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Desert Skies
Book · $199

Continue training

Pick up whereyou left off.

Training you have logged counts here, wherever you flew it. Enter your hours and the Program Builder prices only what is left. One evaluation flight with an instructor confirms it.

Build my remaining costAsk for an evaluation flight
Example · Private pilot20 of the 60 planned flight hours already in your logbook
The whole plan
$19,300
What is left
$13,400
3 hr of checkride prep stay in the plan

Off the estimate

$5,900

FULL THROTTLE block rates · Piper Warrior or Cessna 172 · updated Nov 2, 2026

01How it works

Your hourscome with you.

We train under 14 CFR part 61, so there is no course to restart and no credit limit on the hours you bring. Moving from another school, or coming back after a break, is the same three steps.

  1. Bring your logbook

    Training you have logged counts toward the FAA minimums, wherever you flew it.

  2. Fly an evaluation

    An instructor flies with you, reads your logbook and endorsements, and sees what still needs work.

  3. Train what is left

    Your plan starts from your hours, and our portal tracks every lesson against what the FAA requires.

02Program Builder

What is left,priced.

Pick the certificate you are working on, then enter the hours you have flown toward it. They come off instructor time first, and the checkride prep stays. Lock it and add the next stage for a program total; the link in your address bar saves it.

Certificate or rating

01 · Private pilot

$19,300

Planned total · FULL THROTTLE block

Private pilot: $19,300 planned.

  • Simulator saves: 2.5 hr at $50 instead of $260 with an instructor in the airplane

    $525

  • FULL THROTTLE block: prepay $7,000, 20% off the airplane

    $1,200

Flight
60 hr
15 solo
Simulator
2.5 hr
instructor only
Briefings
20 hr
on the ground
At your pace
4 mo
3 / wk

This stage

Transferring or picking back up? We take your hours off the plan, instructor time first, and keep the 3 hours of checkride prep the FAA requires. One evaluation flight confirms where you are.

2.5 / 2.5

The FAA credits up to 2.5 hours toward this stage (14 CFR 61.109(k)). Fewer simulator hours move into the airplane with an instructor.

Your whole program

Airplane
Prepaid block
Pace

Your estimate

Private pilot on its own. Lock it to keep it, then add the next stage to see the whole program.

$19,300

About 4 months at 3 a week · $4,650 a month

  • Simulator savings

    $525

  • FULL THROTTLE block savings

    $1,200

Build my Flight Plan

All three keep your numbers.

Rates from our portal · updated Nov 2, 2026

03Currency and endorsements

Reviews, checksand endorsements.

Priced from the same rate card as training, with the rule behind each. Fly the FAA minimum, or the full lesson plan in our portal if you have been away a while.

  • Flight review

    Every 24 calendar months, to keep acting as pilot in command.

    The FAA minimum
    1 hr on the ground · 1 hr in the airplane
    $380
    Full refresher
    9 lessons · ground, airplane and simulator
    $2,000
    • Passed a checkride in the last 24 calendar months? It counts as your flight review.
    • The review itself is flown in the airplane; the simulator lessons are practice.

    14 CFR 61.56(opens in a new tab)

  • Instrument proficiency check

    When your instrument currency has lapsed for more than six calendar months.

    Full refresher
    9 lessons · 3.5 hr in the Redbird FMX
    $2,025
    Per hour in the airplane
    FULL THROTTLE block · Redbird FMX $50 · ground $100
    $260
    • The FAA sets no minimum time. The check covers the tasks in the Instrument Rating ACS.
    • Part of it can be flown in the Redbird FMX; the rest is flown in the airplane.

    14 CFR 61.57(opens in a new tab)Redbird FMX · FAA letter of authorization(opens in a new tab)

  • Complex endorsement

    Once, before you act as pilot in command of an airplane with retractable gear, flaps and a controllable-pitch propeller.

    Per flight hour
    Piper Arrow · airplane, fuel, instructor · FULL THROTTLE block
    $292
    As we plan it
    3 to 5 flight hours, plus briefings
    $876–$1,460
    • Ground and flight training, then a one-time logbook endorsement that never needs renewing.

    14 CFR 61.31(opens in a new tab)

Lesson hours from our portal syllabi · read Nov 2, 2026

Prices from our portal · updated Nov 2, 2026

Book a review or check

04Between flights

Stay currenton the ground.

Instrument currency can be logged in the Redbird FMX or the Gleim BATD in our suite, with no instructor: six approaches, holding, and intercepting and tracking courses in the last six calendar months. Jaybird Sim Center runs both and sells time to any pilot.

14 CFR 61.57(c)(2)(opens in a new tab)
The simulators

  • Intro hour

    $85a hour

    • One hour in the Redbird FMX
    • No membership needed

  • Currency

    For currency

    $249a month

    • 10 Redbird, 10 Gleim and 10 golf hours a month
    • Book 7 days out
    • 24/7 keypad access

    3-month minimum

With one of our instructors beside you, add $50 an hour. Enrolled with us? The FMX device is included in your training.

Jaybird Sim Center prices · read Nov 2, 2026

See every Jaybird plan(opens in a new tab)

Questions

Transferquestions.

All questions
  • I already have hours. Do I start over?

    No. Under part 61, training you have logged counts toward the FAA minimums, wherever you flew it. Bring your logbook and your instructor plans only what is left. On our Continue training page, enter your hours in the Program Builder and they come off the estimate.

    14 CFR 61.109(opens in a new tab)

  • I already have my private. Where do I start?

    At Instrument. Pick the stages you need in the Program Builder or your Flight Plan, add the hours you have logged, and they come off the plan.

  • I trained at a part 141 school. Does that time count?

    Yes. Time you logged there counts toward the part 61 minimums. Moving the other way is harder: a part 141 school can credit no more than 25 percent of its course for training done outside part 141 or 142.

    14 CFR 141.77(opens in a new tab)

  • Do you do flight reviews and instrument proficiency checks?

    Yes, each with its own lesson plan in our portal. A flight review is due every 24 calendar months and takes at least an hour on the ground and an hour in the air, $380 at our rates. An IPC is required once your instrument currency has lapsed for more than six months, and part of it can be flown in the Redbird FMX. Call or text (480) 409-3781 to book one.

    14 CFR 61.56(opens in a new tab)14 CFR 61.57(opens in a new tab)

  • Can I do a checkride, flight review or IPC in the simulator?

    Not a checkride, and not the flight portion of a flight review. The FMX letter allows an instrument proficiency check in the device, but not all of it; the rest is flown in an airplane.

    Redbird FMX · FAA letter of authorization(opens in a new tab)

Evaluation flight

Bring your logbook.

One flight with an instructor shows where you are. Your plan, and your price, start from there.

Build my remaining costAsk for an evaluation flight