Pilot Institute
Pilot Institute is a privately held online aviation ground school that delivers self-paced FAA certification prep courses (Part 107, Part 61, helicopter) and administers the TRUST exam for recreational drone pilots, serving individual drone and airplane pilot aspirants.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersPrescott, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Pilot Institute does
Pilot Institute is an online aviation education platform that delivers self-paced ground school courses and certification prep for aspiring commercial drone pilots, recreational drone pilots, private airplane pilots, and helicopter pilots. Its core offerings include the Part 107 Made Easy Commercial Drone License Course, the Part 61 Private Pilot Made Easy Online Ground School, a Helicopter Private Pilot Course, and an FAA-approved TRUST (The Recreational UAS Safety Test) administration service for recreational drone operators. Course delivery runs through a branded learning management system at lms.pilotinstitute.com, complemented by a Circle-hosted community with leaderboards and profile sharing, and a quiz platform (QuizBank) that captures performance data to personalize study. The company states it has helped more than 450,000 people become airplane or drone pilots, with over 1,000,000 cumulative class enrollments and an average 4.9/5 rating across 34,979+ student reviews.
The technology stack is intentionally lean and outsourced: Teachable for LMS and enrollment, Circle for community, QuizBank for personalized quizzing, Stripe and PayPal for payments, Mailchimp for email, and Helpscout, Hotjar, Google Analytics, Posthog, and Facebook for support and analytics. AI features (recommendations, explanations, summaries, study tips, and question feedback) are layered across the website, applications, community, and tools, using quizzing data to identify student strengths and weaknesses. AI is described as a study aid rather than as a proprietary model, and there is no evidence of internal AI R&D or patents.
The business model is primarily one-time course purchases with lifetime access until the company ceases to exist, supplemented by a freemium funnel (free TRUST prep, free FAA registration stickers) that feeds paid conversions, and a 20% commission affiliate program with no earnings cap that distributes courses through drone and aviation content creators. Risk-reversal mechanisms include a 30-day 100% satisfaction guarantee on paid courses and a $175 money-back guarantee if students fail the corresponding FAA test on the first try. The go-to-market is content- and community-led (YouTube, blog/SEO, Facebook and LinkedIn study groups, organic social), targeting individual consumers and small businesses rather than enterprise contracts.
Pilot Institute firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Pilot Institute
- Legal name
- Pilot Institute
- Website
- https://pilotinstitute.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Pilot Institute is a privately held online aviation ground school that delivers self-paced FAA certification prep courses (Part 107, Part 61, helicopter) and administers the TRUST exam for recreational drone pilots, serving individual drone and airplane pilot aspirants.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Pilot Institute industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online Aviation Ground School / Flight Training Education
- NAICS
- Flight Training (611512)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Private Aviation Pilot & Crew Staffing/Training Services (THABAFAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Aviation & Aerospace (EDABALAC)
Keywords
Where Pilot Institute is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Prescott
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Pilot Institute business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others
Revenue model
- Paid Online Courses: One-time purchase of individual courses including Part 107 Commercial Drone License Course and Private Pilot Made Easy Online Ground School. Courses provide lifetime access until the company ceases to exist.
- Affiliate Program: 20% commission on all sales generated through affiliate referrals, with no upper limit. Cookies set for 7 days. Affiliates cannot earn commissions on free courses or community signups.
- Free Courses with Premium Upsell: Free courses allow watching without charge, with Pilot Institute reserving the right to charge for them in the future. Free courses serve as lead generation for paid offerings.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Part 107 Commercial Drone License Course - Paid course with $175 pass guarantee |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Private Pilot Made Easy Online Ground School - Paid course |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | TRUST Test Preparation - Free |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
Pilot Institute product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Pilot Institute operates an online aviation ground school that sells FAA-aligned training courses for commercial drone pilots (Part 107), private airplane pilots (Part 61), helicopter pilots, and recreational drone pilots. Courses are delivered through a learning management system featuring video instruction, unlimited practice exams, AI-powered personalized study tools, mobile and offline access, and a community leaderboard, with the company also serving as an FAA-approved administrator of the TRUST recreational UAS safety test.
Product overview
Pilot Institute is an online aviation education platform offering a portfolio of FAA-approved ground school courses for drone pilots, airplane pilots, and helicopter pilots. The core products include Part 107 Made Easy for commercial drone certification, Private Pilot Made Easy for airplane pilot certification, and Helicopter Private Pilot courses. The company also administers the FAA TRUST exam for recreational drone pilots. All courses are delivered through their proprietary Learning Management System (LMS) at lms.pilotinstitute.com, which provides video instruction, practice exams, progress tracking, and community features. Value-added guarantees include a $175 money-back guarantee if students fail the FAA test on first try and a 30-day satisfaction guarantee on all paid courses. Free offerings include FAA registration stickers. The platform is complemented by an affiliate program offering 20% commissions to content creators in the aviation space.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Part 107 Made Easy (Part 107 Commercial Drone License Course)
Quantifiable outcome
- 99.9% of students pass their FAA exam
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Pilot Institute
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Pilot Institute technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration12 records
AI capability3 records
Feature4 records
Pilot Institute partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- FAA (Federal Aviation Administration)corePilot Institute is an FAA-approved administrator of the TRUST (The Recreational UAS Safety Test) exam, enabling them to administer the required recreational drone pilot test. Also provides curriculum aligned with FAA Part 107 certification requirements and FAA-approved Knowledge Testing Center preparation.
- TeachablecoreThird-party learning management system (LMS) used for course delivery, enrollment management, and student progress tracking across pilotinstitute.com, learn.pilotinstitute.com, and affiliated Teachable pages.
- CirclecoreCommunity platform hosting for student community including profiles, leaderboards, class enrollment information, graduation status, exam scores, and community interaction features.
- QuizBankcoreThird-party quizzing platform that stores quizzing data to provide personalized studying tips and identify student strengths and weaknesses across topics.
- Stripe and PayPalcoreThird-party payment processors for credit card transaction processing. Stripe and PayPal handle secure payment processing for course purchases.
- Facebook (Chat Plugin and Advertising)minorFacebook's chat plugin used for customer support on website; Facebook advertising platform used for remarketing and targeted advertising to previous website visitors.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Pilot Institute competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Boldmethod: Online flight training content publisher with articles, quizzes, and courses for student pilots. Comparable as an SEO- and content-led online ground school targeting the same FAA private-pilot pipeline.
- UAV Coach: Provides Part 107 drone training and drone-business courses online. Comparable on Part 107 curriculum focus, online course format, and target audience of aspiring commercial drone operators.
- Gleim Aviation: Provides Part 107 and Private Pilot ground school, practice exams, and study materials for student pilots. Closely comparable in FAA-aligned curriculum, online self-paced format, and pass-guarantee positioning.
- Dauntless Aviation: Provides FAA-aligned online courses and test prep for drone and airplane pilots. Comparable in pilot-training product line, online self-paced delivery, and FAA exam focus.
- King Schools: Long-established online ground school offering Part 107, Private Pilot, and Instrument Rating video courses. Directly comparable in product type, target learner (student and recreational pilots), and self-paced video delivery model.
- DroneU: Specializes in Part 107 commercial drone training, mapping, and drone-business education via online courses. Overlaps directly with Pilot Institute's Part 107 commercial drone learner segment and course-based delivery model.
- MzeroA: Online ground school and community for student pilots offering video courses and study tools. Directly comparable in product (Part 61 prep), delivery (online video), and GTM (content + community).
- Sporty's Pilot Shop: Offers online ground school courses for Private Pilot, Instrument, and Part 107 with bundled video and test prep. Comparable because it sells paid online FAA test-prep courses to the same aspiring pilot segments as Pilot Institute.
Broad incumbents
- Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA): Large established aviation membership organization offering pilot training resources, online courses, and flight school support. Comparable as a broader incumbent with overlapping educational offerings for aspiring pilots.
- FAA Safety Team (FAAST): Official FAA free online training and WINGS program for pilots and drone operators. Comparable as a government-provided alternative that competes for the same learners and indirectly sets expectations for paid ground schools.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Pilot Institute social profiles
Digital presencePilot Institute financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Pilot Institute leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Pilot Institute funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Pilot Institute M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Pilot Institute
What does Pilot Institute do?
Pilot Institute operates an online aviation ground school that sells FAA-aligned training courses for commercial drone pilots (Part 107), private airplane pilots (Part 61), helicopter pilots, and recreational drone pilots. Courses are delivered through a learning management system featuring video instruction, unlimited practice exams, AI-powered personalized study tools, mobile and offline access, and a community leaderboard, with the company also serving as an FAA-approved administrator of the TRUST recreational UAS safety test.
Is Pilot Institute a public or private company?
Pilot Institute is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Pilot Institute founded?
Pilot Institute was founded in 2018. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Pilot Institute based?
Pilot Institute is headquartered in Prescott, United States, in the North America region.
How does Pilot Institute make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Paid Online Courses are the primary driver. The others are affiliate Program and free Courses with Premium Upsell.
Who are Pilot Institute's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Boldmethod, UAV Coach, Gleim Aviation, Dauntless Aviation, King Schools, DroneU, MzeroA and Sporty's Pilot Shop. Broad incumbents are Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and FAA Safety Team (FAAST).
Does Pilot Institute have an API?
No public API is recorded for Pilot Institute.
What industry is Pilot Institute in?
Pilot Institute's product category is Online Aviation Ground School / Flight Training Education. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THABAFAJ, Private Aviation Pilot & Crew Staffing/Training Services, with a secondary code of EDABALAC, Aviation & Aerospace. Its NAICS code is 611512 and its SIC code is 8200.