Plan your training.
See your budget.
Choose your goals and an aircraft category, then enter your previous training and adjust the plan. See future aircraft rental and instruction separately.
Planning estimate only. Editable hours are budget assumptions, not a fixed course price or a promise of completion.
Every student progresses at a different pace. The time needed depends on preparation before each lesson, how regularly you train, how you develop the required knowledge and skills, and factors such as weather and scheduling. Review and adjust your plan with your instructor as you progress.
What would you like to work toward?
Select one stage or build a path. Leave completed stages unselected.
Choose one aircraft budget category.
Wet rates include fuel. Budget categories are subject to aircraft suitability and availability.
Make the plan fit your logbook.
How to use the hour fields
- Set the total hours you plan to complete, including any qualifying training you have already done.
- Enter that completed training in the separate fields below. The estimator subtracts it to show future hours and cost.
- Enter only the work still ahead in fields marked Future. Review all qualifying experience with your instructor.
For example: 50 planned dual hours minus 10 qualifying dual hours completed means 40 future dual hours. For a new PPL student, the example is 50 dual + 25 solo = 75 flight hours.
This total is shown for every course. It reduces PPL and Commercial total-time gaps. IR needs instrument and PIC cross-country credit; CFI uses completed preparation hours. Enter the relevant completed training in the selected stage below.
Allow for the other costs.
Add your allowance for membership, medical, knowledge tests, checkride / examiner fees, equipment, safety-pilot costs, or other expenses. No amounts for these are assumed.
Minimum requirements are a starting point.
Training often takes more than the regulatory minimum. Use the planning hours below as a starting budget, then adjust them with your instructor.
| Training stage | FAA minimum / requirement | Planning benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| Private Pilot | 40 total flight hours; 20 instruction and 10 solo, with specific experience requirements. | 75 total flight hoursApproximate U.S. average reported by FAA. |
| Instrument Rating | 40 instrument hours; at least 15 with a qualified instructor. Applicable 50-hour PIC cross-country requirement. | 60 instrument hoursClub planning assumption. Additional PIC cross-country flying may be needed. |
| Commercial Pilot | 250 total flight hours for the standard single-engine path, with specified experience and training. | 300 total flight hoursClub planning goal, including prior experience and earlier stages. |
| Flight Instructor | Required flight and ground training and proficiency. No fixed course-hour minimum. | 20 flight-preparation hoursClub planning assumption, plus an editable 40-hour ground allowance. |
Only the PPL figure is identified here as an FAA-reported national average. The IR, Commercial, and CFI figures are planning assumptions, not verified national averages. These figures describe different experience categories and should not simply be added together.
How your experience affects the estimate
PPL: your total time reduces the gap to the total-flight-time goal. Qualifying dual and solo credit reduce remaining instruction and solo requirements separately.
IR: total time alone cannot identify instrument or PIC cross-country experience. Specific credits reduce the appropriate remaining hours. PIC cross-country that overlaps future instrument flights is counted once; any remaining gap is budgeted separately.
Commercial: logged hours and earlier selected stages reduce additional time building. Remaining TAA instruction is a separate block. TAA credit reduces instructor cost even when aircraft time is still needed to reach the total-time goal.
CFI: credit completed preparation for this plan, then budget the remaining flight and ground work.
What to confirm with your instructor
The table summarizes minimum FAA requirements. Review all experience categories, recent training, endorsements, aircraft eligibility, and checkride readiness; this estimator does not determine eligibility.
Private Pilot requirements: 14 CFR 61.109.
Instrument requirements and permitted credit: 14 CFR 61.65. The budget assumes the standard 50-hour PIC cross-country path; confirm whether an applicable exception or combined program changes your requirements.
Commercial requires specified training, including the qualifying 10-hour complex, turbine, or TAA block. This plan assumes TAA: 14 CFR 61.129.
CFI required training and proficiency: 14 CFR 61.187.
The calculation runs in your browser. It does not submit or save the values you enter.