What flight training costs at Virginia 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.
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.
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 Virginia
Williamsburg Flight Center
Part not statedLowest in VAWilliamsburg, VA·williamsburgflightcenter.com
Published rates
$150/hr aircraft (wet)+$55/hr instructor
Verified July 22, 2026·Source
Williamsburg Flight Center 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
$14K–$18.6K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
Add to my planSee the full breakdown →PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Williamsburg Flight Center. School names are used only to identify the school.
Curtis Eads Flight School
Part 61Suffolk & Newport News, VA·curtiseads.com
PilotBound estimate · Private
$14.3K–$19K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
Add to my planSee the full breakdown →PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Curtis Eads Flight School. School names are used only to identify the school.
Aero Elite Flight Training
Part not statedLargest fleet4 locationsLeesburg, Winchester, Manassas & Norfolk, VA·aeflight.com
Published rates
$180/hr aircraft (wet)+$75/hr instructor
Verified July 22, 2026·Source
Aero Elite Flight Training 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
$16.9K–$22.4K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
Add to my planSee the full breakdown →PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Aero Elite Flight Training. School names are used only to identify the school.
Star Flight Training
Part not statedRoanoke, VA·starflighttraining.com
PilotBound estimate · Private
$19.4K–$25.7K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
Add to my planSee the full breakdown →PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Star Flight Training. School names are used only to identify the school.
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. The result is a range, not a promise.
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.