Currency
The default membership for active pilots — 10 Redbird, 10 Gleim, and 10 golf hours each month.
$249/ month
- 10 Redbird FMX hours / month
- 10 Gleim BATD hours / month
- 1 guest passes / month
- 7-day booking window
- 2 hrs/resource/day
Pay as you go · $85/hr
Unlimited stick time.Less than a flight.
A typical training flight in the airplane runs about $450 — one hour, one chance to get it right. On our FAA-approved, full-motion Redbird FMX, fly as much as you want for $349 a month — unlimited. Rep approaches until they're automatic, log instrument currency, knock out your IPC, and stack loggable time toward your ratings without paying runway prices for every mistake. Memberships from $249/mo, or book intro hours at $85/hr with no commitment.
FAA-approved · loggable time2 flight sims · 24/7 accessFalcon Field · Mesa AZ
FMX online
Redbird FMX · full-motion AATD
Log real time. Fail cheap. Fly sharp.
Your first flight$85
Member access24/7
FAA-approved sims2
To start today$0
Why we built this
Flying is getting squeezed. We are pushing back.
Training costs keep climbing, fees keep stacking up, and the places that made aviation feel like a community are disappearing. Jaybird is our line in the sand: serious tools, fair prices, open door.
What flying costs you now
$220+ an hour just to rehearse the same approach
Landing fees and ramp fees piling on every visit
The Hobbs clock running on every mistake
Training alone, with no one around to ask
Airports quietly squeezing out general aviation
What you get at Jaybird
Practice all month for less than one airplane hour
No landing fees. No fuel surcharge. No Hobbs.
Fail it, reset it, and nail it — at no extra cost
A room full of pilots who have been exactly there
A home base built to keep grassroots flying alive
The no-brainer
Do the math
One flight costs morethan a whole month with us.
One flight lesson
$0
A typical dual lesson — airplane, fuel, and instructor — and the Hobbs keeps running whether the approach goes well or not.
vs
A month at Jaybird
$0/mo
Unlimited time on a real full-motion sim. Fly every day if you want. Recurring memberships start at $249/mo, or book intro hours at $85/hr.
No landing or ramp fees
No fuel surcharge
No Hobbs meter on your mistakes
No weather or maintenance cancellations
And it actually counts
This is not a video game.The hours go in your logbook.
The FAA lets you log real simulator time toward your certificates. Here is the plain math, at a Falcon Field rate of $150 dual + $70 fuel (= $220/hr) in a 172.
PPL
Private Pilot
FAR 61.109(k) · toward the 40 hr min
Save
$0
Loggable in the AATD0.0hr
Drill flows, radios, and pattern work before the rental Hobbs starts ticking — then go fly the airplane.
See the math
IFR
Instrument Rating
FAR 61.65(i) · toward the 40 hr instrument
Save
$0
Loggable in the AATD0hr
The single best use of a sim. Run approaches, holds, and IFR scans until the scan stops being the hard part.
See the math
COM
Commercial Pilot
FAR 61.129(i) · toward the 250 hr commercial total
Save
$0
Loggable in the AATD0hr
The big one. Up to 50 AATD hours total count toward your commercial 250 — and the sim time you logged for PPL and IFR counts inside that 50.
See the math
The journey-wide cap
Up to 0 AATD hours total can count toward your commercial 250.
FAR 61.129(i) caps simulator credit toward the commercial 250-hr requirement at 50 hours — the 2.5 hr you logged for PPL and the 20 hr you logged for IFR sit inside that 50, not on top of it. Cumulative max: $11,000 you do not write a check for at the FBO.
$0Cumulative max across PPL → IFR → COM
And the parts that aren’t about the logbooksave you money too.
Instrument currency, all of it
FAR 61.57(g): six approaches, holding, intercepting and tracking — all loggable solo on the AATD. No safety pilot, no airplane bill.
IPC with a CFII
Instrument Proficiency Checks knock out cleanly on the AATD. Stay legal without burning a half-day in the airplane.
Reps that don’t need to be airborne
Engine-outs, partial panel, lost comms, weather diversions, checkride flows. The mistakes get cheaper. The lessons stick.
AATD hours under FAR Part 61 with a current LOA. The 50-hour commercial cap (FAR 61.129(i)) is cumulative — sim time you log earlier in the journey counts within it. Rating-loggable simulator time still requires your CFI in the room; the airplane is still where you earn the rating. Aircraft cost is illustrative; your school may quote it differently.
What you get
More than sim time
Everything is hereto keep you flying.
Tools to keep you sharp. People who actually show up.
Your code, your hours
Walk in. Power up.
Keypad entry. No front desk to negotiate with.
Details
FAA-approved
Loggable hours, official.
Current LOAs on the AATD and BATD.
Details
Live booking
Book in five seconds.
Phone open, slot locked, code in the invite.
Details
Bring your people
Guests welcome.
Hangouts, debriefs, the occasional pizza.
Details
Stay a while
Coffee, charts, hangar talk.
A lounge, not a transaction.
Details
Reps that compound
Progress you can see.
Sessions tracked. Currency reminded. Scenarios saved.
Details
The hardware
Real gear.Nothing else like it nearby.
A full-motion Redbird AATD, a Gleim BATD, and a Garmin R50 golf bay — calibrated, LOA-current, and bookable from one place. Serious training tools you would normally only find at a big-budget academy.
How it works
Simple on purpose.More flying, less admin.
01
Pick a plan
Sign the waiver, get your member code. Five minutes, then back to flying.
02
Book from your phone
Live availability across every bay. The invite carries everything you need.
03
Walk in. Get after it.
Keypad in, lights on, coffee hot. Train, debrief, leave sharper than you came.
Pay as you go
Start with one hour.Upgrade when you're hooked.
Not ready for a monthly plan? Book a Redbird intro hour at $85/hr. When your flying picks up, Currency ($249/mo) and Proficiency ($349/mo) are one click away.
- Walk-up rate$85 / hr
- Currency$249 / mo
- Proficiency$349 / mo
- CommitmentNone for intro hours
Pick a plan
Membership
Pick your altitude. Fair pricing, serious tools.
Plans pull straight from the same records as checkout and the portal — what you read here is exactly what members get.
Proficiency
Unlimited Redbird, Gleim, and golf time for serious flyers — book 30 days out with priority access.
$349/ month
- Unlimited Redbird and Gleim sim time
- Conference room access
- Briefing room access
- 4 guest passes / month
- 30-day booking window
Recurring plans: 3-calendar-month initial term · Pause billing where your plan allows · Stripe Customer Portal for changes after the term — see Terms.
Hangar talk
Pilots helping pilots.That is the whole idea.
I was burning cash repeating approaches in the airplane. Here I can fail, fix it, and laugh about it with other pilots on the couch — then go nail it for real.
M
Marcus W.
Instrument pilot · Phoenix
My students finally get reps we would never justify in a rental. Jaybird is the study hall and the lab — they show up sharper and less stressed about money.
S
Sara K.
CFI · Mesa
It feels like the airport used to feel — people sticking around after, talking checkrides, sharing ForeFlight tricks. And it costs me almost nothing to keep current.
D
Devon R.
Commercial student · Arizona
Common questions
Straight answers.Pilot to pilot.
Missing something? Send a note — we usually reply within an hour during business hours.
Ask us anythingNope. If you love aviation — or you are just curious — you have a place here. Students, certificated pilots, instructors, golfers who want a cool hangout: pick the plan that fits and come meet the community.
All pilots welcome
Stop overpaying to stay sharp.Come fly with us.
Lock the founding rate, or come try the Redbird first for $85. Either way, the kettle is on.
Or plan a visit — Tuesdays and Thursdays are quiet around 4 PM.