On a discovery flight you do the flying, and from Van Nuys the natural route runs west through the Santa Susana Pass and out over the whole of Simi Valley.
This is not a scenic ride with a commentary in your headset. The left seat is yours, the instructor flies the departure, and once the pattern is behind us the airplane is handed over: climbing turns, descents, level flight, all of it under your own hands. Most Simi Valley guests ask to head west over the pass first, and almost none of them can find their own street in the first thirty seconds of looking.
The run home is the good part. You cross Chatsworth in a couple of minutes, thread the gap beside Rocky Peak, and Simi opens underneath all at once. Corriganville at the mouth of the pass, the arroyo running away west, and the Reagan Library on its own ridge with a Boeing 707 sitting inside the building. People who have driven under that ridge for thirty years still go quiet when they see it from level with the roof.
The hour is not a novelty, either. It goes into a logbook as dual instruction toward a license, so it counts as lesson one rather than a ride, and if you decide within 24 hours to carry on, every dollar of it comes off your training. More than 2,000 discovery flights have been flown here safely, and the school's rating on Google is a full 5.0 across 100+ reviews.
Allow roughly two hours at Van Nuys for a 60-minute flight, and bring anyone who wants to watch.
We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, between Saticoy Street and Roscoe Blvd. Park free in the lot outside, where there is room for the family car and somewhere to stand and watch airplanes come and go. Bring a photo ID, and sunglasses if you own a pair. Nothing else, and nothing to read beforehand.
About twenty minutes sitting down before you go near the airplane. What each control does, how the hour is going to unfold, and where you would like to point the nose. West over the pass to Simi is the usual answer around here. The coast at Malibu is the other one, and a 90-minute flight has room for both.
You do the preflight inspection yourself with the instructor next to you. Fuel, oil, tires, control surfaces, the same checks every pilot on this field runs before every flight. It is the moment the day stops feeling like an outing and starts feeling like flying.
The instructor flies the departure out of the Class D. Somewhere over the west Valley the controls come across and stay with you. Sixty minutes is $229 for one person, ninety is $299 and two hours is $399. With a second person along, the same three lengths are $299, $399 and $499.
The time you flew goes into a signed logbook entry that belongs to you from then on, used or not. If you want to know what training would actually cost, we will sit down and go through it while you are still at the airport, free, with nothing to sign at the end of it.
Every figure below is the real, published price. No "call for a quote," no hidden block-time minimums.
Full-motion simulator with an instructor. Never weather-canceled.
You in the pilot's seat, instructor beside you, LA underneath.
One flies, one rides along. The most-gifted flight we offer.
Premium Cirrus SR22 glass cockpit. The anniversary flight.
Twin-engine Piper Seminole. A real taste of the professional path.
The 118 east is the entire drive. Up past Kuehner Drive, through the Santa Susana Pass, down into the top of Chatsworth, and off at Balboa Blvd about twelve miles later. Turn south and stay on Balboa for four more miles; Suite 108A sits between Saticoy Street and Roscoe Blvd, with the field on the far side of the fence. Twenty miles in total, half an hour on a normal day.
Book late afternoon if you get the choice. The light on the Simi Hills at that hour is what people describe afterwards, and you miss the eastbound crowd that fills the pass between seven and nine in the morning. Parking is free and directly outside, which matters when children have come along to watch. We fly 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week, so an early evening slot in summer is genuinely bookable.
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.
Full-motion simulator with an instructor. No weight limit, no medical needed.
Reserve →You in the pilot's seat over Los Angeles, hands on the controls the whole way.
Book Now →One of you flies hands-on, the other takes in the skyline. Share the story.
Book Now →Premium Cirrus SR22 glass cockpit and extended air time over the LA basin.
Book Now →Twin-engine Piper Seminole and a genuine look at the professional path.
Book Now →The usual airplanes for this are the Diamond DA20, the Piper Warrior and the Cessna 162 Skycatcher. Flying on your own it is $229 for an hour, $299 for ninety minutes and $399 for two hours. With a second person it becomes $299, $399 and $499, and your passenger stays on board for the whole flight rather than waiting on the ground with the car keys.
If it is an occasion, the Cirrus SR22 Turbo goes out as the Luxury Cirrus For Two at $499, $699 and $949, with a full glass cockpit and a great deal more airplane around you. The twin-engine Piper Seminole flies as a Multi-Engine Discovery Flight at $499, $699 or $899. And if the weather over the pass refuses to play, the Redbird MCX full-motion simulator goes out at $189 for the hour and teaches more than most people expect it to.
All four of these are inside ten minutes of the airport, and every one of them looks different from above.
It stands alone on a ridge above the valley, a long pale roof with a parking terrace cut into the hillside. Inside it is a Boeing 707 that flew as Air Force One, which is an odd and rather good thing to fly past in a Cessna.
The old movie ranch at the mouth of the pass off Kuehner Drive. From 2,000 feet you can pick out stone foundations, the outline of the pond and the road grid of a western town that stopped existing decades ago.
A small lake tucked into housing on the west side of town, hidden from almost every street around it. It appears out of nowhere from the air and is one of the more satisfying things to spot on a first flight.
The newest streets in Simi, pushed hard up against bare hills on the northeast side. From above, the boundary between the last cul-de-sac and open chaparral is startlingly abrupt.
The Route You Fly
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.
01Instructor Takeoff
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.
02You’re Flying
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.
03You’re Flying
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.
04You’re Flying
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.
05You’re Flying
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.
06You’re Flying
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.
07You’re Flying
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.
08You’re Flying
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.
09You’re Flying
The Pier And The Ferris Wheel
The pier, the Ferris wheel and the beach, straight out of a thousand films.
10You’re Flying
The Mountains Meet The Pacific
Up the coast past the Palisades to Malibu, where the Santa Monica Mountains drop straight into the ocean.
11You’re Flying
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
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 $229Typical route. Weather and air traffic control set the final path on the day.
Hands-On From The Left Seat
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.
About thirty minutes for twenty miles. Take the 118 east through the Santa Susana Pass, come off at Balboa Blvd and run four miles south to Suite 108A at 7900 Balboa Blvd. Add a little between seven and nine in the morning, when the pass carries the commute. Parking is free right outside the door, with plenty of room for anyone who has come along to watch.
Yes, that is the whole idea. The instructor takes the takeoff and the landing and works the radio; everything in between is yours, with a second set of controls in front of them at all times. No experience is required and nothing is expected of you beforehand. Every minute of it is loggable time toward a license.
Flying alone: $229 for an hour, $299 for ninety minutes, $399 for two hours. With a second person aboard those become $299, $399 and $499. The Cirrus SR22 Turbo for two runs $499, $699 or $949, the twin-engine Seminole is $499, $699 or $899, and an hour in the Redbird simulator is $189. Enroll within 24 hours and 100% of what you paid is credited toward training.
Nearly always. Tell your instructor the cross streets while you are still at the table and the route gets built around them, weather and traffic permitting. Simi sits just the other side of the pass from a straightforward Van Nuys departure, which makes it an easier request than a lot of places in Los Angeles.
It is one of the few gifts that ends up in a logbook. You can book a specific date or leave it open for the recipient to choose their own. Teenagers fly these regularly and a parent is welcome at the briefing. If it takes hold, there is a Teen Flight Training Package at $4,200.
Book It Or Gift It
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
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 Or Gift
Same Price
Two Seats
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 Or Gift
Same Price
The Nice One
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
$499Book Or Gift
Same Price
Twin Engine
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 Or Gift
Same Price
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.
Our Courses
Real pricing on every program we teach at Van Nuys Airport, beyond the pricing already shown above.
5.0 Average Rating
100+ Google Reviews
CertificateMost Popular
The one most people mean by “learn to fly.” Fly with an instructor, fly alone, then carry passengers on your own certificate.
Fly With An Instructor Fly Solo Carry Passengers $10,900 Enroll Now
Youth Program
Ages 10–15. For young people who want to start before they can legally solo.
$4,200 View Course
Milestone
Enough training to take an aircraft around the pattern alone. The day everything changes.
$5,500 View Course
Certificate
A real certificate with fewer hours and narrower privileges. The shortest honest route to flying yourself.
$8,400 View Course
Bundle
Private Pilot with flight time, ground instruction and study materials bundled into one price.
$15,900 View CourseBundle
The same certificate as Private, with the most flight time before your checkride. Eighty logged hours, ground instruction and materials, all in one price.
80 Logged Hours Ground School Included Materials Included $22,500 View Course
Rating
The rating after Private. Turns a fair-weather pilot into a useful one who can file, launch and land in cloud.
$11,700 View Course
Rating
For pilots already certificated who are adding a twin. Trained in our own Piper Seminole.
$5,100 View Course
Our Fleet
Diamond DA20, Cessna 162, Piper Arrow II and our Piper Seminole twin — all on the field at Van Nuys.
View The FleetThe Full Route
Zero experience to airline-hireable qualifications, in one continuous program rather than nine separate ones. Financing is available, and every hour of it is flown out of Van Nuys.
$89,000Financing Available
Free In-Person Tour Before You Commit
Loved On Google
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
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...
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...
Reviews shown verbatim, exactly as each reviewer published them.
One call to (818) 290-8249 and we can usually get you flying inside the week, or drop into Suite 108A at 7900 Balboa Blvd and look at the airplanes first. If you are buying it for somebody else, ask us about leaving the date open for them to choose.
Or Send Us A Message And We'll Come Back To You The Same Day →Fully Automated Booking
Our smart booking system shows real open dates and times. Pick yours online and you are confirmed straight away by text message and email.
Choose your time in the aircraft
You spend exactly 60 minutes in the aircraft.
Please book in advance. Aircraft and instructor time is reserved ahead, so choose your date early.
What you receive the moment you book
Text Message
You're booked! Discovery Flight, 60 min in the aircraft, on the date and time you chose. Details are in your email.
Email Confirmation
Example of the confirmations sent after booking.
