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Ponderosa Aero Club has been offering superior flight training and providing its membership with a well maintained fleet of aircraft since 1974. We currently have eight
experienced flight instructors on staff and twelve aircraft. Once you learn to fly at Ponderosa, you’ll never need to find another source of aircraft to fly. We provide training for private, instrument, commercial, and flight instructor ratings. We have the latest in technically advanced aircraft with the G1000 glass cockpit in our DA40, if you're interested in that, or we have well equipped older models if you're economy minded. We also offer backcountry flight training, and provide numerous safety seminars, and social events.
Learning to fly can be one of the most challenging and rewarding activities of your life. Learn to fly with Ponderosa Aero Club and we’ll schedule your training around your schedule. You can learn at your own pace and work one-on-one with your instructor. We use the Jeppesen Guided Flight Discovery System
A Breakdown of Basic Private Pilot Costs* **Ground instruction - The Jeppesen course is an integrated flight training course that consists of part self-study and part one-on-one with an instructor @$32/hr. so the amount spent on ground instruction can vary by the preparedness of the student.
So, where do you begin? First, we need to make you a member of Ponderosa Aero Club. That’s easy. You need to fill out an application and return it with a $20 application fee. We run driving record and credit checks on all our prospective members. If those come back satisfactorily in a couple of days, we sit you down and go over our membership agreement, Club by-laws, and rule book. We sell you the Private Pilot Kit which contains all your books, and everything you’ll need to learn to fly. We sell the kits at cost. Then we’ll put you with a flight instructor who’ll sit you down, get to know you, and personalize a flight training schedule just for you.
Some frequently asked questions:
Do you offer an intro flight so that I can see if this is really something I want to do before I commit?
Yes we do. For $35-40 we can take you up for about half an hour (it's just the hourly rate on the aircraft and we throw the pilot in for free. The 172 is $73/hour), put you in the left seat, let you get your hands on the controls, and we know you'll be hooked!
How long does it take to get a license?
Well, that depends on you. The FAA requires a minimum of 40 hours of flight training to get a license, but the national average is closer to 70 hours. You’ll have to pass a checkride with the FAA before you can get a license, so it’s a very individual thing. It depends on how often you fly and whether you have an inherent aptitude for the task. We recommend that you fly about twice a week. At that rate, you can expect to be licensed in about six months.
About how much does it cost to get a private pilot’s license?
Again, it depends on how long it takes you, but you can expect to spend somewhere in the range of $6000. In this business, you get what you pay for, so remember, you need three things to do this safely; good training, good equipment, and good judgment. So when you’re shopping for a place to do your flight training, make sure you’re getting all three.
What can I do with a private pilot’s license?
Well, once you get your license,you can fly pretty much anywhere you like, for pleasure or business. Distances shrink dramatically once you can fly there. You can fly to McCall for breakfast in less than an hour. You can fly to Arizona in less than a day. You can fly on a sunny Saturday just for the fun of it. You can carry passengers. As a student pilot, you can’t do that. That doesn’t mean you can fly for hire, though. But you can share expenses 50/50 with your passengers. You can fly for business. In other words, if your job requires some travel, and you want to use your piloting skills, your business can reimburse you for the expenses incurred with using an airplane, but it has to be just incidental to doing that business.
What if I want to make flying a career?
Ponderosa has recently become associated with Utah Valley State College and the Global Aviation Degree Program to provide online courses for associate and bachelor's degrees in aviation. And we provide the flight training toward a commercial license. Student financing is available for this program. It all begins with that private pilot’s license. Then you move on to an instrument rating. That will cost about the same amount as the private license, but will allow you to fly in the clouds. After that, at 250 hours, you can earn a commercial pilot’s license. No, I’m afraid it’s going to take more than that to get hired by United. What can you legally do with a commercial certificate? You can go on to get a flight instructor’s certificate. A lot of airline captains earned experience by teaching others. You can give sightseeing flights if you don’t go over 25 miles from your home airport. You can tow banners or gliders. You can fly parachutists. Not a lot, eh? For the airlines, you’re going to need lots of time and experience to get hired. How you get that is very individual. Flying air taxi (which requires another certificate), freight, instructing, military experience; there’s no one way to get that United job. But it can be done if you really want it.
How does Ponderosa Aero Club work?
We’re a non-profit organization that exists strictly to provide training and availability of aircraft to its members. A membership costs $260 which includes a $180 annual fee and the first month’s dues of $80. Annual fees for the next four years will be $150/year; after five year’s continuous active membership, annual fees cease. Dues are $80/month, but we give our members a $30 fly back credit to increase member flight proficiency. In other words, if you fly during a specific month, your dues will only be $50. The club aircraft are all owned by club members and leased back to the club. The aircraft are operated at cost, and every dollar earned by an aircraft goes back to that aircraft. The club offices, manager’s salary and general operating expenses of the club are financed strictly from dues and fees.
How do I pay for my flight training?
Everytime you fly or receive flight instruction, you’ll write that up on an invoice. At the end of the month, you’ll be sent a statement of all charges made that month. You must pay off that statement by the 15th of the following month. Or you can put money on account and fly that off. A guesstimate of a typical flight lesson would be about 1 hour of flight time (a Cessna 172 goes for $73/hour) and about an hour and a half of the flight instructor’s time (they’re a bargain at $32/hour). The flight instructor is paid the same amount whether he is giving ground or flight instruction. The typical lesson is going to take about two hours of your time. There will be some that take longer. Soon, you’ll have your first solo flight! Few things in life are as exciting as flying your own airplane! Ponderosa can make you the best pilot you can be. You just have to begin...
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