Contact LA Flight School at Van Nuys Airport
Phone, email or walk in between 9 AM and 9 PM any day of the week, and you will speak to a flight instructor rather than a script reader.
Three ways to reach us, all of them direct
The quickest route is the phone. Call (818) 290-8249 any day between 9 AM and 9 PM and someone at the desk in Suite 108A will pick up. If every instructor is in the air when you ring, leave a message and you will normally get a call back the same day. There is no hold queue, no automated menu asking you to press three for training enquiries, and nobody working from a sales target somewhere out of state.
Email works well for detailed questions, especially ones involving your logbook, a medical history or a training record from another school. Write to alex@laflightschool.com and attach whatever is relevant. Enquiries are usually answered inside 24 hours, and often much faster during opening hours. Putting your question in writing also means the answer comes back in writing, which is useful when you are comparing quotes and want the numbers in front of you rather than in your memory.
You can also simply turn up. We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, on the western edge of Van Nuys Airport, and visitors are welcome during opening hours. Parking on site is free and unattended. If you want a proper tour of the classrooms, the aircraft and the Redbird MCX full-motion simulator, phone ahead so we can make sure someone is free to walk you round rather than dashing between lessons.
Whichever route you take, the first conversation is free and carries no obligation. We will ask what you want to fly and why, how much time you can realistically give it, and what your budget looks like. Then we will tell you what it costs and how long it takes, in plain numbers. If the honest answer is that you should wait six months and save, that is what you will hear.
What you can arrange in one phone call
Everything below can be booked or quoted on a single call, with no deposit taken over the phone unless you ask.
Standard Private Pilot
The full FAA Private Pilot Certificate. Where most students start.
Learn morePremium Private Pilot
The widest margin of hours for students who want no surprises.
Learn moreInstrument Rating
The rating that makes a licence useful in Southern California weather.
Learn moreTry it first — a discovery flight from Van Nuys
You fly the aircraft from the left seat with an instructor beside you. The time is loggable and counts toward a certificate.
Luxury Cirrus For Two
The SR22 Turbo, glass cockpit. 90 min $549, 120 min $699.
Learn moreRedbird Simulator Session
FAA-approved full-motion MCX, on the field at Van Nuys.
Learn moreFinding 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A
Van Nuys Airport sits between Woodley Avenue on the east and Balboa Boulevard on the west, and we are on the Balboa side. From the 405, take the Sherman Way exit and head west for about a mile and a half; Balboa is the major signalled intersection you cross, and our entrance is just off it. From the 101, exit at Balboa Blvd and drive north past Victory and Vanowen. Either way you are approaching a long airfield fence, and the numbered driveways along it belong to different tenants.
The address to give a satnav or a rideshare driver is 7900 Balboa Blvd, not Van Nuys Airport. The airport has several public gates spread over a mile of frontage, and the main passenger terminal on Waterman Drive is on the opposite side of the field entirely. Entering the wrong gate usually means a locked fence and a fifteen-minute detour. Ask to be set down inside the lot, and look for the numbered door marked 108A beside the hangars.
Parking is free, unattended and on site, which is not something every flight school at Van Nuys can offer. From the east Valley, Sherman Way and Vanowen run unbroken across to Balboa and are usually quicker than the freeway. From the north, Roscoe Blvd west then south on Balboa works well. Public transport is viable too: the Metro G Line busway crosses Balboa at the south end of the airport, and the Van Nuys Metrolink station is a short ride away.
What happens after you get in touch
A prompt, human reply
Enquiries are typically answered within 24 hours and often within the hour during opening times. If you contact us in the morning there is a good chance of a call back the same day. The person who calls is an instructor who flies here, so they can answer questions about weather, airspace and scheduling without checking with anyone.
A personalised plan, not a package
Beginners, career changers and pilots transferring from another school all need different conversations. We look at what you already have in your logbook, what you are aiming at, and how many days a week you can realistically fly, then build the timeline backwards from that. Two students on the same certificate often follow quite different schedules.
A look behind the scenes
You are welcome to see the classrooms, the flight line and the simulator before committing to anything. Most people find the visit settles the question. You meet instructors, sit in an aircraft, and get a feel for whether this is somewhere you want to spend the next several months of weekends.
Straight numbers
Every package price is published and we will walk through what is included and what is not. Aircraft rental, instructor time, checkride fees, headsets, books and the FAA medical all cost money, and it is better to see the whole picture at the start than to meet it in instalments. Ask us to itemise it.
What you will see when you visit
The flight line usually has several aircraft on it during the day, and which ones depends entirely on who is flying. The trainers are the Cessna 162 Skycatcher, the Diamond DA20 with its bubble canopy, and the Piper Warrior. Behind them sit the Piper Arrow II with its retractable gear, the Cirrus SR22 Turbo with a full glass panel and a whole-airframe parachute, and the twin-engine Piper Seminole. Walking round them takes twenty minutes and answers questions that no amount of reading does.
Inside, the Redbird MCX is the thing most visitors want to try. It is a full-motion simulator on a moving platform, not a desktop program, and instructors use it for instrument procedures, engine failures and emergency drills that would be expensive or unwise to practise in the aircraft. The briefing rooms are small on purpose, since almost all our teaching is one instructor and one student rather than a lecture hall. Come and sit in one before you decide anything.
Landmarks to steer by on Balboa
If you are unsure whether you have gone too far, these are the things to look for.
Airtel Plaza Hotel
The large hotel on the Balboa Blvd side of the airfield is the most obvious marker for our stretch of road. If you can see it, you are on the correct side of Van Nuys Airport.
The main terminal on Waterman Drive
This is the passenger terminal on the eastern side of the field, and it is not us. If your satnav sends you there, come back around via Sherman Way to Balboa.
Sepulveda Basin and Lake Balboa
The green expanse just south-east of the airport, crossed by Burbank Blvd and Woodley Avenue. It is the first thing you fly over on most departures, and a useful reference from the road too.
Metro G Line at Balboa
The busway station on the south side of the airport puts you within a short ride of our door. It is the practical option for students coming from North Hollywood or Warner Center without a car.
Common questions
Nine in the morning to nine at night, seven days a week, including weekends and most holidays. Flying starts earlier than most people expect because the air is smoothest in the first few hours after sunrise. Evening slots are popular with students who work, and in summer there is usable daylight well past seven.
No, but calling first is worth it. Instructors spend most of the day airborne, so an unannounced visit at two in the afternoon might mean waiting. Ring (818) 290-8249 an hour ahead and we will make sure somebody is on the ground to show you round properly.
Usually within 24 hours and often much sooner during opening hours. Email is the better channel for anything involving documents, such as a logbook from a previous school or a question about a medical condition. Send it to alex@laflightschool.com with as much detail as you can.
Yes. The lot at 7900 Balboa Blvd is free and unattended, and there is no validation to worry about. Turn in from Balboa and follow the lot round to the visitor spaces beside the hangars. Suite 108A is the numbered door, and the desk is immediately inside.
Please do. Parents come with teenagers, partners come along to see what has been signed up for, and children are welcome in the briefing area. Airside access has to be supervised, so stay with your guide once you are past the gate and everyone will get a look at the aircraft.
None whatsoever. Most of the people who call have never been in a small aircraft and are not sure whether they will like it. That is exactly what the discovery flight at $229 and the simulator hour at $189 exist for. Nobody expects you to know the vocabulary on the first call.
Yes, and many of our students do. Early morning slots before work, evening slots until nine, and weekend flying all exist. The honest caveat is that flying once a fortnight makes a certificate take much longer, because each lesson spends time re-learning the last one. Twice a week is the rate that works.
Photo identification, any logbook or training records you already have, a rough idea of your schedule, and a list of questions. If you have a medical condition you are worried about, bring the details and we will talk through how the FAA medical treats it. Nothing needs to be paid on the day.
Get in touch and we will call you back
Call (818) 290-8249 between 9 AM and 9 PM, email alex@laflightschool.com, or come to 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A and knock. The first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing.