Flight Schools Offer a Chance To Soar
by October 30, 2000 12:00 am 69 views
There are a handful of flight schools in Northwest Arkansas, and anyone wanting to invest a few hours each week could earn a pilot’s license in about two months.
It takes 40 hours of flight time — 20 through instruction and 20 solo — to earn a license from Drake Aviation Academy Inc. in Springdale (formerly in Fayetteville). If the individual learns on a two-seater Cessna 152, the cost for the school is $3,500. If the student is taught on a four-seater Cessna 172, it is $4,000. That price includes all fees, books and anything else incurred during training.
Drake Aviation averages about 50 students per year. A student taking the class two to three times a week can finish in about 2 1/2 months. There are no time requirements to finish the school.
The license is acknowledged almost anywhere in the country.
Once earning a license, pilots who do not own a personal aircraft can rent small planes at many airports. Springdale Municipal Airport rents the Cessna 150 and 152 for $55 an hour and the Cessna 172 for $75 an hour. The charge is only for the time the aircraft is in the air.