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$11,415
at the hours students actually take$18,675

+$7,260 on Rich Aviation's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$16.1K – $21.3K
Aircraft rental$12,240
Instruction$4,060
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$16,300
72 hrs in Cessna 172G @ $170/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 Rich Aviation Services's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Rich Aviation Services'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 site

Section 2The rate card

What Rich Aviation publishes

checked August 18, 2026

Fort Worth Meacham (KFTW)

Cessna 172G (N3744L)1965$170/hr fuel basis not stated
Cessna 172L (N7296Q)1972$170/hr fuel basis not stated
Cessna 172M (N1266U)1976$180/hr fuel basis not stated
Cessna 172K (N7487G)1970$180/hr fuel basis not stated
Cessna 172S (N553RA)2012Garmin G1000.$195/hr fuel basis not stated
Bellanca 7AC Champ (N83496)1946Tailwheel and spin-recovery aircraft, not a primary trainer.$150/hr fuel basis not stated

Decatur Municipal (KLUD)

Cessna 172L (N1243S)1970$170/hr fuel basis not stated
Cessna 172L (N4381Q)1971$185/hr fuel basis not stated
Piper Cherokee 180 (N5120S)1971$185/hr fuel basis not stated
Cessna 182P (N275HP)1976$225/hr fuel basis not stated
Instructionstandard $70/hr · multi-engine instruction $80/hr$70 – $80/hr

Airframes built 1946 to 2012. Years of manufacture from the FAA aircraft registry, read September 16, 2026.

Aircraft rates are published per tail across two bases and the fleet page does not say whether they include fuel. The instruction rate is not on the fleet page: it appears only inside the estimate widgets on the certificate pages, at $70/hr on the CFI and CFII and $80/hr on the multi-engine, and no widget covers the Private, Instrument or Commercial. The Baron is listed as coming soon at Decatur, so no multi-engine aircraft rate is estimated here. Simulators are $150/hr for the Redbird FMX at either base and $600/hr for the Fort Worth King Air.

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. Rich Aviation's site does not state whether its rates include fuel. Rich Aviation does not state whether it trains under Part 61 or Part 141, so the estimate above is built on Part 61 hours.

See the published rates →Source 2 →Source 3 →

Section 3Discovery flight

$145

Checked September 14, 2026

30 minutes in a Cessna 172.

Book on their siteCall (817) 625-1111

Discovery flight prices in Texas

Section 4Paying for it

Two ways to cover $18,675.

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 $18,675All 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 5Add to my plan

Turn this into a plan.

Your $18,675 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 6What to ask

What to ask when you call

The marked ones are what Rich Aviation's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. Do you train under Part 61 or Part 141?Missing from their site

    It changes the minimum hours, and for some students it changes financing eligibility.

  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. 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. 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 Rich Aviation Services?
Rich Aviation Services publishes $170 per hour for the Cessna 172G and $70 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 18, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $18,675, in a range of $16,100 to $21,300. 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 Rich Aviation Services.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Rich Aviation Services?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Rich Aviation Services 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 Rich Aviation Services a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
Rich Aviation Services does not state on its own website whether it trains under Part 61 or Part 141, so we do not list one. It is worth asking directly before you enroll: Part 141 follows an FAA-approved syllabus and is generally what VA benefits require, while Part 61 is more flexible on scheduling.
Do Rich Aviation Services's aircraft rates include fuel?
Rich Aviation Services publishes $170 per hour for the Cessna 172G, 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 August 18, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Rich Aviation Services?
Rich Aviation Services trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Multi-Engine (AMEL), Flight Instructor, Instrument Instructor and Multi-Engine Instructor. Instruction runs $70 to $80 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 Rich Aviation Services's own published rates.

Section 8Sources

Estimates use Rich Aviation Services's published Cessna 172G and instructor rates (checked August 18, 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 Rich Aviation Services. 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 Rich Aviation? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.

Send your fuel basisSend your training part

6 other schools fly from Fort Worth Meacham International Airport.

None of them publishes a rate, so every one is a phone call. FTW is the identifier to give when you ask.

Every school in the state

Other Texas flight schools

All Texas flight schoolsAll Fort Worth flight schools

Plan the money before you commit

A program price only makes sense next to what each rating costs on its own, what free money exists, and what borrowing actually looks like.

What each rating costs

Honest per-rating ranges, with the fees most quotes leave out.

Free money first

Verified flight training scholarships. Every scholarship dollar is a dollar you never finance.

If you borrow

Compare lenders and see the real monthly payment before you sign.