How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Pilot Makers?

Pilot Makers publishes $210 per hour for the Piper Archer II and $70 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 9, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $21,555, in a range of $18,500 to $24,600. 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 Makers.

How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Pilot Makers?

Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Pilot Makers 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 Makers a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?

Pilot Makers 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 Makers's aircraft rates include fuel?

Pilot Makers publishes $210 per hour for the Piper Archer II, 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 9, 2026.

What ratings can you train for at Pilot Makers?

Pilot Makers trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Multi-Engine (AMEL) and Multi-Engine Instructor. Instruction runs $70 to $85 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 Makers's own published rates.

PilotBoundEvery hour. Every dollar.

PilotBound estimate · Provo, UT · Checked August 9, 2026

What flight training at Pilot Makers costs

Website pilotmakers.com

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

Which airplane?

Wet. The school names this one for zero-to-commercial training.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Pilot Makers

$21,555

range $18.5K – $24.6K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Pilot Makers's published rates: Piper Archer II at $210/hr + $70/hr instruction, checked August 9, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$13,015

at the hours students actually take$21,555

+$8,540 on Pilot Makers's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$18.5K – $24.6K

Aircraft rental$15,120

Instruction$4,060

One-time costs$2,375

Aircraft + instruction$19,180

72 hrs in Piper Archer II @ $210/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 Makers's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Pilot Makers'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 →

What Pilot Makers publishes

checked August 9, 2026

Piper Archer IIWet. The school names this one for zero-to-commercial training. Instruction in this airplane $70/hr.$210/hr wet

Cirrus SR20 G6Wet. Glass and parachute. The page heading says SR20 G6 while its photo captions say SR22, so confirm the model. Instruction in this airplane $70/hr.$290/hr wet

Super Decathlon 8KCABWet. Aerobatic and tailwheel, dual only. Instruction in this airplane $85/hr.$220/hr wet

Extra 300LWet. Advanced aerobatic and UPRT, dual only. Instruction in this airplane $85/hr.$415/hr wet

Piper SeminoleWet. The twin, dual only. The school names it for the multi rating, the MEI and the complex endorsement. Instruction in this airplane $85/hr.$400/hr wet

Instructionstandard $70/hr · multi-engine instruction $85/hr$70 – $85/hr

Instruction is priced per airplane: $70/hr in the Archer and the Cirrus, $85/hr in the Decathlon, the Extra and the Seminole. The aerobatic aircraft and the Seminole rent for dual instruction only, and a checkout with an instructor is required every 90 days to rent. Provo Municipal charges an airport badge fee, published on Pilot Makers' FAQ at $140, which is a real first-year cost most schools do not have.

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

See the published rates→Source 2→Source 3→

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Your $21,555 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.

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What to ask when you call

What turns an hourly rate into a real bill.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

Estimates use Pilot Makers's published Piper Archer II and instructor rates (checked August 9, 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 Makers. 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.

Common questions about Pilot Makers

How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Pilot Makers?: Pilot Makers publishes $210 per hour for the Piper Archer II and $70 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 9, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $21,555, in a range of $18,500 to $24,600. 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 Makers.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Pilot Makers?: Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Pilot Makers 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 Makers a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?: Pilot Makers 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 Makers's aircraft rates include fuel?: Pilot Makers publishes $210 per hour for the Piper Archer II, 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 9, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Pilot Makers?: Pilot Makers trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Multi-Engine (AMEL) and Multi-Engine Instructor. Instruction runs $70 to $85 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 Makers's own published rates.

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