How Much Does It Cost?
What is the cost of obtaining a Sport Pilot license to fly light sport aircraft?
Several variables affect the cost of learning to fly a light sport aircraft (LSA), including frequency of flight lessons, weather conditions, the type of sport aircraft in which you are training and its availability for scheduling, and individual aptitude.
As was described in the Dream of Flying/What Will I Fly? section, generally, the PPC is the easiest and least expensive, the weight-shift control trike is in the middle and the airplane is the most expensive.
Another comparison is that the sport pilot airplane is half the cost of the private pilot airplane license.
Using airplane as an example, some schools offer the minimum hours and $2500 to get your sport pilot license. However, this is only the minimum flight hours, which is usually more and there is typically no ground school. Therefore, the applicant may not be adequately flight trained or must provide more money to get the proper flight skills. Additionally, this may not include the checkride, training materials, knowledge test endorsement/cost or ground school.
The cheapest airplane with an instructor may not be the best program. Airplane/instructor prices with fuel for modern LSA range from $120 to $180 per hour. Typically it should cost between $4500 to $6500 to get properly trained and all the other required items by a qualified school. These averages will go down for WSC and PPC but this provides some basis to budget from.
Once you have decided to get your sport pilot license, you may want to purchase your own light sport aircraft.
More: Aircraft Cost
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