Fuel Prices Are Rising: How Simulator Training Keeps Your Costs Down (2026)
Every airplane lesson starts with a gallon count. Before the engine starts, the fuel is checked, and by the time you shut down, a share of your lesson budget has gone into the tank. When 100LL prices climb, the cost of airplane time climbs with them, and in 2026 the climb has been steady. Here is what the latest numbers show and how you can reduce your exposure.
We are Solid Ground Aviation, a Flight Training Center at Fort Meade Executive Airport (KFME) in Fort Meade, Maryland, and we train in our fleet of Cessna 172s with the simulator built into every program. We wrote this post so you can plan your training with the facts in front of you, and we have cited every figure with its source and date.
What the latest fuel numbers say
According to AVweb on November 3, 2026, using iFlightPlanner data from 3,367 FBOs and fuel service providers, the national average for full-service 100LL was $7.85 per gallon in October. That is up 10 cents from September and marks the fourth consecutive monthly increase. Self-service 100LL averaged $6.82.
The month before, AVweb reported on October 7, 2026 a September full-service average of $7.75, up 21 cents from August. Looking back further, iFlightPlanner’s December 2025 report, published January 7, 2026, put the full-service average at $6.34. From December 2025 to October 2026, the national average rose $1.51 per gallon.
Read the averages with care
These are national averages from one data source, and the price at your airport can sit above or below them. Different sources count different FBOs and use different methods, so compare figures from the same source over time rather than mixing them. Self-service fuel runs lower than full service where it is offered.
The averages tell you the direction, and that is the useful part. Prices have risen month after month through the fall, and nobody can say with certainty where they go next. Planning for a range keeps you from being caught off guard. Check the same source each month, note the direction and adjust your budget buffer to match, so a change at the pump never arrives as news in the middle of a lesson plan.
What higher fuel prices do to flight training
Every hour in an airplane burns fuel, so airplane time is where fuel prices show up in your budget. Schools handle that in different ways. Some build fuel into the hourly rate, some bill it separately and some add a surcharge, so the way a school handles fuel changes how a price increase reaches you.
Ask every school how it handles fuel when prices move, and get the answer in writing. Our post on what a flight school’s hourly rate includes gives you the full list of questions, and our team can explain exactly what our rates cover when you contact us.
Where the simulator takes fuel out of the picture
An hour in a simulator burns no fuel. That makes the simulator the one place in your training where fuel prices do not reach you. The work you practice there is the same work that would otherwise eat airplane hours: radio calls, checklists, instrument approaches and emergency procedures that you repeat until they are calm.
An hour in a simulator also costs less than an hour in an airplane, and your instructor can pause, replay and reset the scenario as many times as the skill needs. That is a real teaching advantage, apart from the price. You can read how it works on our simulators page.
What the FAA lets simulator time count for
Simulator time counts toward certificates only within FAA limits and only with an authorized instructor. Our SG-2 simulators are FAA-approved. The SG-2A can credit up to 20 hours toward an instrument rating and up to 2.5 hours toward a private pilot certificate, and the SG-2B up to 10 hours toward an instrument rating.
Those are maximums, so some airplane time is always required. An instrument proficiency check can never be completed entirely in an advanced training device. Beyond credit, simulator practice improves the quality of the airplane hours you do fly, because you arrive prepared and the lesson goes to new work.
What still burns fuel
The simulator reduces your exposure, and it does not remove it. Your checkride is flown in an airplane. Your solo flights, your cross-country time and every other required airplane hour still burn fuel. No plan lets you avoid fuel completely, and any school that tells you otherwise is overpromising.
What you can do is spend airplane money where it counts. Use the simulator for the work that can repeat and keep the airplane for the judgment work only the airplane teaches. That is the idea behind our Private Pilot License program and our Instrument Rating program, both of which train in our Cessna 172s with the simulator built in.
Our accelerator programs run in the simulator
Our accelerator programs are simulator programs. The Private Pilot Supplement and the Instrument Rating Accelerator are built around approved simulator sessions with an instructor, and they do not include airplane lessons. They give you focused, repeatable practice with an instructor, and that practice burns no fuel.
Talk to your instructor about which parts of your plan fit a simulator and which need the airplane. For airplane training itself, our Private Pilot License, Instrument Rating and Commercial Pilot License programs fly in our Cessna 172s.
How to see the effect in your own plan
Take your next three lessons and list what each one covers. Some of the work is new, such as a first landing or a first unfamiliar airport. Some of it is repeat practice, such as radio calls, checklists or an instrument approach you flew last week. The repeat work is the part a simulator can often take, and your instructor can tell you which is which.
Then compare the two columns. If half of a lesson is rehearsal, moving that half to the simulator means the airplane hour goes to new learning. Your instructor decides what counts as ready, and the simulator work is flown with the same standards you will meet in the airplane, so nothing you practice there is wasted. The savings depend on your plan and your instructor’s recommendation, so we do not put a number on them, but the pattern holds from the first lesson to the checkride.
A practical plan for the months ahead
You can take a few steps now to keep your training on budget, whatever fuel does next.
- Ask your school how fuel is handled and get the answer in writing.
- Rehearse each lesson in the simulator before you fly it.
- Fly on a steady schedule so you do not repeat lessons.
- Budget with a range, not a single number.
These habits reduce your exposure to fuel, and they also make you a better pilot. For a look at how a steady schedule keeps costs down, read our post on fitting flight lessons around work and weather.
Quick answers on fuel and training costs
Will higher fuel prices change what I pay for lessons?
That depends on how your school handles fuel, so ask for the answer in writing before you start.
Can simulator hours replace all my airplane time?
No. Some airplane time is always required, including the practical test, and simulator credit has FAA limits and needs an authorized instructor. Think of the simulator as the place you earn the right to use the airplane well, since it prepares you for the work only the airplane can teach.
How do I plan my budget with prices moving?
Plan with a range and a buffer. Bring your budget or financing plan to your first conversation, and we will build the plan around it.
Plan your costs with us
If you want to see how a simulator-first plan could fit your budget, contact us. We will walk through your goals, show you where the simulator and the airplane each belong and help you plan the cost of training around your numbers.