Free or reasonably priced flying lessons in New York?

Question

Hello there, I am a high school student with a burning desire to get a pilot's license. But my wallet is unequal to my will. Where in New York can I get flying lessons for free, or for a reduced price, or in exchange for something? Are there scholarships for this sort of thing? I heard that 4 or 5 thousand dollars is considered reasonable for flying lessons expenses, but this is simply out of reach for me. Thanks a ton for the answers!

Answer 1

Only a small percentage of those costs are actually for the lessons.  A large percentage of the cost is fuel, followed by maintenance.  The instructor gets the smallest piece of the pie.

With fuel prices where they are, fuel alone will run 30-60 dollars an hour.  Somebody has to pay for that...

Answer 2

There is no way around it. Flying is expensive. Even so, it's difficult to make money teaching people to fly. So there are no discounts available. Unless you have the means to come up with alot of money, don't even bother.

Of course you could go serve your country.

Answer 3

haha especially in new york, expensive state just like the rest of the east coast and west coast.

Answer 4

Sorry but the flight schools doesn't exist for charity.  I used to be student pilot and the conditions are many flight schools are very dire.  They have no way to give flying lessons for free.  The price of gas is sky high, the insurance is high, maintenance is high and the cost of instructor is high.

Your only bet is to get out there and start making some money.  That is what I did to get my flying lessons.

Good Luck...