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Free Calculator · Flight Schools

Compare your discovery-flight conversion scenario.

Enter your own observed discovery-flight-to-enrolment rate and compare it with an illustrative 40% planning scenario. This is not an industry benchmark or forecast; the formula is visible so you can test enrolment and revenue sensitivity against your own operating data.

Cascade Air case study — 22 of 26 tracked keywords in the top 3
Flight school instructor briefing a discovery-flight student on the ramp

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How we calculate this

The math is deterministic. Open the disclosure below to audit it — there are no hidden assumptions and no rounding inside the calculation. Your inputs and the illustrative 40% scenario are the only numbers in play.

current_annual_enrolments = monthly_discovery_flights × 12 × (current_conversion_percent / 100); scenario_annual_enrolments = monthly_discovery_flights × 12 × 0.40; annual_enrolment_gap = scenario_annual_enrolments − current_annual_enrolments; annual_revenue_gap = annual_enrolment_gap × average_course_revenue; six_month_revenue_gap = annual_revenue_gap / 2. The 40% figure is an illustrative planning scenario, not an industry benchmark or client result. The math runs client-side AND server-side and produces identical results — you can verify by reading lib/discovery-flight-calculator.ts in the OTGM repository.

Aircraft type, instructor capacity, regulatory environment, geography, fleet age, current marketing spend, paid-vs-organic mix, GPU utilisation, and weather-down days. All of those affect the real outcome — none are folded into the calculator. The gap above is a top-of-funnel framing exercise, not a forecast. The diagnostic Joey sends afterwards is where the real-world constraints get factored in.

It is a round illustrative input that creates a clear comparison while keeping the arithmetic easy to audit. It does not claim that 40% is typical or achievable for a particular school. Replace the comparison with your own target only after defining the cohort, time window, capacity, lead sources, and enrolment event consistently.

Frequently asked

Questions about the calculator + the funnel rebuild

Is 40% a flight-school industry benchmark?
No. There is no single defensible universal discovery-flight-to-enrolment benchmark because schools define cohorts, enrolment, time windows, capacity, and lead sources differently. The calculator uses 40% as a round illustrative scenario so you can audit the arithmetic against your own observed rate. It is not a client result, forecast, or guarantee.
My school converts at 35%. Is the calculator still useful?
Yes. The arithmetic still shows the difference from the illustrative scenario, but it does not diagnose the cause. Compare discovery-flight enquiry volume, booking and show rates, instructor and aircraft capacity, cohort quality, student starts, and retention on the same reporting window before deciding which constraint to address.
Why is the calculator asking for my email before showing the gap?
Because the gap is the lead — without the email we cannot send you the breakdown, and we cannot follow up with the diagnostic. You can also see the gap on-screen the instant you submit; the email is for the durable copy you can forward to your business partner or accountant. Unsubscribe is one click any time.
Is this just a sales tool dressed up as a calculator?
It is a lead-capture tool — we are not hiding that. The math is deterministic and shown in plain text below the result so a sceptical operator can audit it. The 40% rate is labelled as an illustrative planning scenario, not a benchmark or promise. If your observed rate is already above 40%, the calculator says so and recommends checking other constraints.
What does the diagnostic email actually contain?
A read on which of the four conversion mechanics your funnel is most likely missing — pricing transparency on the pathway page, instant-booking integration, automated 48-hour CFI follow-up, retargeting. We can usually narrow it to one or two from the calculator inputs alone. If you want a full intake, the next step is a 30-minute call; if you want to keep it async, you can stay on the diagnostic email thread and we will continue there.
Who built this calculator?
Joey Pehrson — commercial helicopter pilot, Grade 2 flight instructor, and the founder of Off The Ground Marketing. The calculator keeps the arithmetic visible and separates an illustrative scenario from the operator data needed to make a real decision.

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