P&N Flight and Charter
Marion - Clinton - Independence, IA

The average cost of a private pilot certificate is approximately $10,000. The private pilot certificate is the starting point no matter what you want to do with aviation. You can go from zero experience to a Commercial Pilot for less than $45,000. While this sounds like a lot, it's less than a new car and you decide your own pace and pay as you go. This saves thousands over big name schools. 

The private pilot certification can be earned in as little as 40 hours of flight time. However, if you go weeks or months between lessons, you will spend more time reviewing. Students spend less when they keep their lessons closer together. You can choose to do an accreted course or at your own pace. Therefore certification can very widely between 3 weeks and over a year depending on how committed the student is. 

Formal ground school is not required for any certificate or rating that P&N offers. You can complete the ground study one on one with your instructor until he or she feels you are able to pass the written test. We do offer classroom setting courses geared towards passing the written test, whereas you time in the airplane will help you to pass the flight test. The ground school is taught by an FAA Designated Pilot Examiner. 

The FAA warrants that each pilot is fit to fly before taking to the air. Certain medication and conditions are disqualifying, but even then, most can get a waiver for their medical issues. You are required to take a physical before your first solo flight or becoming a pilot. Sport pilots are not required togo through this process because they are limited to very light aircraft. Your instructor will recommend an FAA approved medical examiner when the time is right and help you complete the forms. It is important that you consult your CFI before completing the application. Pilots with well managed high blood pressure, diabetes, or past major injuries can still get a medical certification.

Students under 6 feet tall and under 180lbs may choose to learn in our Citabria. Few flight schools in the midwest are still offering this option as average weights of adults have increased since the last decades. Taller students will learn in a Cessna 172 or a Piper Warrior which offers more room and payload. Complex aircraft like our Piper Arrow or Beechcraft Bonanza satisfy the requirements for more advanced ratings and are not for initial certifications. Upon completing a course with P&N, you will be certified for any single engine airplane and have experience in multiple makes and models of airplanes.

P&N students complete stage checks with different instructors at milestones for each different course they may be completing. You will be re-assured through each phase of training that your skills are up to our standard. It is very common for students to fly with more than one instructor during their training at P&N, where other flights schools may have you stuck with just one instructor. It's just the nature of the industry, schedule with who you want to fly with, and try out different instructors for different perspectives.

This is a common myth. You do not need to have perfect eyesight. A large percentage of commercial and airline pilots wear contacts or glasses. Even if you don't, you still don't need exactly 20/20 vision fly for pleasure or for hire. Some pilots are even colorblind. 

It's personal service on your schedule. Fly before or after work, on weekends, many holidays, and during the day. We use an online schedule system so you can reserve an airplane and your instructor on one simple system. Our instructors fly full-time and are committed to instructing. Call 319-377-0457 to schedule your first lesson or charter flight.