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.
The phrase, unpacked
FAA Certified Flight Schools: What That Phrase Actually Means
The FAA certificates airmen and aircraft. It certificates a school only when that school holds a pilot school certificate under 14 CFR part 141. Everything else you read on a flight school website is either that, or marketing.
141.3 certificate required141.19 must be displayedInstructors are always certificatedWe are a Part 61 school
141.3the only section that certificates a school
61.183the section that certificates your instructor
91.409(b)100-hour inspections on training aircraft
5.0★85 reviews on Google
The short answer
There is one kind of FAA certified flight school, and it is called a Part 141 pilot school.
“FAA certified flight school” has one precise meaning: a school holding a pilot school certificate issued under 14 CFR 141.3, with ratings for the specific courses the FAA approved under 14 CFR 141.53. 14 CFR 141.19 requires that certificate to be displayed at the operations base, so you can ask to see it.
Used any other way the phrase is decoration. It usually means the school’s instructors hold FAA certificates and its aircraft hold FAA airworthiness certificates — both true of every legal flight school in the country, and neither of them a distinction.
That matters because the phrase is doing work in advertising that the regulation does not support. 14 CFR 141.23 places limits on what a certificated school may claim about its certificate, and a school without one has no certificate to advertise at all.
We are a Part 61 school at Van Nuys Airport. We do not hold a Part 141 pilot school certificate and we do not describe ourselves as FAA certified or FAA approved. Our instructors, our aircraft and the certificate you leave with are all FAA-issued. The business is not, and we are not going to blur that.
Always certificated
What carries an actual FAA certificate at every flight school
This is the part that is genuinely FAA-issued wherever you train. It is worth knowing so you can tell the real claims from the decorative ones.
1
The flight instructor
A flight instructor certificate is issued under 14 CFR 61.183. Its privileges may be exercised only if the recent-experience requirement in 14 CFR 61.197 has been met within the preceding 24 calendar months. Any instructor certificate can be looked up by name in the FAA Airmen Inquiry database.
2
The aircraft
Every training aeroplane holds an airworthiness certificate and must be maintained airworthy under 14 CFR 91.7 and 91.403. Because instruction is given for hire, 14 CFR 91.409(b) adds a 100-hour inspection to the annual.
3
The examiner
A Designated Pilot Examiner is appointed by the Administrator under 14 CFR part 183. The DPE is independent of the school, which is precisely why the practical test means something.
4
You, at the end
Your pilot certificate is issued under 14 CFR part 61. It records your name, certificate number, level and ratings. It does not record which school you attended or which part it operated under.
5
The knowledge test
The FAA Airman Knowledge Test is administered under 14 CFR 61.35 at an approved testing centre, from an FAA question bank, to an FAA standard: 60 questions, 2 hours and a minimum passing score of 70 for the Private Pilot Airplane test per the FAA Airman Knowledge Testing Matrix.
6
The school, only under Part 141
The single certificate that applies to the business is the pilot school certificate under 14 CFR 141.3, granted on the terms in 14 CFR 141.5 and displayed under 14 CFR 141.19. Nothing else certificates a flight school.
Claim check
Phrases you will read, and what each one is worth
None of the phrases in the left column are illegal. They are just not all equal, and only one of them is a certificate.
| The phrase | What it actually means |
|---|---|
| FAA certificated pilot school | A real certificate under 14 CFR 141.3, with named course ratings. Ask to see it — 14 CFR 141.19 requires it to be displayed. |
| FAA approved course | The training course outline was approved under 14 CFR 141.53. Ask which course, because a school can hold approval for one and run the rest under Part 61. |
| FAA certified flight instructors | True everywhere. Instructing without a certificate issued under 14 CFR 61.183 is illegal. |
| FAA approved aircraft | Every aeroplane in US airspace holds an airworthiness certificate. This tells you nothing. |
| FAA registered / FAA recognised school | Not regulatory terms. There is no FAA register of Part 61 schools. |
| FAA approved simulator | Meaningful if the device carries an FAA letter of authorisation as an ATD, FTD or FFS. Our Redbird MCX is an FAA-approved full-motion device. |
| Examining authority | A real and rare privilege under 14 CFR 141.63 and 141.65. Very few schools hold it. |
How to check
Three minutes of diligence that settles any claim
You do not need to take anybody’s word for this, including ours.
01
Ask to see the pilot school certificate
If a school describes itself as FAA certified, 14 CFR 141.19 requires the certificate to be on display. Look at the ratings printed on it and check that your course is one of them.
02
Look the instructor up
The FAA Airmen Inquiry database is public. You can confirm a flight instructor certificate and its ratings in under a minute, and it is a fair thing to do before handing over thousands of dollars.
03
Ask what the price includes and what moves it
Certification tells you nothing about cost discipline. We publish $10,900 for the Standard private pilot programme, $15,900 for the Comprehensive and $22,500 for the Premium, and the number does not move after you enrol.
Our position
What we are, in the words the regulation uses
We are a flight school at Van Nuys Airport operating under 14 CFR part 61. Our instructors hold FAA flight instructor certificates. Our aircraft hold FAA airworthiness certificates and are inspected every 100 hours under 14 CFR 91.409(b) because we instruct for hire. Our simulator is an FAA-approved Redbird MCX. Our students take the FAA knowledge test and an FAA practical test with an FAA-designated examiner.
What we do not have is a pilot school certificate under 14 CFR part 141, and we will not use a phrase that suggests we do. That decision costs us two categories of customer: anybody funding training with VA or GI Bill benefits, which 38 CFR 21.4263 restricts to Part 141 schools, and anybody who needs an M-1 or F-1 student visa, which SEVP policy guidance 1207-04 restricts to Part 141 or Part 142 providers.
For everybody else the practical questions are different ones. How often can you actually fly. Who owns the aeroplanes. How many instructors are on staff. Whether the price you were quoted is the price you finish at. Those are the things that decide whether you get a certificate, and no regulation number answers them.
Read our comparison of Part 61 vs Part 141 flight training if you want the full version, or come and look at the ramp.
The fleet
What we own, and what it is inspected against
Six aircraft, ours, on the field at Van Nuys, on a 100-hour cycle because they are used for instruction.
Aircraft used for instruction for hire require a 100-hour inspection under 14 CFR 91.409(b) on top of the annual. That is a real, checkable standard.
Redbird MCX
An FAA-approved device, which is a claim we can make
The Redbird MCX is a full-motion, fully enclosed, FAA-approved simulator. Procedures, instrument scan, radio work and emergencies all transfer to the aircraft.
Two to five hours of simulator time sit inside every private pilot programme. A single session is $189.
Your instructor
Career instructors, not hour-builders passing through
Every instructor here holds a commercial or airline transport pilot certificate, a flight instructor certificate issued under 14 CFR 61.183, and a current medical. All of that is checkable in the FAA Airmen Inquiry database, and we would rather you checked.
The instructor is legally pilot in command on every training flight under 14 CFR 91.3, which is why a discovery flight is safe for somebody who has never touched a control before.
There are eleven of them. That is the number that decides whether your lesson happens this week, and no certificate on a wall affects it.
What people say
5.0 Stars, 85 Reviews
On Google, the same three things come up again and again.
★
Instructors who actually teach
The most repeated compliment in our Google reviews is not the aircraft and it is not the price. It is the debrief.
★
Scheduling that works
Eleven instructors and a fleet we own means the lesson happens on the day we said it would.
★
Prices that do not move
The number you enrol at is the number you finish at. Reviewers mention it constantly.
Published prices
What it costs, published
Three ways in, all with a number attached. Financing from $2,500 down.
Discovery Flight For One
$229 / 60 min
A real lesson. You fly the aircraft, the time is loggable dual instruction under 14 CFR 61.51, and the full price is credited if you enrol within 24 hours.
- 90 minutes $299
- 120 minutes $399
- Medical needed No
Most booked
Standard Private Pilot
$10,900
40 hours logged under 14 CFR 61.109(a), in a Cessna, Piper or Diamond, with books and ground school included.
- Aircraft 38 hrs
- Dual instruction 30 hrs
- Redbird simulator 2 hrs
Redbird Simulator Session
$189 / 1 hr
One hour in the FAA-approved full-motion MCX with an instructor. Useful before you commit to anything.
- Full motion Yes
- Weather cancels it Never
- Instructor Included
$500 off any private pilot program this summer. Standard $10,400 · Comprehensive $15,400 · Premium $22,000. Ask when you enroll.
Your next step
Ask us the awkward question
Thirty minutes, free, at Van Nuys or on the phone. Ask what we hold and what we do not, and we will answer it straight before you spend anything.
Discovery Flight For One
$229
60 minutes · you fly the aircraft · credited in full on enrolment within 24 hours
Certification and the rules
Part 61 vs Part 141 comparedPart 141 flight schoolsPart 61 flight schools explainedPart 61 flight trainingHow to choose a flight school
FAQ
FAA Certified Flight Schools — Common Questions
Precisely, it is a school holding a pilot school certificate issued under 14 CFR 141.3, with ratings for the courses the FAA approved under 14 CFR 141.53. 14 CFR 141.19 requires that certificate to be displayed. Any other use of the phrase is marketing rather than regulation.
No, and no honest Part 61 school says it is. A Part 61 school is FAA regulated: its instructors are certificated under 14 CFR 61.183, its aircraft under the airworthiness rules, and its students under 14 CFR part 61. The business itself holds no FAA certificate.
Our instructors, our aircraft and our simulator are FAA-certificated or FAA-approved. The school does not hold a Part 141 pilot school certificate, so we do not describe ourselves as an FAA certified flight school. We are a Part 61 school at Van Nuys Airport.
It matters in three situations: VA and GI Bill funding, which 38 CFR 21.4263 restricts to Part 141 schools; M-1 and F-1 student visas, which SEVP policy guidance 1207-04 restricts to Part 141 or Part 142 providers; and the 190-hour commercial route under 14 CFR 61.129(i). Outside those, the certificate does not change the licence you earn.
Ask to see the pilot school certificate, which 14 CFR 141.19 requires to be displayed, and read the course ratings on it. Look the instructors up in the FAA Airmen Inquiry database. Ask which specific course is approved, because a school can be Part 141 for one course and Part 61 for the rest.
They are audited more, not tested to a higher standard. The practical test is the same test against the same Airman Certification Standards, and 14 CFR 61.43 requires the same performance either way. Instructor quality and how often you fly matter far more than the regulation the school operates under.
Very little on its own. Every aeroplane flying legally in US airspace holds an airworthiness certificate. The claim worth asking about is maintenance: aircraft used for instruction for hire require a 100-hour inspection under 14 CFR 91.409(b) in addition to the annual.
Yes. An FAA-approved device holds a letter of authorisation as an aviation training device, flight training device or full flight simulator, and time in it can count toward specific requirements. Our Redbird MCX is a full-motion FAA-approved device, and a single session is $189.
No. Airlines evaluate certificates, ratings, total flight time and checkride records. An unrestricted ATP requires 1,500 hours under 14 CFR 61.159 whichever school you trained at, and the pilot certificate itself records nothing about the school.
Look for a school that will show you its pilot school certificate under 14 CFR 141.19 and confirm the specific course rating you need. We are not one, and if VA funding or an I-20 is what you need we will tell you that on the free consultation rather than after a deposit.
No Cost, No Obligation
Get The Full Training Plan And Price Sheet
The three private pilot packages, what each one includes, the financing options and a realistic timeline built around how often you can actually fly. Sent to you in one email. Nobody will pressure you.
- Every package price, itemised
- Financing from $2,500 down
- A timeline based on your schedule
Loved On Google
Seventy 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.