Cost of Training to Become a Commercial Pilot in Canada?

[delineaffair]

How much should I realistically expect to spend on training to become a commercial pilot in Canada, including all certifications and associated costs?

[BE02 Driver]

It depends on the method that you choose.

You can buy a plane, train in it then sell it at the end, usually for the same or more than you paid for it and all you end up out of pocket for is fuel, maintenance and instructor fees for dual instruction. This is the cheapest way, but it involves upfront capital. Overall cost when I did this was under 20k after selling the plane I bought.

The most expensive way is through a school that provides ab initio to CPL program. Those will run you about 100-150k

[‘Bob’]

It depends on the method that you choose.

You can buy a plane, train in it then sell ot at the end, usually for the same or more than you paid for it and all you end up out of pocket for is fuel, maintainence and instructor fees for dual instruction. This is the cheapest way, but it involves upfront capital. Overall cost when I did this was under 20k after selling the plane I bought.

The most exspensive way is through a school that provides ad initio to CPL program. Those will run you about 100-150k

It’s also a gamble. Having to overhaul an engine halfway through your training will make renting seem like an absolute bargain.

Better to borrow someone else’s airplane.

[DanWEC]

Genuine question- what's the roi on resale value after an overhaul on a light single?

[digits_]

Genuine question- what's the roi on resale value after an overhaul on a light single?

Nowadays not too bad. I'd estimate if you spend 50k to overhaul your old TBO engine and flew it for 200 hours in a year, you'd likely increase your airplane value by about 30k.

Obviously if you bought it with a new engine, blew it up unexpectedly, and you overhauled it, there would be almost no increase.

[Squaretail]

Better to borrow someone else’s airplane.

If it flies, floats or f@#*s, its cheaper to rent.

[Bede]

Its not the engine overhaul that will get you, its all the small things that add up. Troubleshooting a mag, leaky fuel tank, cracked landing gear box, cables, etc.
An overhaul will get captured during resale. The other stuff doesnt.

If youre going to buy, split with 3 others to spread the maintenance costs out.

[digits_]

Its not the engine overhaul that will get you, its all the small things that add up. Troubleshooting a mag, leaky fuel tank, cracked landing gear box, cables, etc.
An overhaul will get captured during resale. The other stuff doesnt.

If youre going to buy, split with 3 others to spread the maintenance costs out.

True, but how many of those things do you realistically get/find during 200 hours of operation and 2 annuals?

If you've got bad luck you could encounter all of them, but if you're somewhat careful, it really shouldn't be too bad on something like a Cessna 150 for example.

[Bede]

I've seen it go both ways.

I've had a couple C150's (one for my CPL) and the other for my kid's training. It worked out well. I've seen others who ended up with thousands of dollars in repairs.

[CaptDukeNukem]

Better to borrow someone else’s airplane.

If it flies, floats or f@#*s, its cheaper to rent.

Lol. I love this

[JasonE]

I bought a plane to do my PPL. We put 400 hours on it in 4 years and sold it for what we paid. It worked out well, but I guess I got lucky with minimal repairs.

[TalkingPie]

By the time I'm done I'll likely be around $80k going the traditional pay-as-you fly rental at a school in a non-modular program. If you do it in minimum hours, I figure you can get away at around $65k. I'm at a relatively inexpensive school.

I have a friend who bought his own plane, a C150, and by his account it's been working out very well for him financially. He rents out the plane to other CPL students for time building, which offsets some costs. Buying a 45+ year-old plane as a student pilot is a financial risk, for sure, and is why I chickened out of doing it. I've also seen private owners have their plane be out of commission for weeks or even months when an unexpected repair is required and need to wait on parts/labour.

On the other hand, it allows for much more freedom and quality time building. Instead of renting for 2-4 hour blocks from a school, an owner can go where, how, and when they like, and I think that makes for better quality time building. To me, that's what I envy about not having bought a plane, although I'd still have to rent in order to do multi-engine training.

On the resale front, I've casually watched trainer Cessnas and Pipers go up tens of thousands of dollars in value over the 5 years since I started flying, so there's that.

[JasonE]

People are asking 80K for poorly equipped clapped out 172 these days. It's just silly.

[5x5]

If it flies, floats or f@#*s, its cheaper to rent.

An oldie but a goodie. I heard that way back in the 70’s and proceeded to totally ignore it for some reason.

I’m married, have owned a few boats and also a number of airplanes. Which I guess just proves another old but true saying - “You can’t fix stupid”.

[cdnavater]

There is often an option to buy a block of time off someone who owns an airplane, I can’t remember exactly how much but I bought 100 hours at a much cheaper rate than the school, saved a bunch that way. I was able to schedule it for a week at a time, so I could go on longer trips, I guess it would depend on how many others are also blocked.

[TalkingPie]

There is often an option to buy a block of time off someone who owns an airplane, I can’t remember exactly how much but I bought 100 hours at a much cheaper rate than the school, saved a bunch that way. I was able to schedule it for a week at a time, so I could go on longer trips, I guess it would depend on how many others are also blocked.

This is true and seems like a good option for CPL time building. As I understand it, though, you can only use an independent instructor for training if the training is done in your own plane or in one belonging to a family member, so you'd still have to rent through a school for your actual training hours. There are also schemes where people will put multiple owners on a plane's registration to get around this rule, but personally I don't think I'd be comfortable with that.

[Conflicting Traffic]

...you can only use an independent instructor for training if the training is done in your own plane or in one belonging to a family member, so you'd still have to rent through a school for your actual training hours.

This is only true for the RPP/PPL. Once you hold a licence and start training toward a higher license or rating, the requirement is that you get the aircraft at arm's length to the instructor. Your own aircraft is fine, but so is borrowing/renting an aircraft from someone else.

There are also schemes where people will put multiple owners on a plane's registration to get around this rule, but personally I don't think I'd be comfortable with that.

Again, this is only necessary for the PPL. I also think "scheme" is not really the right word due to the negative connotations it carries. "Complying with the regulations" might work better:). Not being comfortable with it is fine, you do you. But there's nothing underhanded about it.

[Red_Comet]

Only problem with buying a plane is the up-front risks associated with going all in on flying. Spend enough time near an FTU and you'll see lots of prospective students come and go with their dreams crushed. Flying isn't for everyone, regardless of what you hear on these forums and from pilots in general (who are likely hotdogging as we are known to do at times).

Flight training gets continuously harder at every stage, and committing a ton of cash up front is a bad idea for this reason alone. I would highly recommend prospective students get their RPP or PPL first at a pay-as-you-go FTU, and then decide if flying is their career of choice. Lots of time, cash and heartache will be avoided with this modular approach.

If money is no object, the ab-inito programs can't be beat as they guarantee you a job at the end and generally use very nice machines.

[CaptDukeNukem]

Only problem with buying a plane is the up-front risks associated with going all in on flying. Spend enough time near an FTU and you'll see lots of prospective students come and go with their dreams crushed. Flying isn't for everyone, regardless of what you hear on these forums and from pilots in general (who are likely hotdogging as we are known to do at times).

Flight training gets continuously harder at every stage, and committing a ton of cash up front is a bad idea for this reason alone. I would highly recommend prospective students get their RPP or PPL first at a pay-as-you-go FTU, and then decide if flying is their career of choice. Lots of time, cash and heartache will be avoided with this modular approach.

If money is no object, the ab-inito programs can't be beat as they guarantee you a job at the end and generally use very nice machines.

No job is guaranteed.

[apestogetherstrong.]

Such a gamble these days with the low entry pay & high training costs

[CaptDukeNukem]

Such a gamble these days with the low entry pay & high training costs

Did you just create another account but add a “period” to the end. You’re weird. Keep trolling.