Commercial Pilot · CPL ASEL · Part 61
Commercial Pilot Training
The commercial certificate, single-engine land, trained in our Cessna 172S. You will need a private certificate to start, and we strongly recommend holding the instrument rating first.
What The Training Costs
$8,000–$15,000typical total budget
The school's own planning range, and a wide one for a reason: what determines your total is how many hours you are missing when you start. It excludes the $175 knowledge test paid to the testing centre and the examiner’s fee. A planning range, not a package price.
- $110
- an hour of flight education, all in
- ~$175
- knowledge test, paid to the centre
And What We Don’t
The short version of what we teach at commercial level, so you can see straight away where we fit.
- Commercial pilot, single-engine land (ASEL) — the certificate this page is about.
- Instrument rating — taught here, and in practice the step most pilots take first.
- CFI and CFII — the instructor ratings, taught here too.
- Multi-engine and the MEI — flown elsewhere. Ask us and we will point you to an operator with a twin.
Time building is rental work rather than instruction, so it is done through a rental operator; tell us what is in your logbook and we will tell you what is left to fly with us and what it would cost.
How the certificate breaks down, and where we come in.
Time Building And Training Are Two Budgets
The commercial certificate carries a substantial aeronautical experience requirement, and for most pilots the bulk of the cost is accumulating that time rather than the training itself. Planning them as two separate budgets is what keeps the total from surprising you.
Hour building is rental flying, so it is done through a rental operator — call us and we will tell you where pilots around McClellan rent. Then bring the hours back here for the part that needs an instructor.
That part is what we do: the manoeuvres, the commercial standards, checkride preparation, and the instrument rating alongside it.
How the Training Runs
We work from a written syllabus with lesson grades and stage reviews, logged in Flight Schedule Pro. You are assigned one primary instructor and fly with them through the certificate, with the second as backup.
Commercial training is largely about precision: manoeuvres flown to tighter tolerances than the private standard, and a much higher expectation of how you plan, brief and self-assess. Most of the work is in getting consistent rather than in learning something new.
We fly every day, 7 AM to 7 PM, including weekends. Ground sessions are scheduled around your flying rather than in fixed classes.
Who Teaches It
Denis Vyatkin, who oversees the commercial and instructor stages, and Sergio, each teaching to the commercial standard in the school’s Cessna 172S.
What the Estimate Assumes
The $3,400 figure is the training, excluding time building. It is a planning estimate, not a package price, and it assumes you arrive with the required experience or build it elsewhere. What actually determines your total is how many hours you are missing when you start. Prices last updated August 13, 2026.
How It Runs
Precision, Not New Material
Commercial training is largely about precision: manoeuvres flown to tighter tolerances than the private standard, and a much higher expectation of how you plan, brief and self-assess. Most of the work is in getting consistent rather than in learning something new.
A written syllabus with lesson grades and stage reviews, logged in Flight Schedule Pro. One primary instructor through the certificate, with the second as backup. We fly every day, 7 AM to 7 PM, including weekends.
The Work Behind The Licence
Commercial training is charts, planning and hours in the air — here is what that looks like on the flight line.
Tell Us What’s In Your Logbook
Ask About Commercial Training
Total time, PIC, cross-country, instrument — tell us what you hold and we will map out what is left, what it would cost, and the order to do it in.