Question 1

Are taxes included in the listed prices?

Accepted Answer

Oregon has no sales tax. This means no additional tax is charged on flight training. Many flight schools in Europe and in the USA initially list prices without taxes that have to be paid on top later. In Oregon, that is not the case. This helps you calculate the actual training costs more clearly and realistically, since no additional taxes will be added later.

Question 2

How does the payment system for training work?

Accepted Answer

Students use a Student Payment System that can either be linked to a bank account or funded with a deposit. All completed flights and training sessions are then billed through this system. You are only charged for what actually took place – no advance payment is required for services not yet completed. Any remaining balance is refunded to the student at the end of training. This ensures transparency and gives students much better control over their actual training costs.

Question 3

Do I have to pay landing fees in the USA?

Accepted Answer

No. In Europe it is very common to be charged a fee for every landing at an airfield or airport. This adds up quickly during training, because student pilots perform a large number of takeoffs and landings. In the USA this is not common practice, and our training program includes no additional landing fees. This is a real advantage of training in the USA, as it reduces overall costs and makes budgeting significantly easier and more transparent.

Question 4

What can cause training to be more expensive than planned?

Accepted Answer

Every student learns at a different pace, and various factors can lead to more flight or training time being needed than originally planned. Typical reasons include: slower progress in the early phase of training (especially during the PPL), failed written exams or practical checkrides, longer training breaks (e.g. during summer months), and an irregular training schedule. Our goal is always to conduct training in a structured, efficient manner without unnecessary flight hours. At the same time, it is important to understand that individual differences in learning progress are completely normal.

Question 5

Why do we not calculate the PPL based on the legal minimum of 40 hours?

Accepted Answer

The FAA requires a minimum of 40 flight hours for the Private Pilot Certificate. In practice, however, very few students actually complete the license at exactly this minimum. Most students realistically need around 60 flight hours (helicopter) or 50 flight hours (airplane) to safely fulfill all requirements at a solid training level. Therefore our calculations are based not on the legal minimum, but on realistic figures from the training of our students. This helps provide a much more accurate picture of actual training costs and avoids unpleasant surprises later in training.

Question 6

Why is there no separate hour-building phase before the CPL on the price list?

Accepted Answer

In many European training systems, there is a separate hour-building phase between the Private Pilot License and the start of Commercial training. This means students must accumulate additional flight hours after the PPL before they can continue with the CPL. FAA training works differently: training continues on a continuous and structured path, without a separate hour-building phase between the PPL and CPL being necessary. This generally makes the process clearer, more efficient, and often more cost-effective.

Question 7

How does the fuel surcharge work?

Accepted Answer

The fuel surcharge is an additional charge on top of the regular hourly flight rate. It is used to transparently reflect fluctuations in fuel prices without constantly having to adjust the actual training rates. The surcharge is adjusted weekly based on current fuel prices.

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