SAFETY FIRST
★★★★★
Very safety and detail oriented. Pre-flight briefing explained everything there was. To my knowledge, this flight school is exceptional in their ability.
Hands-On Introductory Flight · Malibu
Discovery Flights Over Malibu, Booked At Van Nuys
You fly it yourself: takeoff from Van Nuys, over the ridge, and then twenty-one miles of Malibu shoreline sliding past the window with your hands on the controls.
2,000+Discovery flights flown safely
5.0★Our Google rating, 100+ reviews
45 minFrom Malibu to the flight line
9AM–9PMSeven days a week at KVNY
Discovery Flight · Malibu, Los Angeles County
The Best Hour Of Scenery In Southern California
There is nothing better in Southern California to fly over than this coastline, and we say that having flown more than 2,000 discovery flights out of Van Nuys. From the air Malibu stops being a road with houses on it and becomes one continuous thing: Las Flores to Leo Carrillo in about eight minutes, headlands, coves, kelp beds, the sandbar off Zuma, all of it visible at once. The school holds a 5.0 star rating on Google.
This is not a sightseeing charter. You do the takeoff roll, you hold the heading, you make the turns. The instructor next to you talks to the tower and keeps you out of airspace you have no business in. The hour is written up as dual instruction, which means it counts toward a license, and that is the detail almost nobody expects. Photo ID is the only thing you need to bring.
If there is one place on earth the Luxury Cirrus For Two earns its $499 for sixty minutes, it is here. An SR22 Turbo has a glass cockpit, leather seats and big windows, and it covers the twenty-six miles out to the water quickly, which leaves more of your hour spent over the coast rather than getting to it. Discovery Flight For One starts at $229 and flies the same trip more modestly.
How It Works
From The Parking Lot To The Logbook — Start To Certificate
Set aside a couple of hours on the ground here for a sixty-minute flight, plus the canyon drive at either end.
1
Getting Here And Checking In
Come up whichever canyon suits your end of Malibu, then east on the 101 to the Balboa Blvd exit. Leave the car in the lot outside 7900 Balboa Blvd, which costs nothing, and come into Suite 108A. Bring photo ID. On a summer Saturday allow a little extra for PCH before you reach the canyon; the freeway part is the easy half.
2
Choosing The Route At The Desk
Fifteen or twenty minutes sitting down. Your instructor explains the controls, what the hour will contain, and exactly who is flying at which point. Most guests from the coast want the same thing: straight over the ridge, feet wet, then west along the shore. If you want your own house in the frame, say so at this point and the route gets drawn to include it.
3
The Walkaround
You go around the airplane with the instructor, sumping fuel, checking oil, moving the control surfaces, looking over tires and lights. Ten minutes or so. It is also the point at which most people start asking real questions, and nothing you ask out there is too obvious to be worth answering.
4
Over The Ridge, Feet Wet
You taxi to the hold, line up, and it is your hand on the throttle for the takeoff. Ten minutes southwest over Woodland Hills and Calabasas, the ridge slides under the nose, and the whole of Santa Monica Bay is behind you. Sixty minutes covers the Pier out to Point Dume and back. Ninety reaches Leo Carrillo with time to slow down.
5
Landing, Logbook, No Sales Pitch
The landing belongs to your instructor, though they will often let you fly most of the way down to it. Inside afterwards the hour gets written into a logbook you take home with you. Sign up within 24 hours and 100% of the flight price comes off your training. Decide against it and nobody is going to chase you about it.
Transparent Pricing
Discovery Flight Pricing For Malibu Students
Every figure below is the real, published price. No "call for a quote," no hidden block-time minimums.
Redbird Simulator
Full-motion simulator with an instructor. Never weather-canceled.
$1891 hour
- ✓Full-motion Redbird, hands on
- ✓No weight limit, no medical
- ✓Pause and repeat as you like
Most Popular
Discovery Flight For One
You in the pilot's seat, instructor beside you, LA underneath.
$22960 min
- ✓You fly the airplane, hands-on
- ✓Loggable time toward your license
- ✓90 min $299 · 120 min $399
- ✓100% credited if you enroll in 24 hrs
Discovery Flight For Two
One flies, one rides along. The most-gifted flight we offer.
$29960 min
- ✓Bring a partner, friend or parent
- ✓90 min $399 · 120 min $499
- ✓Gift certificates available
Luxury Discovery Flight
Premium Cirrus SR22 glass cockpit. The anniversary flight.
$49960 min
- ✓Cirrus SR22 Turbo, glass cockpit
- ✓90 min $699 · 120 min $949
- ✓Add a passenger +$100
Multi-Engine Discovery
Twin-engine Piper Seminole. A real taste of the professional path.
$49960 min
- ✓Twin-engine Piper Seminole
- ✓Real multi-engine fundamentals
- ✓90 min $699 · 120 min $899
Every discovery flight is 100% credited toward your training if you enroll within 24 hours. For a Malibu student going on to the $10,900 private pilot program, that makes the first flight effectively free.
Getting Here From Malibu
45 Minutes And 26 Miles From Malibu
Which canyon you use depends on where you start. Las Flores and Carbon Beach: Topanga Canyon Blvd, then Ventura Blvd and the 101 east. Malibu Colony, the Pier and the Civic Center: Malibu Canyon Road through the tunnel, then the 101 at Calabasas. Point Dume, Zuma and Trancas: Kanan Dume Road up to Agoura Hills. Every version ends the same way, with the 101 east to the Balboa Blvd exit, then north over Victory and Vanowen, airport on your left. Around forty-five minutes from the middle of Malibu, a little less from the eastern beaches.
The lot outside 7900 Balboa Blvd is ours and parking in it is free, so there is no structure to find and nothing to validate. Suite 108A is in the same building. If the flight is a gift, only the person flying needs ID, and they choose their own date. One thing worth knowing: mornings on the coast are often gray while Van Nuys is clear and flying, so a slot that looks doomed from your kitchen window frequently is not. Call before you cancel. We are open 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week.
Book A Discovery Flight
Book Your Discovery Flight From Malibu
Pick your aircraft, pick a date and time, and you are on the schedule. You fly the airplane yourself with an FAA-certified instructor beside you — and every flight is 100% credited toward training if you enroll within 24 hours.
No Weather Cancellations
Redbird Simulator
$189
1 hour
Full-motion simulator with an instructor. No weight limit, no medical needed.
Reserve →
Most Popular
Discovery Flight For One
$229
60 minutes
You in the pilot's seat over Los Angeles, hands on the controls the whole way.
Book Now →
Most Gifted
Discovery Flight For Two
$299
60 minutes
One of you flies hands-on, the other takes in the skyline. Share the story.
Book Now →
The Showstopper
Luxury Discovery Flight
$499
60 minutes
Premium Cirrus SR22 glass cockpit and extended air time over the LA basin.
Book Now →
The Pro Move
Multi-Engine Discovery
$499
60 minutes
Twin-engine Piper Seminole and a genuine look at the professional path.
Book Now →
The Aircraft You'll Fly
Which Airplane, And What It Costs
Flown in the Cessna 162 Skycatcher, the Diamond DA20 or the Piper Warrior, Discovery Flight For One costs $229 at 60 minutes, $299 at 90 and $399 at 120. Discovery Flight For Two is $299, $399 and $499 for the same durations, and the two of you settle between yourselves who takes the controls first. Every minute is logged as dual instruction. If weather closes the coast, the Redbird MCX full-motion simulator runs at $189 for the hour and still teaches you something real.
The Luxury Cirrus For Two is the obvious Malibu choice: the SR22 Turbo, glass cockpit and leather, at $499 for 60 minutes, $699 for 90 and $949 for 120. Ninety minutes in it gets you Leo Carrillo, a turn offshore and the whole run back down the coast without hurrying any of it. If twin-engine airplanes interest you more than scenery does, the Piper Seminole goes up as a Multi-Engine Discovery Flight at $499, $699 and $899.
What You'll See From The Air
What Goes Past The Window
Four things on the coastal leg, three of which you have driven past a thousand times and never actually seen.
🏖️
Zuma And Westward Beach
Two miles of nearly straight sand with the parking bays ruled off along the back of it, and the sandbar showing offshore as a pale band. From above it is the clearest possible explanation of why the surf here breaks the way it does.
🛥️
Paradise Cove
A small wooden pier and a crescent of sand tucked into the sheltered east side of Point Dume, with the mobile home park on the bluff above it. Self-contained, entirely hidden from PCH, and obvious from two thousand feet.
🐋
The Gray Whale Line
Between December and April the migration runs close inshore along this coast. You do not always see them, but a spout and a dark shape with a slick of flat water beside it is one of the better things that can happen on a discovery flight.
🌴
Malibu Colony And The Lagoon
The tight rank of houses on the spit west of the creek mouth, with the lagoon behind them changing color with the tide. From the air you can see exactly how narrow the strip of land they sit on really is.
The Route You Fly
Your Discovery Flight Route Over Los Angeles
About an hour from Van Nuys Airport: Universal Studios, the Hollywood Sign, Griffith Observatory and a full circle around Downtown LA, then west just north of SoFi Stadium and LAX to the coast, from Venice Beach up to Malibu. Your instructor takes off and lands. You fly 50–80% of it.
- About 1 Hour From Van Nuys
- You Fly 50–80%
- From $229 All-In
- No Experience Needed
Stop 01 Of 11Van Nuys Airport
Loading The Map
You’re FlyingInstructor: Takeoff & LandingWe Stay North Of LAX & SoFi
The San Fernando Valley Over The Wing 01Instructor Takeoff
Van Nuys Airport
Wheels Up From Van Nuys
Your instructor takes off from one of the busiest general aviation airports in the world and talks you through every step. Once you are clear of the field, the controls are yours.
Universal Studios Hollywood From The Air 02You’re Flying
Universal Studios
The Backlot From Above
The studio lots turn out to be far bigger than they look on TV, with the soundstages lined up like a small town.
The Hollywood Sign On Mount Lee 03You’re Flying
Hollywood Sign
Nine Letters On Mount Lee
The most famous sign in the world, seen from where almost nobody gets to see it: level with the hilltop.
Griffith Observatory From The Air 04You’re Flying
Griffith Observatory
The Domes On The Ridge
The white domes of Griffith Observatory on the slope of Mount Hollywood, with the whole Los Angeles basin laid out beyond them.
Circling The Downtown Towers 05You’re Flying
Downtown LA
A Full Circle Around Downtown
In on the south side, then a full counterclockwise circle around the towers: up the east side, over the top and back around. The San Gabriel Mountains stand behind the skyline.
SoFi Stadium From Just North 06You’re Flying
SoFi Stadium
The Roof You Know From TV
We pass just north of the stadium and never fly over it. Its huge translucent roof, home of the Rams and the Chargers, sits right off your left wing.
LAX From The North Side 07You’re Flying
LAX
Airliners On Final, Off Your Left Wing
Jets lining up for one of the busiest airports on Earth, off your left wing. We stay north of LAX and never fly over it.
Venice Beach Over The Wing 08You’re Flying
Venice Beach
Right Turn Up The Coast
The boardwalk, the skate park and the sand, then a right turn up the coast with all of Santa Monica Bay opening up ahead of you.
Santa Monica Pier From The Air 09You’re Flying
Santa Monica Pier
The Pier And The Ferris Wheel
The pier, the Ferris wheel and the beach, straight out of a thousand films.
The Malibu Coast At Sunset 10You’re Flying
Malibu
The Mountains Meet The Pacific
Up the coast past the Palisades to Malibu, where the Santa Monica Mountains drop straight into the ocean.
Heading Back Across The San Fernando Valley 11You’re Flying
Warner Center
Over The Hills To Warner Center
North over the Santa Monica Mountains to Warner Center in Woodland Hills, then east across the San Fernando Valley with Van Nuys straight ahead.
12Instructor Landing
Back At Van Nuys
Your Instructor Lands, Then A Quick Debrief
Have your own pilot logbook? Bring it and your instructor will be happy to sign it. Enroll within 24 hours of landing and 100% of what you paid is credited toward your training.
Book Your Flight · From $229
Typical route. Weather and air traffic control set the final path on the day.
Hands-On From The Left Seat
You Fly The Airplane. Not A Ride Along.
50–80%Of the flight is flown by you
Your instructor takes off and lands. Almost everything in between is yours: turns, climbs, descents, holding a heading over Los Angeles. How much depends on you and the conditions on the day.
Your instructor flies the takeoff from Van Nuys and talks you through it while you listen to the tower in your headset.
You fly the airplane. Turns, climbs, descents and holding a heading over Los Angeles, for roughly 50–80% of the flight depending on you and the conditions. Your instructor has an identical set of controls and handles the radio.
Your instructor lands and narrates the approach. Have your own logbook? Your instructor will be happy to sign it. Want to fly less and look more? Say so at the briefing.
Tap Takeoff, You Fly or Landing to see who is flying.
- No license, experience or medical certificate needed
- Bring your own logbook and your instructor will be happy to sign it
- 100% credited toward training if you enroll within 24 hours of landing
Questions From Malibu
Discovery Flight FAQ
You fly. The takeoff, the climbing turn out of the pattern, and effectively the whole coastal run. Your instructor has their own yoke and pedals, and mostly uses them for the landing. Most people end up flying a larger share of the hour than they signed up for, including the ones who came mainly to take photographs.
Sixty minutes at $229 gets you over the ridge, along the shore from about the Pier to Point Dume, and home again. Ninety at $299 reaches Leo Carrillo and the county line with room to loiter. Two hours at $399 puts Anacapa and the Channel Islands within reach on a clear day, and that is a different sort of trip altogether.
Usually yes, and from this stretch of coast it is the request we get most often. Mention it at the briefing and your instructor will draw the route past it, within whatever the airspace and the weather allow that day. Bluff houses and beach houses both photograph well, and the light along this coast is better late in the afternoon.
It is loggable. Your instructor signs the hour into a logbook as dual received, and it counts against the hours the FAA wants to see for a private pilot certificate. Start a program within 24 hours of landing and 100% of the flight price is credited against it. Nothing about the hour is wasted if you decide to continue.
Fair question, and the honest answer is that people rarely make the trip only for the hour. Ninety minutes at $299, or the Luxury Cirrus For Two at $499, turns it into a morning worth planning around. Come up Malibu Canyon or Kanan Dume rather than fighting PCH and the drive is a good one in its own right.
Book It Or Gift It
Fly It Yourself, Or Give The Flight To Someone Else
Every discovery flight below can be booked for yourself in the next few minutes, or bought as a gift certificate that is emailed within minutes and never expires. Same flight, same price, either way.
Most Given
Two Seats
The Nice One
Twin Engine
Discovery Flight For One
One person, one instructor, and no audience. Hands on the controls from the left seat, briefed before you go and debriefed after you land.
Hands-On Stick TimePre-Flight BriefingLoggable Flight Time
Flight Length
$229Book It Or Gift It
Same Price Either Way
Discovery Flight For Two
The same flight with a passenger in the back seat, briefed and on the intercom. Couples book it; so do parents who would rather watch than hear about it.
One Passenger SeatPiper Warrior Or ArcherHeadsets For Both
Flight Length
$299Book It Or Gift It
Same Price Either Way
Luxury Discovery Flight
The nicest airplane we put a first-time flyer in. Glass cockpit, air conditioning, leather seats, and a parachute built into the airframe rather than strapped to the person.
Turbocharged Cirrus SR22Air ConditioningWhole-Airframe Parachute
Flight Length
Bring A PassengerInstructor + 2 is our maximum+$100
$499Book It Or Gift It
Same Price Either Way
Multi-Engine Seminole
Two engines, and the airplane instrument-rated pilots move into when they start thinking about a career. Flown from the left seat with a multi-engine instructor.
Piper Seminole TwinMulti-Engine DepartureCareer-Track Instructor
Flight Length
$499Book It Or Gift It
Same Price Either Way
Gift It issues a real gift certificate, emailed within minutes, which never expires and credits in full toward training. Flights are limited to 180 lb per person, 370 lb combined. Questions: (818) 290-8249, 9 AM–9 PM, seven days.
Courses & Pricing
The Rest Of What We Teach
★★★★★
5.0 Rating
100+ Google Reviews
Course prices are packages, not hourly rates - the aircraft, your instructor, ground school and simulator time are all in the figure. Van Nuys Airport, KVNY. Financing Available Through Stratus & In-House Plans.
01
Teen Flight Training Ages 10–15
Starting before it is legal to solo.
$4,200
02
Multi-Engine Rating
For existing pilots adding a twin.
$5,100
03
Solo Certificate
Enough training to take an aircraft around the pattern alone.
$5,500
04
Sport Pilot
A real certificate, fewer hours, narrower privileges.
$8,400
05
Private Pilot Most Enrolled
The one most people mean by “learn to fly.”
$10,900
06
Instrument Rating
Turns a fair-weather pilot into a useful one.
$11,700
07
Comprehensive Private Pilot
Private with flight time, ground instruction and materials bundled.
$15,900
08
Premium Private Pilot
The most flight time before your checkride - 80 logged hours.
$22,500
09
Airline Pilot Program
Zero experience to airline-hireable qualifications.
$89,000
All Prices In USD. 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, Van Nuys, CA 91406 · Open 9 AM–9 PM, Seven Days. Free In-Person Tour Of The School
Loved On Google
Over 100 Reviews. 5.0 Stars.
Every review below is real and shown verbatim, in the reviewer’s own words — written by the people who learned to fly here, not by us.
SAFETY FIRST
DISCOVERY FLIGHT
★★★★★
I recently had the chance to take my first-ever discovery flight, and it was nothing short of amazing! From the moment I stepped into the cockpit, the...
SUNSET CIRRUS
★★★★★
It was a great flight! I did a sunset flight and Alex let us fly an awesome. Website was easy to book, and the plane itself was really fun to fly...
FLYING LESSON
★★★★★
We had a great flying lesson with Ralph and came away with a much better understanding of both the aircraft and the principles of flight. Ralph is a...
KIDS LUXURY FLIGHT
★★★★★
I got 2 luxury discovery flights for my kids. I wanted them to have the experience of flying. Our instructor Alex was amazing he made sure they feel...
HONEYMOON SURPRISE
★★★★★
Last minute booking to surprise my wife on our honeymoon. She had no experience with flying and was scared of flying, but Alex was very easygoing and knew...
FULL-MOTION SIM
★★★★★
Amazing flight school in van nuys airport. I have been a student here for the past few months and i could not be happier. I started doing a lot of...
DISCOVERY FOR TWO
★★★★★
I booked a Discovery Flight for Two for my girlfriend's birthday and it was the perfect gift for her. She couldn't have been more excited to get to...
SIMULATORS
★★★★★
Very professional and great airplanes. I love the flight simulators. The pricing is very fair compared to any other flight school
TEEN FIRST LESSON
★★★★★
We gifted our teenage son his first flying lesson. He was so excited! Alex greeted us and gave a reassuring brief that made us all feel comfortable and at...
FIRST-TIME FLYER
★★★★★
Flying is my husband's hobby and I was incredibly anxious and apprehensive about the discovery flight. However, I felt completely safe and at ease once we...
SAFETY FIRST
★★★★★
Very safety and detail oriented. Pre-flight briefing explained everything there was. To my knowledge, this flight school is exceptional in their ability.
DISCOVERY FLIGHT
★★★★★
I recently had the chance to take my first-ever discovery flight, and it was nothing short of amazing! From the moment I stepped into the cockpit, the...
SUNSET CIRRUS
★★★★★
It was a great flight! I did a sunset flight and Alex let us fly an awesome. Website was easy to book, and the plane itself was really fun to fly...
FLYING LESSON
★★★★★
We had a great flying lesson with Ralph and came away with a much better understanding of both the aircraft and the principles of flight. Ralph is a...
KIDS LUXURY FLIGHT
★★★★★
I got 2 luxury discovery flights for my kids. I wanted them to have the experience of flying. Our instructor Alex was amazing he made sure they feel...
HONEYMOON SURPRISE
★★★★★
Last minute booking to surprise my wife on our honeymoon. She had no experience with flying and was scared of flying, but Alex was very easygoing and knew...
FULL-MOTION SIM
★★★★★
Amazing flight school in van nuys airport. I have been a student here for the past few months and i could not be happier. I started doing a lot of...
DISCOVERY FOR TWO
★★★★★
I booked a Discovery Flight for Two for my girlfriend's birthday and it was the perfect gift for her. She couldn't have been more excited to get to...
SIMULATORS
★★★★★
Very professional and great airplanes. I love the flight simulators. The pricing is very fair compared to any other flight school
TEEN FIRST LESSON
★★★★★
We gifted our teenage son his first flying lesson. He was so excited! Alex greeted us and gave a reassuring brief that made us all feel comfortable and at...
FIRST-TIME FLYER
★★★★★
Flying is my husband's hobby and I was incredibly anxious and apprehensive about the discovery flight. However, I felt completely safe and at ease once we...
See Discovery Flight Details — $229
Reviews shown verbatim, exactly as each reviewer published them.
Talk To A Real Instructor
Take The Controls Yourself, 45 Minutes From Malibu
The coast you drive along every day is a completely different object from two thousand feet when you are the one flying. Call (818) 290-8249 to pick a date, or come to 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A any day between 9 AM and 9 PM.
Or Send Us A Message And We'll Come Back To You The Same Day →