Why are costs for PPL in the US so high?
Posted by vidawaffleYT@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 39 comments
I am from Uruguay, and even though we are the most expensive country in South America, a PPL only costs about 5000 dollars?? At my school the rate for a Cessna 150 Steam Gauge is $133/h, with no included instructor costs.
We only need to fly 35 hours + 5 hours of simulator to do our check ride, which would cost 4500 dollars, I added towards 5000 for books, subscriptions, courses, and some extra hours.
Is it really that expensive on the US?
Own-Ice5231@reddit
Cost of living (and services) in the US is significantly more than in South America.
Cezznuh_skybarf@reddit
Cries in €340 an hour on a DA4NG in the Netherlands (including instructor and landing fee)
ltcterry@reddit
The places you see online in the US are flying expensive, newer, bigger, or otherwise more expensive airplanes. But you can find tired old ugly 172s for under $150/hour.
Fuel prices are very different.
“35 hours” is unrealistic. Try 70-75 and suddenly your “$5000” has turned into $10,000!
I’m not working for less than $50/hour.
OrganicParamedic6606@reddit
You can find ancient c150s for around that price in the IS as well. Few people choose to train in them. Labor costs in the US are higher, meaning more expensive instruction.
Also very few people competently finish their PPL in exactly 40 hours. The average is ~60.
BandicootNo4431@reddit
I got mine in the min hours due to making it my full time 7 days a week job.
5 weeks later, PPL!
OrganicParamedic6606@reddit
Cool. That’s very far from an average experience, largely because it’s impractical for most people.
BandicootNo4431@reddit
Its probably the most practical for the majority of people.
Most people aren't coming at aviation in their 40's from another career with family.
Most student pilots are young.
OrganicParamedic6606@reddit
I was a young student pilot. Doing it your way would have been near impossible and definitely impractical when I got my PP certificate
rjanderson8@reddit
This is exactly what I did. Passed at 40.5 hours but obviously not many people can just dedicate all that time at once but if possible avoid taking such long breaks to avoid regressing between lessons
jettajake00@reddit
I saw recently the FAA says 75 hours is average.
AdditionalAid1@reddit
If you finish your ppl in 75 hours, something went wrong somewhere. In canada, above 65 hours for a ppl forces you to finish your cpl with more than 200 hours which increase the drastically the cost of the licence.
As a former cfi, 55 hours is the average, someone at FAA needs to do their homework haha
Rhyick@reddit
The FAA average is 75 hours.
Where you learn determines a lot of how long it takes. A good instructor, good student in the middle of nowhere at an untowered airport can solo (i.e., fly around the pattern and land) in 10-15 hours.
Much harder to do at a busy towered airport in busy airspace. You'll spend 20 min each lesson here just waiting to take off then another 30 min to fly back and forth to the practice area.
bottomfeeder52@reddit
cries in bay area busy deltas under the bravo
assinyourpants@reddit
Yup. San Diego has been rough with weather done sometimes shit is just wild up there.
Rhyick@reddit
You must know the pain of paying $250/hr for plane and instructor to just sit there waiting #5 in the runup. But the pro is if you train here you can fly in busy airspace anywhere.
OrganicParamedic6606@reddit
Gotta add the night portion of Canadian licenses to the equation. US PPLs can fly at night
AdditionalAid1@reddit
Ppl can as well, its just not a requirement for the licence and is done in the cpl. That would only increase the hours by 5, so still quite far from 75 hours tbh
OrganicParamedic6606@reddit
Okay. Cool. That’s the average in the US. If your contention is that the average US PPL holder had “something go wrong somewhere, that’s your take to have.
jettajake00@reddit
I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you. I'm just stating what the FAA says is the average. https://www.faa.gov/faq/what-are-hourly-requirements-becoming-pilot
For us down south of you, 55 doesn't seem to be it. Anecdotally, I hear around 60-65.
Sure, there could be lots of things wrong. Could be an instructor milking hours. Could be a student who isn't flying regularly, doesn't study the way they should, etc. Some folks learn faster than others, etc. etc.
Also, we require 250 hours for our CPL.
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-61/subpart-F
§ 61.129 Aeronautical experience.
Personally, I think we are astronomically high in our costs down here. I wish it weren't the case.
goestowhat@reddit
Makes sense. I was at 80. I burned about 15 extra hours taxiing, waiting to take off, & 7min flight out to the practice areas in a busy Delta.
I’m sure most people getting PPL these days aren’t in a small airport right next to their practice areas. In that case the average might be closer to 60 for them
jettajake00@reddit
Yep, and, there's all kinds of other factors that could be at play here. Like you mentioned, busy class D or even a class C would be logically more. Could be the quality of the study of the student, the quality of the instruction, the frequency of flying hours per week, pace at which we learn, etc.
It's a sad reality that it just isn't going to be done in the minimum, and, likely not even in the 50 hr range.
KYP73@reddit
laughs in British £250ph all in so c. $315ph for PPL instruction in a Warrior.
vidawaffleYT@reddit (OP)
Wtf
QuirkyPredicament@reddit
Yup, the UK government charges 20% VAT (basically a sales tax) on all flight training, which especially if you’re going for all the licences & ratings is a lot of money!
SSMDive@reddit
Cost of living in Uruguay is about 30% lower than the US.
The_Warrior_Sage@reddit
Rampant beraucracy mixed with a generally very high cost of living in a much wealthier, more populous country
AutomaticVacation242@reddit
You're paying $2.15 for a gallon of avgas. It's $6.25 at my field. Instructor is $55 per hour. 100 hour inspection is around $1300 if nothing goes wrong. That's already near $100 per hour. Add in hangar costs, annual inspection, and engine reserves. Don't forget you have to actually pay for the plane and turn a profit.
InGeorgeWeTrust_@reddit
You’re getting ripped off at 1300$ for a 100 hour. Thats annual money
AutomaticVacation242@reddit
It's the same inspection. Who does the inspection is the only thing different.
InGeorgeWeTrust_@reddit
Yeah, and they both should be paid different amounts. 1300 is annual pay for an IA.
100 hour is just an oil change and clean the spark plugs.
AutomaticVacation242@reddit
You think the FAA mandates a "oil change and spark plug cleaning" every 100 hours for aircraft for hire? Why would they? That doesn't even make sense. If you were a real pilot you'd know about 14 CFR 91.409
Quit trolling.
theoriginalturk@reddit
Such a bizarre conversation
MTBandGravel@reddit
You’re thinking of the 50hr. The 100hr is exactly as an annual inspection but can be signed off by an A&P.
standardtemp2383@reddit
you know some schools use REAL mechanics that actually inspect the plane and don't just sign a piece of paper
keplermikebee@reddit
Boomers. We can blame the Boomers.
BeAmused@reddit
I don’t know but I just finished my PPL and never paid more than $125/hr for a wet 172
Sure_Challenge_3462@reddit
Just checked my logbook: 55 hrs. I did have a great school and went thru 3 CFIs, but the planes were solid and available. I dropped $6000 at the counter and pulled from that until it ran dry. When I went up and flew like dogshi*, I pointed it to the airport and called it a day. If you haven’t invested $2500 for a tricked out simulator, you’re missing perhaps the most valuable tool available to you. Learn the scan and the situational awareness at you desk, then spend your money mastering the airplane control. Got my PPL in 1996, for reference.
Sure_Challenge_3462@reddit
Cheaper than anywhere else in the world.
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
I am from Uruguay, and even though we are the most expensive country in South America, a PPL only costs about 5000 dollars?? At my school the rate for a Cessna 150 Steam Gauge is $133/h, with no included instructor costs.
We only need to fly 35 hours + 5 hours of simulator to do our check ride, which would cost 4500 dollars, I added towards 5000 for books, subscriptions, courses, and some extra hours.
Is it really that expensive on the US?
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