East Hill Flying Club Cost: Membership, Dues, and Aircraft Rates
East Hill Flying Club at Ithaca Tompkins International Airport is one of the clearest worked examples of why non-profit club flying is the cheapest genuine path to a licence. Joining costs a $400 initiation fee, a $700 refundable deposit that makes you a part-owner of the aircraft, and $60 a month in dues. Aircraft rent wet from $135 an hour for a Cessna 152 up to $220 for the Skylane and Mooney, and the club's own estimate for a private pilot certificate is about 65 hours and $17,000. This page works the verified published numbers and shows how club economics undercut a for-profit flight school.
The all-in cost to join and start flying at East Hill is a $400 initiation fee, a $700 refundable deposit, and $60 a month in dues, plus wet aircraft time at $135/hr for a Cessna 152 or $165/hr for a Cessna 172. The club estimates a private pilot certificate at about 65 hours and $17,000.
Source: East Hill Flying Club fleet rates and membership costs (verified September 2026).
What it costs to join
East Hill publishes three joining numbers and they behave very differently from a flight school's fees. There is a $400 initiation fee, which is a genuine one-time sunk cost. There is a $700 deposit, which is the club's defining feature: it is refundable when you leave, and while you are a member it makes you a part-owner of the aircraft rather than a customer renting them. And there are $60 monthly dues for active members, which spread the club's fixed costs (hangar, insurance, maintenance reserves) across the membership.
The practical result: the true first-year cost of membership is about $1,120 (the $400 initiation plus twelve months of $60 dues), with the $700 deposit returned when you eventually leave. A member who stops flying for a season can switch to inactive status at no monthly charge and reactivate later, which is a meaningful advantage over a school where you simply stop being a customer and lose any block-time discount.
Fleet and wet rental rates
Every aircraft rents wet, so fuel and oil are included in the hourly rate. That makes these numbers directly comparable to the commercial-school Cessna 172 wet-rate benchmark of $180 to $220 an hour, and East Hill sits below it on the same airplane. The nine-aircraft fleet lets a member train cheaply in a 152, move up to a 172 for the cross-country and checkride phase, and later rent the Skylane or Mooney for fast travel.
| Aircraft | Fleet | Wet rate | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cessna 152 | 3 aircraft | $135/hr | Primary trainer, two-seat |
| Champion Citabria 7ECA | 1 aircraft | $155/hr | Tailwheel, aerobatic-capable |
| Cessna 172 | 3 aircraft | $165/hr | Four-seat, cross-country and checkride |
| Cessna 182Q Skylane | 1 aircraft | $220/hr | High-performance, complex travel |
| Mooney M20J | 1 aircraft | $220/hr | High-performance retractable, fast cross-country |
Rates from East Hill Flying Club's published fleet page (verified September 2026). All rates are wet (fuel and oil included).
The cost of a private pilot certificate at East Hill
The club's own flight-training page estimates about 65 flight hours and about $17,000 for a private pilot certificate. That figure holds up against the airplane math: 65 hours in a Cessna 152 at the published $135 wet rate is roughly $8,775 of aircraft time, which leaves about $8,000 for flight instruction, ground school, the FAA knowledge test and checkride fees, a headset, and materials. Instruction at East Hill is quoted separately from the wet aircraft rate, so confirm the current CFI rate with the club; the club's all-in $17,000 estimate already folds it in.
The reason the club estimate lands at the low end of this site's $12,000 to $18,000 national PPL range is structural, not promotional: a non-profit club renting wet below commercial rates, with the fixed costs paid through dues, produces a lower marginal cost per hour than a for-profit school has to charge. Treat $17,000 as a central estimate rather than a guarantee. A student who needs more than 65 hours, who trains in the 172 rather than the 152, or who flies infrequently and pays the AOPA-documented decay tax between lessons, will pay more. See the private pilot license cost analysis and the line-item PPL breakdown for the full national build-up.
Club versus flight school: the honest math
A flying club and a flight school are two different cost shapes. A school charges a higher wet rate and no membership; a club charges a lower wet rate plus a membership. The break-even turns on how many hours you fly. At East Hill, the Cessna 172 wet rate of $165 undercuts the $180 to $220 commercial benchmark by $15 to $55 an hour. Over a 65-hour private certificate that is roughly $1,000 to $3,600 saved on aircraft time alone, against a first-year membership cost of about $1,120 with the $700 deposit refundable. The more you fly, and the longer you keep flying after the certificate, the more decisively the club wins, because the low wet rate compounds over every hour while the membership cost is broadly fixed.
Where a school can be the simpler choice is at the very start, for a single discovery flight or for someone genuinely unsure they will continue, since there is no initiation fee or deposit to commit. But for anyone intending to finish a certificate and keep flying, the non-profit club model is the cheapest genuine path, which is the same conclusion this site reaches nationally: the way to beat the AOPA cost floor is a low-overhead operation and consistent flying, and a club delivers both. Compare with the New York flight school cost page for the wider state picture and Part 141 vs Part 61 for how the training structure affects the bill.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to join East Hill Flying Club in 2026?
East Hill publishes three joining numbers: a $400 initiation fee, a $700 refundable deposit, and $60 a month in dues for an active member. The $700 deposit is the club's key economic feature: it is refunded when you leave the club, and while you are a member it makes you a part-owner of the aircraft rather than a renter. So the genuine sunk cost of joining is the $400 initiation fee plus $60 a month, roughly $1,120 in the first year of active membership, with the $700 returned on departure. Members who stop flying for a while can go inactive at no monthly charge and reactivate later.
What are East Hill Flying Club's aircraft rental rates?
All aircraft rent wet, meaning fuel and oil are included in the hourly rate. For 2026 the club's published rates are $135 an hour for a Cessna 152 (the two-seat trainer, three in the fleet), $155 for the Champion Citabria 7ECA tailwheel, $165 for a Cessna 172 (four-seat, three in the fleet), $220 for the Cessna 182Q Skylane, and $220 for the Mooney M20J. Because rates are wet, they are directly comparable to the commercial-school Cessna 172 wet-rate benchmark of $180 to $220 an hour that AOPA and the big academies cite, and East Hill's $165 for the same airplane sits well below it.
How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at East Hill?
The club's own flight-training page estimates about 65 flight hours and about $17,000 for a private pilot certificate. That estimate is consistent with the airplane math: 65 hours in a Cessna 152 at the published $135 wet rate is about $8,775 of aircraft time, leaving roughly $8,000 for flight instruction, ground school, FAA knowledge-test and checkride fees, a headset, and materials. The $17,000 figure lands at the low end of the $12,000 to $18,000 national PPL range this site uses, which is exactly what you would expect from a non-profit club renting wet below commercial rates. It is an estimate, not a fixed price: a student who needs more than 65 hours, or trains in the 172 rather than the 152, pays more.
Is a flying club like East Hill cheaper than a flight school?
On the hourly aircraft rate, yes. East Hill rents a Cessna 172 wet at $165 an hour against the $180 to $220 commercial-school benchmark, and a Cessna 152 at $135. Over a 65-hour private certificate that hourly gap is worth roughly $1,000 to $3,600. The catch is the membership structure: you pay the $400 initiation and $60 a month in dues, and you tie up a $700 deposit (refundable on departure). For someone who will fly regularly through a certificate and keep flying afterward, the club model is clearly cheaper because the low wet rate compounds over every hour. For someone who wants a single discovery flight or is unsure they will continue, a pay-as-you-go school with no membership commitment can be simpler. The club's non-profit, part-owner structure is what lets it price below a for-profit FBO.
Does East Hill Flying Club offer structured flight training?
Yes. Unusually for a club, East Hill runs an FAA-approved training operation rather than only renting aircraft to already-certificated pilots, so a true beginner can join and train through the private certificate and beyond with club instructors. That combination of club economics and structured instruction is the reason the club shows up for cost searches: it behaves like a low-cost flight school with a membership and part-ownership model bolted on. Confirm current instructor availability and CFI rates directly with the club, since the club quotes instruction separately from the wet aircraft rate.
Where is East Hill Flying Club and what is in the fleet?
East Hill operates from Ithaca Tompkins International Airport (KITH) in Ithaca, New York, in the Finger Lakes region. The fleet is nine aircraft: three Cessna 152 trainers, three Cessna 172s, a Champion Citabria 7ECA tailwheel, a Cessna 182Q Skylane, and a Mooney M20J. That spread lets a member train in a cheap two-seat 152, move up to a 172 for the cross-country and checkride phase, and later rent a Skylane or Mooney for fast travel, all on the same membership. See the New York flight school cost page for how the wider state compares.
Continue reading
Primary sources
- Fleet and rental rates (Cessna 152 $135/hr, Cessna 172 $165/hr, Cessna 182Q Skylane $220/hr, Citabria 7ECA $155/hr, Mooney M20J $220/hr, all wet). East Hill Flying Club, accessed September 2026. https://flyeasthill.org/planes
- How Much Time and Money (initiation fee $400, refundable deposit $700, monthly dues $60). East Hill Flying Club, accessed September 2026. https://flyeasthill.org/How-Much-Time-and-Money
- Flight Training (club estimate of about 65 flight hours and about $17,000 for a private pilot certificate). East Hill Flying Club, accessed September 2026. https://flyeasthill.org/flight-training
- Pilot License Cost (national PPL range and Cessna 172 wet-rate benchmark). AOPA, verified September 2026. https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/students/pilot-license-cost
- 14 CFR Part 61 (private pilot aeronautical experience minimums). FAA / eCFR, accessed September 2026. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-61