Refund & Cancellation Policy

1.Principles of Aviation Billing

At Prop Culture Aviation & Maintenance LLC (“Prop Culture Aviation”, “we”, “us”, or “our”), our billing practices reflect our commitment to safety, operational transparency, and mutual respect between pilots, students, aircraft owners, and our flight line staff.

Aviation operations involve significant scheduling coordination, fleet availability, FAA-certified instructor time, and unpredictable Pacific Northwest weather patterns. This policy outlines clear, fair guidelines governing refunds, cancellations, and account credit balances across our flight training, aircraft rental, and maintenance divisions.

2.Discovery Flights & Introductory Lessons

3.Student Pilot Accounts & Pre-Paid Block Balances

Students who place funds on account to take advantage of discounted block-hour flight rates retain full ownership of their deposited capital:

• Refundability of Unused Funds: Any unused cash balance in a student’s flight training account is refundable upon written request if a student pauses training, relocates, or completes their FAA pilot certificate or rating.
• Block Discount Recalculation: If a student received a preferential hourly aircraft or instructor rate based on a pre-paid block package (e.g., a 10-hour block discount) and requests a refund prior to exhausting the block, hours previously flown will be recalculated at standard individual hourly rates, and the remaining net balance will be refunded promptly.
• Refund Processing Timeline: Approved student account refunds are issued via the original payment method (or company check) within seven to ten (7–10) business days.

4.Aircraft Rental Reservations & No-Show Policy

Our Diamond DA40 and DA42 fleet is in high demand by both training students and certified time-building pilots. To maintain equitable aircraft availability for the entire aviation community:

5.Aircraft Maintenance, Inspections & Parts

For private aircraft owners utilizing Prop Culture Maintenance at Suite M-1:

• Pre-Authorized Work Orders: We do not perform major corrective labor or install high-cost replacement components without prior owner authorization following our initial inspection discrepancy report.
• Special-Order Avionics & Airframe Parts: Factory-new or overhauled parts sourced specifically for your airframe (e.g., Diamond carbon components, Garmin avionics line-replaceable units, Lycoming cylinders) are subject to the manufacturer’s return and restocking fee schedule (typically 15%–25%) if canceled after shipment.
• Labor & Quality Assurance: If an owner believes a squawk was improperly addressed, our Director of Maintenance will re-evaluate the airframe at our Olympia hangar at zero additional labor charge to ensure FAA airworthiness compliance and customer satisfaction.

6.Non-Refundable Items & Third-Party Fees

The following categories of expenditures are non-refundable once incurred:

• FAA Knowledge Test Proctoring Fees paid directly to third-party testing centers (e.g., PSI Services).
• FAA Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) physical examination fees.
• FAA Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) practical test (checkride) cash fees.
• Opened or registered digital ground school software subscriptions (Sporty’s, King Schools, ForeFlight).
• Used aviation headsets or flight gear after the original manufacturer packaging has been broken.