Nearly everyone arrives slightly nervous and slightly unsure whether they are allowed to touch anything. You are. This is a real lesson, you fly the airplane yourself, and the hour goes into a logbook with your name on it. Here is the whole thing in order, including the bits nobody tells you about — what to wear, what to eat, and what to do if you feel queasy.
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.
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...
A scenic tour is a product where you sit in the back and look out of the window. This is not that. You will do the walkaround inspection with your instructor, sit in the left seat — the pilot's seat — put on a headset, and fly the airplane. Your instructor is a certified flight instructor with a full set of controls on their side, and they will take it back whenever they need to, which on a normal day is for the takeoff and the landing and nothing else.
At the end the instructor signs your logbook. That entry is legally identical to the hundredth hour of somebody's private pilot training, and if you carry on it counts toward the 40 hours the FAA requires under FAR 61.109. People are often surprised by this. It is the reason a discovery flight is the correct first step rather than a nice thing to do at some point. Ours leave from Van Nuys Airport, a Class D field under the LAX Class B shelf; drive times for a discovery flight at Van Nuys are published in full.
If you decide to enroll within 24 hours, the full $229 comes off the program price. We do it that way because we would rather you find out whether you love this before you commit $10,900 to it, and because a fair number of people discover on the first flight that it is not for them. That is a good outcome too, and it costs you an afternoon instead of a deposit.
Filmed on a discovery flight out of Van Nuys Airport. This is the flight described on this page.
A discovery flight over Los Angeles from Van Nuys Airport — 60 minutes, hands on the controls, logged as dual instruction.
Budget about two hours at the airport for a 60-minute flight. Most of the extra time is the parts that make the flight worth something.
Park, come in, bring your government photo ID. There is a short form and a payment confirmation, and then you meet your instructor. If you are running late, call (818) 290-8249 rather than driving faster — aircraft are scheduled in blocks and a late start shortens the flight rather than moving it.
Your instructor sits down with you and explains what the airplane does and why. The four forces, what the yoke and rudder pedals actually control, what you will fly today, and where you are going. Ask everything. This is the part where nervous people stop being nervous, and there is no such thing as a stupid question in a first briefing — instructors have heard all of them and asked most of them.
You go out to the aircraft and inspect it together — fuel quantity and color, oil, control surfaces, tires, the pitot tube. You will drain a small sample of fuel into a clear tester and look at it. This is a real safety procedure done before every flight of every aircraft, and doing it yourself on day one is the moment most people realize this is not a theme park ride.
You get in the left seat and put on a headset. Your instructor starts the engine, gets the ATIS weather, and calls Van Nuys Ground for taxi clearance. You will hear controllers talking quickly to a very busy Class D field under the LAX Class B shelf, and you will understand almost none of it. That is normal and it lasts about three weeks.
Your instructor flies the takeoff. Somewhere in the climb through about a thousand feet they will say you have the aircraft, and you will have it. Most people are surprised how light the controls are and how little input anything takes. The first thing everyone does is over-control. The second thing everyone does is stop.
Out toward the practice area north of the field or west toward the coast, depending on weather and traffic. You will fly straight and level, climb, descend, and make turns in both directions. On a clear day the Santa Monica mountains, downtown Los Angeles and the coastline are all in view at once. Ninety and 120-minute flights go further — down the coast past Santa Monica toward Palos Verdes is the one people ask for.
Your instructor takes the aircraft for the approach and landing, and you keep your hands lightly on the controls to feel what they are doing. Landing is the skill that takes longest to learn and it is not a first-lesson item. Watching it from the left seat with your hands following is worth more than you would think.
Back at the ramp, engine off, and your instructor fills in your logbook: date, aircraft type and registration, route, time, and a signature. Then a debrief — what you did well, what to work on, and what the realistic next steps look like. If you want to enroll, this is when the $229 is credited. If you want to think about it, that is the correct answer too and nobody will push you.
The cabin is small, warm on the ground and cool at altitude, and there is not much room to fidget.
A minority of people feel queasy on a first flight, and it is almost always a combination of three things: a hot afternoon with thermal turbulence, an empty stomach, and spending too long looking down at the instruments instead of outside. All three are avoidable.
Book an early morning slot. Air over the LA basin is smoothest before about ten. Eat something ordinary beforehand — an empty stomach makes it worse, not better, and so does a large greasy meal. In the aircraft, keep your eyes on the horizon rather than the panel, open the air vent onto your face, and tell your instructor the moment you feel anything at all. There is a great deal they can do about it early and very little they can do about it late.
If you want to take a motion sickness remedy, ask us first. Several common over-the-counter options cause drowsiness and are not compatible with acting as a pilot, which matters later even if it does not on a discovery flight. Ginger and an early slot solve it for most people.
And if you do feel unwell, say so and we will go home. It happens, nobody minds, and it does not mean you cannot be a pilot — plenty of people who were queasy on lesson one are entirely fine by lesson five as the body adapts.
Yes, and this is the question we are asked most. You will have the controls for the majority of the time in the air on a normal flight — typically the climb after the initial departure, the whole cruise portion, the turns and the descent back toward the field. Your instructor flies the takeoff and the landing, and takes the aircraft back at any point where the airspace or traffic demands it.
Nobody is going to hand you an airplane and hope. The instructor has a duplicate set of controls, they are watching everything, and they can take it back in less than a second. That is what makes it possible for you to actually fly it rather than be shown it.
The briefing table, the ramp and the aircraft you will fly.
Not a broker's rental and not a tired trainer with 12,000 hours on the airframe. Every aircraft here is owned by the school, inspected on our schedule, and flown by our instructors every day — which is why we can put a first-timer in the left seat of one on a Saturday morning.
Single-engine training on the Standard and Comprehensive programs is flown in the Cessna, Piper and Diamond aircraft. The Premium program is flown in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo with its full glass cockpit.
FAA-approved, fully enclosed, and it moves. Procedures, instrument scan, radio work and emergencies all transfer straight to the aircraft — and it is never canceled for weather, and the door is unlocked the whole time, which matters more to nervous first-timers than anything else we can tell them.
Simulator hours are built into every private pilot program — 2 hours on Standard and Premium, 5 hours on Comprehensive.
Every instructor here holds a commercial or ATP certificate plus a CFI and a current medical, and on your discovery flight the instructor is legally pilot in command. That is the answer to the question almost everyone is too polite to ask: nothing about this depends on you doing it well.
There are eleven of them, so a first lesson is not weeks away and a rebooked weather day is not a month away. You are matched to an instructor when you enroll, and if the fit is wrong you change — nobody here treats that as a complaint.
They fly here as a career rather than treating the school as a waiting room for an airline class date. It shows up in the debrief at the end of your first hour, which is the part our reviewers mention most often.
On Google, the same three things come up again and again — and first-lesson reviews are the largest single group of them.
The most repeated compliment in our reviews is not the aircraft or the price — it is the debrief after the flight.
Eleven instructors and a fleet we own means your first lesson happens on the morning you booked it.
The number you enroll at is the number you finish at. Reviewers mention this constantly.
The debrief is short and specific. Your instructor will tell you what you did well — and there will be something, because almost everybody is naturally better at one part of it than they expect. Then what to work on, and an honest read on how the airplane felt to you.
Then the practical conversation, if you want it. What a realistic schedule looks like against your actual week, what the certificate you are aiming at would cost, and how many months it would take at the frequency you can actually commit to. If you tell us you can only fly once a month, we will tell you that the sport pilot certificate at $8,400 is a better fit than the private at $10,900, because it is.
If you enroll within 24 hours, the $229 is credited in full against whichever program you choose — $10,900 Standard, $15,900 Comprehensive or $22,500 Premium. If you want to go away and think, do that. Nobody at this school is going to phone you three times a week, and the offer is not a deadline in disguise — it is simply how the credit works.
And if the answer is that you enjoyed it enormously and have no intention of continuing, that is a completely respectable outcome. You flew an airplane over Los Angeles and you have a logbook that says so.
Every option below is a real lesson with a certified flight instructor, logged in your logbook, and credited in full against any training program if you enroll within 24 hours.
Full-motion and FAA-approved, on the ground, door unlocked. The right first step if leaving the ground is the obstacle.
You fly it. Logged as dual instruction. 90 minutes $299 gets you to the coast; 120 minutes $399 goes considerably further.
Bring someone. 90 min $399, 120 min $499. The Cirrus SR22 Turbo version for two is $499.
Book for twoAlso available: the multi-engine Piper Seminole over Los Angeles at $499. Weather cancellation costs you nothing and we simply rebook. Programs: Private Pilot $10,900 Standard, $15,900 Comprehensive, $22,500 Premium · Sport $8,400 · Instrument $11,700. Enrolled students train at $179 an hour wet, single-engine, fixed at enrollment. Financing from $2,500 down.
Smooth air, empty airspace, and Los Angeles from 3,500 feet before the traffic starts. Sixty minutes, $229, and the whole amount comes off your program if you enroll within 24 hours. Call (818) 290-8249 or book online.
About two hours at the airport for 60 minutes in the air. A 15-minute ground briefing, a walkaround inspection of the aircraft you do yourself, then you sit in the left seat and fly — climbs, turns, descents and straight and level. Your instructor handles the takeoff and landing. Afterwards they sign your logbook and debrief you. At LA Flight School it is $229, credited in full if you enroll within 24 hours.
Yes. On a normal flight you will have the controls for most of the time in the air — typically the climb after departure, the entire cruise portion, the turns and the descent. Your instructor flies the takeoff and landing and has a duplicate set of controls throughout, which is exactly what makes it safe to let you fly it rather than watch.
Closed-toe shoes such as trainers, comfortable trousers, and a layer — it can be 90 degrees on the ramp at Van Nuys and much cooler at 3,500 feet. Bring sunglasses, ideally not polarised, because polarised lenses can make some cockpit displays hard to read. Skip strong fragrance; the cabin is small.
Government photo identification, water, and your phone for photos. That is all. Headsets are provided, the logbook is provided, and books and training materials are included in every program, so you do not need to buy any equipment before your first lesson. Tell us your approximate weight when you book, because aircraft weight and balance is planned around who is on board.
Most people do not. The three things that cause it are afternoon thermal turbulence, an empty stomach and staring at the instrument panel, so book an early morning slot, eat something ordinary beforehand and keep your eyes on the horizon. Tell your instructor at the first hint. Ask us before taking any motion sickness medication, as several common ones cause drowsiness.
Budget about two hours at the airport for a 60-minute flight. Roughly 20 minutes of ground briefing, 10 minutes of preflight inspection, 60 minutes of flying, then 20 minutes for the logbook entry and debrief. The 90-minute and 120-minute flights add flying time, not ground time.
Yes. Your instructor logs it as dual instruction received, and it counts toward the 40 flight hours the FAA requires for a private pilot certificate under FAR 61.109. It is legally identical to any other training hour, which is the main difference between a discovery flight and a sightseeing tour.
We rebook and you are not charged. Los Angeles gives us 355 flyable days a year, so it is uncommon, and the usual culprit is the summer marine layer that burns off by mid-morning rather than anything dramatic. If you would rather not risk it at all, the Redbird full-motion simulator at $189 is never canceled for weather.
$229 for 60 minutes for one person, $299 for 90 minutes and $399 for 120 minutes. Two-person flights start at $299 and the multi-engine Piper Seminole flight is $499. The full amount is credited against any training program if you enroll within 24 hours.
Our private pilot programs are $10,900 Standard, $15,900 Comprehensive and $22,500 Premium, with sport pilot at $8,400 and the instrument rating at $11,700. Enrolled students train at the package rate of $179 an hour wet, single-engine, and that rate is fixed at enrollment. Financing starts from $2,500 down.
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.
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.
Aviation News
Notes from the flight line at Van Nuys — weather, regulation changes, checkride questions and the cost of training, written up as they come.
Open 7 days · 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Los Angeles Flight School
