Flight training at Tailspin Tommy's

The rentals page says rates include fuel and tax. A second page on the same site prices the 150 at $140 and calls it a 1973 rather than a 1974.

1. 1

   What do you charge per hour for flight instruction, and is ground instruction billed at the same rate?Missing from their site

   This is the number that is missing from the site. Ground is often billed separately and at a different rate.

2. 2

   Does the instructor rate change for the Instrument, Commercial, or CFI, or is it flat across everything?Missing from their site

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

3. 3

   What does instruction cost per hour, and is it the same for the Private and for advanced work?Missing from their site

   The site says its instructors are qualified through Commercial, Instrument and Multiengine but never prices instruction, and asks you to contact them.

4. 4

   Is the Cessna 150 $140/hr or $150/hr?

   Two live pages on the site give different figures for the same tail, N704ZP, and also disagree about whether it is a 1973 or a 1974.

5. 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. 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. 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.

What to compare their answer against

Not Tailspin Tommy's's rates. The middle of what 19 Washington schools charge, to hold your phone quote against.

From the schools here that publish full rate cards, the same sample behind the Flight Training Cost Report. Tailspin Tommy's is not in it.

What we checked

READ THIS BEFORE RE-CRAWLING TAILSPIN TOMMY'S. The most prominent hourly figure on the site is $140, announced as an increase effective January 1st 2025, and it is the MAINTENANCE SHOP RATE. It is not an instructor rate and it is not an aeroplane rate. This is a repair shop that also rents and instructs, so the shop rate sits on the home page above everything else. The school's instructors are advertised as qualified through Multiengine, but there is no twin on the rental page.