PilotBound

PilotBound estimate · Arlington, WA · Checked September 14, 2026

What flight training at Mission Aviation Training Academy costs

Website mata-usa.org

Phone 360-435-8179

Section 1Cost estimate

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

Wet. Mission-student rate $150.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Mission Aviation Training Academy

$22,565

range $19.4K – $25.7K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Mission Aviation's published rates: Cessna 172/177 at $220/hr + $75/hr instruction, checked September 14, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$13,575
at the hours students actually take$22,565

+$8,990 on Mission Aviation's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$19.4K – $25.7K
Aircraft rental$15,840
Instruction$4,350
One-time costs$2,375
Aircraft + instruction$20,190
72 hrs in Cessna 172/177 @ $220/hr + 58 dual @ $75/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 Mission Aviation Training Academy's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Mission Aviation Training Academy'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 →

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Section 2The rate card

What Mission Aviation publishes

checked September 14, 2026
Cessna 172/177Wet. Mission-student rate $150.$220/hr wet
Cessna 172 AlaskaWet. Mission-student rate $175.$230/hr wet
Cessna 180Tailwheel. Wet. Mission-student rate $200.$300/hr wet
Cessna U206Wet. Mission-student rate $215.$400/hr wet
Advanced Aviation Training DeviceSimulator, not an aircraft. Mission-student rate $50.$75/hr wet
Instruction$75/hr

MATA prices every line of its fee schedule twice, and the figures here are the non-mission rates, which is what a student who is not a missionary trainee pays. Mission students pay $150/hr in the Cessna 172/177, $175 in the Cessna 172 Alaska, $200 in the Cessna 180, $215 in the Cessna U206, $50 in the simulator and $45/hr for instruction. Aircraft rates are wet. Non-mission students are taken on a space available basis. Every student keeps a refundable $200 deposit on account while training.

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. Mission Aviation trains under both parts, and the estimate above is built on Part 61 hours.

See the published rates →Source 2 →Source 3 →

Section 3Discovery flight

$300

Checked September 14, 2026

One hour. The schedule prints this price once, in the non-mission column.

See it on their siteCall 360-435-8179

Discovery flight prices in Washington

Section 4Paying for it

Two ways to cover $22,565.

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, plus 2 in Washington. Top awards reach $22,200.
48
Money you pay backLenders that cover $22,565Five of the six lenders in our comparison lend this much. That is whether a loan this size is on offer, not whether you would be approved.
5 of 6
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Section 5Add to my plan

Turn this into a plan.

Your $22,565 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

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. Does the instructor rate change for the Instrument, Commercial, or CFI, or is it flat across everything?

    Plenty of schools charge more for advanced instruction. A flat rate quoted for the Private can climb later.

  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 7Questions

How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Mission Aviation Training Academy?
Mission Aviation Training Academy publishes $220 per hour for the Cessna 172/177 and $75 per hour for instruction on it, checked September 14, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $22,565, in a range of $19,400 to $25,700. 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 Mission Aviation Training Academy.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Mission Aviation Training Academy?
Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Mission Aviation Training Academy 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 Mission Aviation Training Academy a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
Mission Aviation Training Academy trains under both Part 61 and Part 141, so you can pick the structured FAA-approved course or the flexible path. Part 141 is the one that matters for VA benefits and for the lower paper minimum on the private certificate; Part 61 is the one that bends around a full-time job.
Do Mission Aviation Training Academy's aircraft rates include fuel?
Mission Aviation Training Academy publishes $220 per hour for the Cessna 172/177, 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 14, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Mission Aviation Training Academy?
Mission Aviation Training Academy trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Flight Instructor and Instrument Instructor. Instruction is $75 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Mission Aviation Training Academy's own published rates.

Section 8Sources

Estimates use Mission Aviation Training Academy's published Cessna 172/177 and instructor rates (checked September 14, 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 Mission Aviation Training Academy. 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 Mission Aviation? Every figure here is yours, shown with its source and date.

2 other schools fly from Arlington Municipal Airport.

1 of them publishes at least one rate. AWO is the identifier to give when you ask.

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