How much money for flying lessons??

Question

ok, i want to start taking flying lessons when im 14 because i want to be a pilot.(im 12)can someone tell me how i should do this and how much money i should have

thanks

Answer 1

The cost of aviation fuel is not helping to keep things cheap. Taking all your lessons in just a few months instead of spreading them out will help keep the cost down since you'll have less review time. Also, don't forget you can't be a licensed pilot until you're 17.

Anyway, I just started my own flight training. I've found prices between $8,800 & just over $14,000. All are from certified flight instructors. Airplanes vary.

You can save some money by studying at home for the written test & only asking your flight instructor any questions you might have. Lots of people like the Gliem's "Red Book" - that's what I'm using now.

Hope that helps!  

Answer 2

I wouldn't recommend starting when you are 14.  Three years is a long time to stretch out training (you need to be 17 before you can take the flight test).  You'll easily spend twice as much as if you start when you're 16 and compress the training into 6 months or so.

Using today's dollars, plan on training to be $7,000 to $10,000 if you start when you're 16 and $15,000 to $20,000 if you start when you're 14.  The difference is that you'll spend a lot of time reviewing your previous lessons if you stretch out the timeframe that much.  Keep in mind those numbers don't account for inflation or unpredictable fuel prices.

You can always take an intro or "discovery" flight at any age to get an idea of what flying is like and what to expect out of training.

Answer 3

piloting an aircraft is an experience that no one can adequately explain...it must be experienced...I commend you on your choice, whether you are considering this as a vocation or just as a hobby, it is all good...here is how it is figured:  as you probably know, in order to learn to fly, you have to be in an aircraft in the air, now some FBO's will utilize an approved simulator, allowed for a certain amount of training time by the FAA, however sooner or later, you have to get in the air-so you will be paying for the rental on the aircraft, the fuel for the aircraft, and the time of the instructor...this is not cheap, so go online to any pilot training program, almost all large cities have them, and inquire-you have to take ground school too, so you may want to start with that, and you must take the FAA exam, and pass it, before you will get your license, so that is a relatively inexpensive way to begin...good luck...I still remember my first solo flight, 3 times around the pattern, 2 touch and go's, and one landing-I put them all on the numbers-I could tell you a hundred stories, but I will leave you with one poor soul...he was in a club Cessna 150(this was years ago) was doing a cross country flight, supposed to fly from San Jose area to Stockton, then to Merced, then back to San Jose...the student pilot got hopelessly lost, there were Santa Ana winds blowing to S. Cali, he showed up in Riverside, landed without radio contact, and taxied over to the fuel pumps and asked for directions...fuel bowser was astute enough not to fuel him until he got some more information, he had been in the air for over 4 hours, was low on fuel, low on training and low on brains-we called the club instructor, he told us to take the aircraft keys away from hem, put him on a bus bach to San Jose, that he would be down in a few days to collect the aircraft...we did, don't know if the student ever became a pilot, but he certainly became an object lesson for those who will listen...good luck.