Originally Posted by TI 3VOM

Like I said before, you should not be so concentrated on the cost of the aircraft and instructor. The little bit of price difference per hour between all those schools really does not make much of difference in the total amount you will pay for the entire training. You need to find a school that fits your situation and provides good training, not just the school with the cheapest rates.

If you want to strictly look at the numbers, here is an example. Say price for 152+instructor is $148 per hour at School A. School B’s rate is $160 (using your numbers from Hillsboro and Sky walk) but they provide better training and instructors, better maintained aircraft ect. (Hypothetically speaking). Now say you spend 55 hours to complete your private, which is realistic, at School A 148*55=8140, but if you went to school B which provided better instruction, you were able to finish in 50 hrs 160*50 = 8000. The higher per hour rate school B still came out cheaper in the end. So you cannot just look at the rental rates. The rates you listed from those schools are probably the lowest you are going to find. Also, do you want to become a CFI in the states to build time? You then need to look at if the school hires a high percentage of their graduates too.


If that little bit of price difference is very important to you, then you probably shouldn't be starting a career in aviation.
Just my two cents anyway