Moto, their rates are fair for glass cockpit DA20's but glass cockpit airplanes are not required for getting a private pilot certificate, instrument rating, multiengine rating, commercial certificate, CFI or CFII. Don't be wowed by the Garmin G1000 system- the airlines if and when when you apply are not going to ask you if you got your private pilot training in a Garmin G1000 airplane. They are not going to care if you know anything about a Garmin G1000 panel whatsoever and as a matter of fact, they are not going to hire you without 500 hours of dual instruction given in any airplane at this point in time.

Save your money and find an old Cessna 152 or an old Cessna 172 and train in that bucket of rivets until you have your CFI and CFII plus about 500 hours of dual instruction given.

Ok we go that part behind us (I hope). Next point is, do not borrow money for flight training, period. It's not worth it in the present economy with the recession coming, furloughs going on all around, and jet fuel prices bobbing all over the place. The regional airlines are struggling just to stay in business. They are not hiring quickly enough for it to be worth the trouble for you to get there sooner by taking out costly flight training loans. Most regionals are laying people off right now. Few to none are hiring. Loans are not the thing to be getting into right now.

But ok so let's say you want to learn to fly real bad and gave in to the temptation to get a loan for flight training. You decide to go for that Sallie Mae loan. Do you know what the interest you will pay will be on a large flight training loan, at only 5% APR? If you borrowed say $60,000 you are going to have to pay $3000 a year for that loan in interest alone. The second year another $3000, and so on. That's $250 a month for nothing more than the privilege of continuing to pay $250 a month. Your unpaid principal (the amount you originally borrowed) will see no reduction at all. You are on a hook that stretches into eternity.

If you paid that $250 a month that whole first year you would only be back to the point of being allowed to start the process all over again the next year with a $60,000 principal staring you in the face like it never happened, a bad dream that just won't end. All that money you paid the previous year was for naught because this is this year is this year and times marches on.

Loans are evil for an hourly wage earner unless they can pay them back fast and furious style. They are not worth having unless there is a high likelihood of getting hired at a yearly wage that is nearly equal to the original loan. For example, if you can make $50,000 a year from a job, then ok take out a loan for that amount to get such a job. Such wages are simply not available right now from jobs as a pilot. You will not get high enough wages from flying for pay right now to justify the crushing debt you will definitely be in if you take out Sallie Maes to the tune of $60,000. I have no doubt they will waste your time asking you to fill out applications for them.

You should see those Sallie Mae's as slave labor waiting to happen. I am trying to get through to you that you are going to regret it if you take out loans for flight training. You will not get a job strong enough to pay them back.

Once again, what you should do is keep working for ten bucks an hour or whatever it is you make and fly on weekends when you have the money. You should rent cheap airplanes like the 30 year old Cessna 172's at Flight School of Gwinnett, or some such place, for your training. There are rich people out there who can rent those Garmin G1000 airplanes, and there always will be, but you are not one of them. You will be one of the best pilots out there maybe but you will not be in debt.