Most students take 60–70 hours, not 40.
See your real hours, costs, and milestones from day one — not the FAA minimum.
Everything on your way to the certificate.
One cockpit for the whole journey — logging, planning, scheduling, and instruction.
Progress dashboard
Hours, cost, and milestone dials update live as you log — your real numbers, not the FAA minimum.
Cost planner
See where your budget stands and project your runway to checkride in dollars, not guesses.
Milestone cards
Pre-solo → cross-country → checkride, tracked to completion with shareable milestone cards.
Learning mode
Study topics, flashcards, and quizzes keyed to your stage — stay sharp between flights.
Sim training
Assignments, sim logs, and confidence tracking — keep proficiency between flights.
Calendar
Schedule lessons, sync with your CFI, and never miss a session.
Three steps to cleared for takeoff.
Set your target
Create your profile, set target hours and budget, and link your instructor.
Log as you train
Capture flights, sims, and ground sessions in seconds — totals roll up live.
Watch it come together
Progress, costs, and milestones update in real time, for you and your CFI.
Simple pricing that scales with you.
Start free for a month, then pay only if your instructor or school isn't already on Flightpath.
Students
Free if your instructor or school already uses Flightpath — most students end up covered at no cost.
Personal
Track your flying, your way — no structured training required. Hours, currency, costs, and milestones.
Instructors
Roster, safety reporting, scheduling, and CFI↔student chat. $3/mo per additional student.
Schools
Scales with school size — full admin dashboard, analytics, and cross-location oversight.
Flightpath is in active beta — pricing may evolve as we grow.
Real numbers, every path. Not just the regulatory floor.
Flightpath shows the honest FAA minimum alongside the real-world average for each certificate, rating, and endorsement — sourced from 14 CFR Part 61.
PPL (ASEL)
The foundational pilot certificate. 40-hour regulatory floor; most students finish around 60–70 hours.
PPL (Helicopter)
The foundational helicopter certificate. 40-hour regulatory floor. Unlike airplane PPL, § 61.109(c) has no separate 3-hour 'instrument' dual requirement built in.
Instrument (Airplane)
Fly in Instrument Meteorological Conditions under IFR. Requires cross-country PIC time plus actual/simulated instrument time.
Commercial (ASEL)
Fly for compensation or hire. 250-hour total minimum with specific PIC, instrument, and cross-country breakdowns.
CFI (Airplane)
No large aggregate flight-hour requirement — CFI eligibility is prerequisite- and training-based. Earn the certificate, then gain first-solo endorsement authority after 15 hours of giving flight training in that category/class.
Proficiency-based — cost varies by pilot. Typical: ~3–5 hrs flight.
Proficiency-based — cost varies by pilot. Typical: ~Similar to High Perf.
Proficiency-based — cost varies by pilot. Typical: ~Varies.
Proficiency-based — cost varies by pilot. Typical: ~Varies.
14 CFR Part 61, current as of Sep 2026 — confirm with your CFI, as regulations can change.
What it actually costs to become a pilot.
FAA hour minimums are fixed by regulation. Cost ranges and realistic average hours are current, industry-sourced ranges — your actual cost will vary by region, school, and pace.
Helicopter training runs roughly 2–3× fixed-wing costs — driven by higher aircraft operating costs (an R22 wet-rents ~$350–500/hr vs ~$160–220/hr for a fixed-wing trainer). Tap a path to see its full breakdown.
PPL (ASEL)
Roughly 60–70 hrs at typical wet aircraft rental + instructor rates; some markets run higher.
Instrument (Airplane)
Commercial (ASEL)
Incremental, on top of PPL + IR.
CFI (Airplane)
Incremental add-on — mostly ground training and knowledge-test prep rather than flight hours.
Rough estimate from typical 3–5 hrs flight + 1–2 hrs ground at standard dual rates — no fixed FAA hour requirement.
Similar range to High Performance; often combined in the same training block if the airplane is both complex and high-performance.
Typically completed in 1–2 weeks.
Short, intensive course (often 2–3 days). Rough estimate — flagged for refinement with real quotes.
These are current industry-sourced ranges, not FAA figures — actual cost depends heavily on your region, school, and pace. Flightpath tracks your real, personal cost as you train, not just an industry average.