Those of us who are already pilots know what we have. I, for one, don't regret for a second the money I spent more than 30 years ago earning my FAA private pilot certificate. With apologies to RCAF officer Gillespie Magee, author of the aviation poem High Flight, there have been times when I have felt as though my privilege to fly has allowed me to "touch the face of God." How can you put a price on that?
Still, money talks. (And in my case, mostly what it says is goodbye!) These days, a realistic estimate of the cost for earning an FAA private pilot certificate is between $5,000 and $6,000. Even though that's only a little more than half the cost of putting a kid through just one resident year in a public four-year college or university, it's still a hefty chunk of change.
What does the cost of learning to fly have to do with AOPA? Almost everything! In 1939, AOPA's founders gave us a mandate: Keep general aviation flying safe, fun, and as affordable as possible. With that in mind, let me offer some suggestions that might help you with the "affordable" part of learning to fly. Many of these come from AOPA's Reducing the Cost of Flying publication, available free online to members (www.aopa.org/members/files/guides/lowcost.html).
Buy block time from your flight school or FBO. Substantial discounts on aircraft hourly rates are often available with the purchase of as few as five or 10 hours of block time. Make certain, however, the person taking your money is stable and trustworthy. With a young family, when I could least afford to learn to fly, it was the 10 percent discount on 10 hours of time that pushed me forward. And fortunately once you buy it, you must use it.
Fly midweek, when demand is light. Depending on your negotiating skills, you may be able to get a discount from the flight school or FBO if you can fly when the airplanes would otherwise be sitting idle on the ramp.
Rent "dry." A "dry" airplane does not include fuel in the rental cost. You can buy the fuel separately and learn how to use the mixture control to minimize fuel burn.
Join a flying club that offers instruction. The overhead for flying clubs is often less than that of FBOs or flight schools. That may represent considerable savings for you.
Work part-time for an FBO. Some FBOs will let you work for flight time.
Drive away from the city. Outside urban areas, rental rates might be as much as 20 percent lower. Training at a nontowered airport, such as you might find in a more rural area, can help in other ways, too, such as minimizing expensive delays while waiting for traffic to clear.
Consider the FAA recreational pilot certificate. There are some significant limitations to this certificate, which was introduced by the FAA in 1989 at the urging of AOPA and other aviation associations, but it can be a good stepping stone to the private certificate. The cost savings can be significant; with one enthusiastic flight school owner advertising a recreational pilot certificate for as little as $2,735.60 and indicating that the average completion time is two to four weeks.
Use the AOPA FBO rebate for all it's worth. Since January 1, that rebate has been worth fully 5 percent of every purchase made at a qualifying FBO with an AOPA MasterCard or VISA, up to $5,000. Flight training is just one of the things you can buy to earn the rebate. What's not to love about instantly lowering the cost of learning by 5 percent?
As with most choices in life, there are advantages and disadvantages with each of these ways to save on training, so be sure to consider all sides before blindly taking the cheaper option. For AOPA Flight Training members, expert advice from some of the world's most experienced pilots and flight instructors is only a toll-free phone call away, at 800/USA-AOPA (800/872-2672). And AOPA's Web site ( www.aopa.org ), gives you access to a world of resources. Good pilots are always learning, and part of AOPA's mission is to provide you with the resources to make intelligent training choices available at as low a cost as possible.
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