Straight answers before you book

No. The Discovery Flight is designed for complete beginners — you take the controls on your very first visit, with a certified instructor beside you the whole time.

A real first flying lesson, not a tour: a pre-flight briefing, then you fly the Cherokee 140 over the Southwest Florida coast from the pilot’s seat. It costs $175 and you receive an official logbook entry that counts toward your license.

Yes — safety is the whole CORE model. You fly a meticulously maintained trainer with dual controls and a CFI beside you at every moment, from a towered airport with professional ATC. Weather cancellations are standard practice and never charged.

You pay per session: the Cherokee 140 is $175/hr wet and instruction is $60/hr, with no big upfront packages. The FAA minimum is 40 flight hours; most students reach proficiency around 65, so frequency and ground study are the biggest levers on your total.

Most consistent students are checkride-ready in roughly 2–4 months. Accelerated schedules are possible with 3+ flights per week — and with 300+ flyable days a year in Southwest Florida, weather rarely slows you down.

Yes — you need an FAA medical certificate before you can solo (not before a Discovery Flight). We point you to local Aviation Medical Examiners and help you time it correctly in your training.

Every lesson flies in N6145W, our Piper Cherokee 140 — a stable, forgiving low-wing trainer with a 150-HP Lycoming upgrade, kept immaculate. One airplane means zero re-learning between lessons.

Part 61 — the FAA framework built for individualized instruction. It gives maximum flexibility for students with busy schedules, and it is what makes the one-on-one, same-instructor model possible.

No — CORE does not offer or push financing. You pay per session as your training progresses, with minimal startup costs and no lump-sum packages, so your budget stays in your control.

At the General Aviation Terminal at Page Field (KFMY), 607 Danley Dr, Fort Myers, FL 33907. We serve Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, Estero, Bonita Springs, Fort Myers Beach, Lehigh Acres, Immokalee, Punta Gorda and the rest of Southwest Florida.

Yes. The path runs Private Pilot, then Instrument Rating, then Commercial Pilot, and most pilots build hours as a Certified Flight Instructor — all four are trained here, one-on-one, in the same Cherokee 140.

Book a $175 Discovery Flight. It is a real lesson with logbook credit, it answers the “is this for me?” question in one morning, and it is the first entry in your path to a Private Pilot License.

There is one airplane — N6145W, a Piper Cherokee 140 upgraded to a 150-HP Lycoming — and it is kept meticulously clean and maintained. One airframe means one maintenance record and one set of habits; students usually notice the upkeep before anything else.

One airplane and one instructor. Lessons are booked as three-hour blocks directly with your instructor, so you are never queuing behind a shared schedule — but popular slots do go early, so book ahead.

Yes. Every CORE lesson flies in N6145W. One panel layout and one set of habits means zero re-learning between lessons.

CORE does not offer financing, so nothing is borrowed against. What you pay covers the airplane at $175/hr wet — fuel and maintenance included — and instruction at $60/hr. Plan separately for your FAA medical, books, a headset, and FAA exam fees.

No. CORE is pay-per-session — you pay as your training progresses, with minimal startup costs and no lump-sum packages.

Our address is the General Aviation Terminal at Page Field — 607 Danley Dr, Fort Myers, FL 33907. If you are unsure where to go on your first visit, call 239-722-6751 and we will walk you in.

Page Field (KFMY) in Fort Myers — a towered, professionally managed general aviation airport just south of downtown, off US-41. Training there means real ATC communication and airspace discipline from your first hour.