RATES
- Lucombe N45924 $140/hr (wet hobbs)
- Flight & Ground Instruction $60/hr
THEN AND NOW
When I started flying in 1990, I rented a C150 with an instructor for $46/hr. Wow - what a great deal.... or was it? Back then, my first job paid $3.25/hr, so I figured for every 14 hours I worked, I could fly for 1 hour. Why yes - that was a great deal in my mind! And so I flew about once a month at first and paid my way along.
When I work with high school students who don't think they can afford flying, I share that story and then carry it forward to today. In our little town of Sandpoint, Idaho, a high schooler can get a job at a number of restaurants or stores that pay $16-18/hr or more. Let's use $16. Renting a training plane with an instructor in Sandpoint will run between $200 - 270 /hr. That turns out to be 12-17 hours of work for each hour of flying. So by comparison, flying is no more expensive today than it was 35+ year ago. Plus, there's numerous scholarships and training discounts for young people that bring that down.
SCHOLARSHIPS
EAA Flight Training Scholarships
Other Aviation / Flight Training Scholarships
