How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing?

Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing publishes $125 per hour for the Cessna 172 and $48 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 14, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $14,159, in a range of $12,200 to $16,100. 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 Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing.

How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing?

Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing 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 Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?

Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing 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 Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing's aircraft rates include fuel?

Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing publishes $125 per hour for the Cessna 172, 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 14, 2026.

What ratings can you train for at Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing?

Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating and Commercial Pilot. Instruction is $48 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing's own published rates.

PilotBoundEvery hour. Every dollar.

PilotBound estimate · Marshfield, WI · Checked August 14, 2026

What flight training at Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing costs

Website duffysaircraft.com

Your plan

Estimate cost to reach

Flying

Which airplane?

Wet, per Hobbs hour. Nav/Com audio panel, VOR/glideslope, ADS-B Out.

PilotBound estimate · Private

Examiner data

Cost of your Private at Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing

$14,159

range $12.2K – $16.1K · about 6 months at 2×/week

Priced on Duffy's's published rates: Cessna 172 at $125/hr + $48/hr instruction, checked August 14, 2026.

Against a minimums quote

at the FAA legal minimums$8,911

at the hours students actually take$14,159

+$5,248 on Duffy's's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.

Where it goes

$12.2K – $16.1K

Aircraft rental$9,000

Instruction$2,784

One-time costs$2,375

Aircraft + instruction$11,784

72 hrs in Cessna 172 @ $125/hr + 58 dual @ $48/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 Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing'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 Duffy's publishes

checked August 14, 2026

Cessna 172 (739BJ)Wet, per Hobbs hour. Nav/Com audio panel, VOR/glideslope, ADS-B Out.$125/hr wet

Cessna 172 (long-range tanks)Wet, per Hobbs hour. GTX 327 transponder, ADS-B Out.$135/hr wet

Instruction$48/hr

Duffy's instructor rate is published inside its Private Pilot cost breakdown rather than on a rate card, and it covers flight AND ground time. Rates are billed per Hobbs hour. Duffy's warns on the same page that both the aeroplane and instructor rates may increase without notice. A discovery flight is $173/hr plus 5.5% tax.

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

See the published rates→Source 2→

Step 2

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Your $14,159 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

The marked one is what Duffy's's site never answers. The rest are 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.
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.
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.
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 Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing's published Cessna 172 and instructor rates (checked August 14, 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 Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing. 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 Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing

How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing?: Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing publishes $125 per hour for the Cessna 172 and $48 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 14, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $14,159, in a range of $12,200 to $16,100. 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 Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing.
How long does it take to get a private pilot license at Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing?: Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing 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 Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?: Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing 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 Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing's aircraft rates include fuel?: Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing publishes $125 per hour for the Cessna 172, 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 14, 2026.
What ratings can you train for at Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing?: Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating and Commercial Pilot. Instruction is $48 per hour across the ratings it teaches. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on Duffy's Aircraft Sales & Leasing's own published rates.

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