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Aircraft Rental in Redlands: How to Get Checked Out at KREI

If you're a certificated pilot looking for aircraft rental in Redlands, here's exactly how it works at Cornerstone Flight Academy, from your first message to your first solo rental. We rent two airplanes at Redlands Municipal Airport (KREI): a Cessna 172, N5424T, and a Cessna 150, N7206G. Both are IFR-equipped, and both are available by the hour or in blocks.

What you need

To rent one of our airplanes on your own, you need:

• A private pilot certificate or higher
• A current medical certificate, or another medical qualification the regulations allow for the flight
• A flight review within the last 24 calendar months
• Renter's insurance with at least $25,000 of coverage for damage to a non-owned aircraft
• A passing score on the knowledge test for that airplane's handbook
• A checkout in that airplane with one of our instructors, current within 12 months

We verify your medical, flight review and insurance against the documents themselves, so have clear copies ready.

Step 1: Tell us you're interested

Start with the short form on our website. It takes about two minutes: who you are, how to reach you, and what kind of flying you want to do.

Step 2: We reach out

We'll contact you the way you asked us to, by text, phone or email. We'll talk through your experience and goals, then send you the application.

Step 3: Set up your account

You'll create a member account, sign our rental agreement in the portal, and upload your certificate, medical, flight review and insurance information. Once everything is in, we review and approve your membership.

Step 4: Pass the airplane's knowledge test

Before your checkout, you'll take an online knowledge test on the handbook for the airplane you want to fly, and you need 80 percent or better to schedule the checkout. Your instructor goes over anything you missed with you.

Step 5: Fly the checkout

A checkout is a flight with one of our instructors, tailored to your experience. Expect a review of the airplane's systems, limitations and emergency procedures, a weight and balance for the flight, a preflight, some airwork, and several takeoffs and landings, including short-field and soft-field. If you plan to fly IFR, expect some instrument work too. Your instructor decides when you're done, and a checkout stays current for 12 months.

We bill the airplane time for the checkout. Your instructor bills their instruction to you directly, at a rate you agree with them in advance.

Step 6: Book and fly

Once you're checked out, you book online through the member portal and fly. If it's been a while since your last flight, a short flight with an instructor first is always a good idea.

Staying current

The member portal checks your medical, flight review, insurance and checkout every time you book and again at check-out, and it tells you exactly which item needs attention if one is out of date. Renew early: send us a new medical or insurance declarations page when you get it, and plan your flight review a month or two before the old one runs out.

What it costs

Our rates are dry: fuel is the renter's responsibility, and we bill on Hobbs time.

• Cessna 172 (N5424T): $105 an hour, $100 an hour for a 10-to-24-hour block, $95 an hour for 25 hours or more
• Cessna 150 (N7206G): $90 an hour, $86 an hour for a 10-to-24-hour block, $80 an hour for 25 hours or more
• Annual fee: $50 a year, with no monthly dues and no initiation fee

You can rent pay-as-you-go, with no block and no deposit, or buy a block for a lower hourly rate. The 172 burns about 6 to 7 gallons an hour at economy cruise and the 150 about 4.5 to 5, and self-serve 100LL is available at Redlands around the clock.

Which airplane?

The 150 is the economical choice for solo hours and local flying. The 172 has four seats, more power and a WAAS GPS with two Garmin G5 displays, which makes it the better choice for instrument work, passengers and longer trips. Many pilots get checked out in both and pick by the flight.

Why Redlands

Redlands Municipal is a non-towered airport with self-serve fuel, a 4,504-foot runway and easy access to the rest of Southern California: the high desert through the Cajon Pass, Palm Springs through the San Gorgonio Pass, and the coast to the southwest. San Bernardino International, four miles away, is there whenever you want tower practice.

Get started

Ready to fly? Start at flycornerstone.com, or call or text (909) 330-4748.

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