Becoming a pilot can be a costly venture. It is actually comparable to the cost of a obtaining a four year degree to become a professional pilot. To begin with you must obtain the private, instrument, commercial, and instructor certificates. Then in order to be marketable to professional organizations you must provide logged hours that meet their specifications.
So, the first thing you should do if you are to peruse becoming a pilot is to price aircraft rentals. In these troubled times aircraft rentals rates have plummeted. It is to your advantage to shop these aircraft to find the best rate, even if it means obtaining a part time job at your local flight school. Some organizations have flying clubs and you can save thousands of dollars by taking advantage of these programs. The flight club that I am a part of rent a 172S model with the Garmin G1000 cockpit for about $ 55.00/ hour; a significant difference from the $ 150 – $ 200 / hour that you could be paying. After finding the aircraft you will be training on, the next step is to market. Instructor costs are not cheap, and making friends that are currently pilots can often save you a lot of expense.
So to recap, you are in a flight club that charges you $ 55.00 per hour to rent an aircraft and you have a friend that will instruct you for free. This puts the expense of obtaining your Private Pilot License (40 hours of flight) at around $ 2200.00. After that what is left? Supplies!
Often time’s local pilot shops offer their supplies at list price. You can save money by shopping on Amazon or eBay for supplies, but you run the risk of obtaining out dated material. Other sites offer a slight discount of 5%-10% off list price.
So, the question arises, where do you go to save big money on pilot supplies? The answer is in your research. If you are reading this article right now then that is exactly what you are doing. There is a new online pilot resource out there and you can save 20%-40% off list price. The owner was a buyer for a very large flight school and has all the connections to ensure that you receive all your training material at a discounted rate. With his knowledge and experience he is able to negotiate prices that enable him to sell products to you for what his competitors pay. With all these factors in play, you will be on your way to obtaining you Private Pilot for less than 00.00
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