Log of Expenses for a Recent Graduate

Log of Expenses for a Recent "Graduate"

This record presents the expenses for a (typical?) student pilot starting from scratch and earning a Private Pilot certificate. A pictoral representation is available in postscript form, along with a text caption.

The total cost breakdown goes like this:

 TYPE OF EXPENSE                                        dollars
54.3 hours of tach time on C-152:                        2064
46   hours of instructor time:                            945
total equipment cost (headset, nav. tools, etc.):         390
books, charts, airport directory, FAA exams:              546
AACIT deposit, initiation fees, monthly dues:             251
expenses incidental to flying:                             71
WASH DAY credits (3 @ $38)                               -114  
Grand total expenses:                                    4153

In addition, there were 39 round trips to El Monte.

Other interesting totals relating to the flight experience are as follows:

34 days of flying
67 hours of total time in airplane (cf. 54.3 hours of tachometer time)
landings at 18 different airports
10 lessons plus one AACIT phase check before first solo flight
5 more lessons plus 2 AACIT phase checks (only one nec.) before solo X-country
4 more lessons before Private Pilot certificate

It is important to point out that this is only one pilot's experience. The amount of time and money spent can vary quite a bit from those presented above. The Federal Aviation Regulations require much less flying time than was gained in the above experience, however the above is probably pretty close to average.