and fly like a Captain.
Proudly serving Livingston, MT (KLVM)
Here, you can take advantage of full time professional pilots that teach part time because of their enduring love of flight. They get paid [a small amount] to help keep 'the boss' happy, and stave off outright volunteerism. Tips graciously accepted.
Rental
Standard Rental Rate - $109/Dry Tach Hour*
Ridiculously Awesome Instruction Rates
Flight Instruction - $45/block hour*
Ground Instruction - $35/hour*
'Hangar Talk' - FREE.99*
Shockingly Amazing Cross Country Rates*
Cross country special - $99/hour dry tach :
Any reservation averaging 4.0 or more flight hours per calendar day. Perfect for regional flights of up to a few days in length.
East/Gulf/West Coast Special - $93/hour dry tach*:
Any reservation averaging 5.0 or more flight hours per calendar day (including 3 FREE weather/play/rest days with no flying) for any flight to the East Coast or Gulf of America. Avgas is cheap in the midwest and south!
KFFA Special - $92/hour dry tach*: Same rules as East/Gulf special but $1/tach hour off if you fly into First Flight Airport (KFFA) and visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial to learn how it all started.
Have fun and distinguish yourself from other applicants by putting valuable tailwheel time on your resume.
Footnotes
*'Hours' in aviation are recorded in tenths, rounded to the nearest tenth. E.g., a 59 or 61 minute flight are both recorded as 1.0 hours, whereas a 65 or 67 minute flight would be recorded as 1.1 hours. This time is then charged as a multiple of those hours. $109 x 1.1 hours = $119.90
​
*‘Dry Tach’ means that the rental rate is based on the tachometer instead of a Hobbs meter, and that the renter purchases fuel after landing for that amount consumed during the flight. Advantages include substantial savings on cross country fuel purchases, and reduced expense for time spent idling during start, taxi, and run up. The champ burns about 6 to 7 gallons per hour of 100LL Avgas, multiply that by the going rate ($5.95/gal in Livingston on February 2nd, 2025) and add it to the dry tach rate. In other locales, few is substantially cheaper, some places its more expensive. A renter making a local flight in Livingston might log 1 hour in their logbook but only pay .8 tach time for an after fuel cost of $112.
​
*Block hours are a measurement of time from engine start to engine shutdown. This is what goes into your logbook. In machines without a Hobbs meter, block time is measured using a wristwatch.
​​
*'Hangar Talk' is a time honored tradition of all good airport bums, it's not true instruction, and might involve new ideas impacting the aviation community in part or whole, gossip, or discussion of what's for dinner tonight. It carries no hourly charge assuming the instructor pilot doesn't have somewhere to be. In short, Fly With Virga will never 'run the clock' on you.
​
​*Cross country flying is easier on the plane than running options in the pattern all day - take off and landings are the most mechanically fatiguing thing an airplane does. In order to encourage cross country flights and reduce maintenance costs, some of that financial benefit is passed onto you in the form of fat discounts.
Additional Rate FAQs: ​
Q: Why do you charge a dry rate and what that mean?
A: Austin does not believe in 'running the meter' so students are paying for engine time not clock time. This means that renters are encouraged to take time to properly warm up the engine, taxi at reasonable speeds, and conduct pre-takeoff checks without subconciously worrying about wasting money on the ground. In addition to the hourly rental rate, the renter buys fuel. On long cross country flights, this lends itself to considerable savings. Also, for a student seeking a new certificate or rating, reduced financial stress and gotcha fees typically translate to better checkride performance, which meshes with Austin's goal of turning out quality pilots over high numbers of pilots. ​
Q: Tell me more about 'dry rates'?
A: A 'dry rate' describes a price per hour, generally measured in tenths but possibly other methods. Dry rates do not include fuel, oil, or other fluids consumed by the aircraft. It's typically measured in 'Tach Time' and is more often reserved for bigger aircraft with a wider range of potential operating costs. Dry rates are frequently used in leasing or commercial arrangements.
Q: What is a 'wet rate'?
A: A wet rate describes a price per hour for an aircraft, measured in tenths, including fuel, and oil, typically measured in 'Hobbs Time'. Wet rental agreements are most common, but often don't make sense for renters interested in flying the airplane over long distances where fuel receipts must be kept and accounted for. This can be a serious disadvantage is the 'wet' rate is base on 'expensive fuel at home' but the airplane is consuming 'cheap fuel' elsewhere; the renter feels penalized.