Frequently Asked Questions

Much of this depends on which aircraft you fly, how often you fly and how quickly you pick up the skills required to be proficient in each area. Generally, if you are consistently flying once or twice a week in one of our DA20 aircraft then the overall total cost will average $12,000.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires a minimum of 40 hours in-flight training. At Crosswinds, we average about 45 – 55 hours, less than the U.S. average of 60-70 hours. Please visit the Private Pilot Training page for more information.

We do have a student loan program available through our partner Meritize for the professional pilot path:

For more information about Meritize, you can check out there site here: https://www.meritize.com/

If you are interested in completing a Meritize application, that can be done here: https://apply.meritize.com/?pc=23230. That application is specific to our program.

No, perfect vision is not required. However, a pilot’s vision needs to be correctable to 20/20. Additionally, you will need to pass a Class III FAA medical exam to solo and ultimately receive your license.

Our normal office hours are week days 9am-5pm. However, we fly by appointment 7 days a week, early morning to late evening. Each instructor’s schedule is posted to our online scheduler with their availability. We try to accommodate all schedules and make it easy for our clients to schedule their flights. Most of our instructors are willing to fly as early as 7:00am and as late as 11:00pm. For available flight times, please sign up for our Online Scheduler page.

We cannot provide sport pilot license training at Crosswinds because we don’t have a light sport aircraft. However, if you get a Class III FAA medical certificate, we recommend getting your private pilot license because it will be more useful than a sport pilot license.

Yes! For many of us pilots this is our favorite time to fly! During the winter the air is smoother and the airplanes perform very well in the colder temperatures. All of our aircraft are fully-equipped with heated cabins and are stored in our heated hanger.

Depending on your schedule, you can get your license in as little as a month-and-a-half to a year. On average, if you can fly once or twice a week, then you can get your license in 4-6 months.

The most important safety factor of flying is staying ahead of the aircraft…completing all tasks before the next stage of flight. Glass cockpits present information in a way that is easy to interpret and process so that you can more efficiently complete your tasks. Additionally, most glass cockpit aircraft provide information that isn’t available in most other round gauge avionics; this includes weather, fuel-planning, airport conditions, and much more.

Yes! The private pilot license allows you to fly day-or-night, with no distance limitations.

No, most of our clients will continue to rent our airplanes after earning their license. Generally speaking, if you fly less than 150 hours/year it does not make sense financially to purchase your own aircraft. At Crosswinds, we encourage and support rental of our fleet aircraft. As we continue to grow our fleet, we are always working on adding aircraft so we have a good selection for your rental needs. We can also help you decide if purchasing an aircraft makes sense for your needs, and will consult our clients on which aircraft will be best for their use.

– Every 50 hours: oil-change
– Every 100 hours: 100-hour/annual inspection
We are extremely meticulous about aircraft maintenance. Each plane is taken to maintenance shops that specialize in their specific manufacturer. We fix every issue, even if it is cosmetic, to reduce any distraction to the pilots.

No, you don’t need to go through formal, university-type-training for your pilot’s license. We provide the complete curriculum required to get your licenses. Visit the Start Flying page for more information.