Weight-Shift Control Trike Instruction and Practical Test (Checkride) Fees
- $150 per hour – Flight Instruction including trike* (prepaid block of 10 hours is $145/hour)
- $60 per hour – Ground Time/Instruction**
- $70 per hour – Flight Instruction with applicant owned trike (prepaid block of 10 hours is $65/hour)
- $370 for Sport Pilot Practical Test/checkride (no aircraft)
- $350 for Sport Pilot Proficiency Check (no aircraft)
- $450 for Sport Flight Instructor Practical Test/checkride (no aircraft)
- $430 for Sport Flight Instructor Proficiency Check (no aircraft)
- $80 per hour aircraft rental for Practical Test/Checkride, Proficiency Check or Flight Review *** (Trike not available for solo rental)
- $120 Biennial Flight review (minimum time requirements) in pilot supplied aircraft
* Includes aircraft, headsets, and fuel complete with no extra costs. ** Includes Paul’s time from scheduled appointment/time of meeting to end of scheduled time/when training session is complete and applicant leaves. *** Includes headsets and fuel.
How much does it cost to get a sport pilot license?
This depends on allot of factors. Let’s look at the variables first.
- Will you be learning in your own aircraft or renting one?
- Will you be doing a concentrated course where you are flying every day until you get your license, will you be doing the optimum schedule of flying one day on and one day off, or will you be dragging it out by only flying on weekends?
- Are you a good studier, motivated to study on your own or will you need someone to teach all the material to you?
- How fast do you pick up the motor skills to control the aircraft?
Overall, the costs to become sport trike pilot are less than half that of a private pilot airplane. It must be understood that these are realistic numbers, not something pared down to make it look inexpensive. Most “learn to fly for $2XXX” do not include the FAA test fees or much in training materials. Here we will provide the complete range so you can compare.
Let’s look at the optimum situation using your own trike, with a concentrated course or optimum flying three days per week, you study everything to get through your three types of ground school, and you have great motor skills to have the minimum flight hours required for the license. This is not typical but provided as the minimum for comparisons with other programs.
| Task or item | time | cost | total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Student Pilot Kit | $260 | ||
| Flight/Hobbs time CFI | 15 | $70 | $1050 |
| Flight brief/debrief and ground school lesson review CFI | 15 | $60 | $900 |
| Solo flight time | 5 to 15 hours | use own aircraft | |
| Solo flight ground instruction CFI | 2 | $60 | $120 |
| Ground school for the aeronautical flight, knowledge test and Checkride CFI | 40 | $60 | self study |
| FAA Knowledge Test | $150 | ||
| Checkride | $370 | ||
| Totals | $2850 |
If you take out what most schools do not include, the knowledge test and checkride this would total $2160. We are going to include these in our comparisons since this is part of the cost.
Let’s look at the optimum situation where you rent the trike for dual training, with a concentrated course or optimum flying three days per week, you study everything to get through your three types of ground school, and you have great motor skills to have the minimum flight hours required for the license. Note that you buy a trike for your solo and checkride.
| Task or item | time | cost | total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Student Pilot Kit | $260 | ||
| Flight/Hobbs time CFI and Aircraft | 15 | $150 | $2250 |
| Flight brief/debrief and groundschool lesson review CFI | 15 | $60 | $900 |
| Solo flight time | 5 to 15 hours | use own aircraft | |
| Solo flight ground instruction CFI | 2 | $60 | $120 |
| Ground school for the aeronautical flight, knowledge test and Checkride | 40 | $60 | seff study |
| FAA Knowledge Test | $150 | ||
| Checkride | $370 | ||
| Totals | $4050 |
Let’s look at the extended situation where you rent the trike for dual training, with an extended training schedule not flying constantly and/or having to go back and repeat flight tasks as needed and/or it takes more tim than the minimum to get through which is typical. You do not study much and require an additional 40 hours of ground time to get through your three types of ground school. Note that you buy a trike for solo. This will cause sticker shock but notice the $2000 for the ground school you can study on your own.
| Task or item | time | cost | total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Student Pilot Kit | $260 | ||
| Flight/Hobbs time CFI | 25 | $150 | $3750 |
| Flight brief/debrief and groundschool lesson review CFI | 25 | $60 | $1500 |
| Solo flight time | 10 to 20 hours | N/A | use your own trike |
| Solo flight ground instruction CFI | 3 | $60 | $180 |
| Ground school for the aeronautical flight, knowledge test and Checkride CFI | 40 | $60 | $2400 |
| FAA Knowledge Test | $150 | ||
| Checkride | $370 | ||
| Totals | $8610 |
Overall, there is a wide range of total costs to get your sport pilot WSC trike certificate. It depends on how you want to do it.
