We train pilots from Santa Monica at Van Nuys Airport, about 35 minutes north on the 405 through the Sepulveda Pass. Inland, behind the Santa Monica Mountains, and on the dry side of the marine layer that takes half the early slots at the coast out of play every August.
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
$399Book 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...
The route is the 405 north over the Sepulveda Pass. From the middle of Santa Monica you are on the 10 within a few minutes, north past the Getty and over the pass, then off at Roscoe or Victory for 7900 Balboa Blvd. Twenty miles. Off-peak it runs a little over half an hour.
In the wrong hour it can take an hour, and there is no point pretending otherwise. The Sepulveda Pass is one of the most congested stretches of freeway in the country. It clogs northbound in the morning and southbound in the late afternoon, which is very nearly the shape of your lesson if you book badly.
So book mid-morning or early afternoon. A 10am start puts you on the freeway after the northbound crush and back over the hill before the southbound one. It costs you nothing to do this, because those are also the hours when the weather up here is most reliably good. The traffic argument and the weather argument point the same direction, which is unusual, and you should use it.
Set the drive against the rest of the day and it shrinks. A lesson is a three-hour commitment before you turn the key in your own car: preflight, a real brief, an hour to an hour and a half in the air, then the debrief that is most of what you are paying an instructor for. Thirty-five minutes each way is a fifth of the day, not the day.
Parking is on site and free. Turn off Balboa Blvd into the lot at 7900, Suite 108A. You will not circle and you will not feed a meter.
Santa Monica Airport sits about four miles from most of the city and Van Nuys sits about twenty, so the question deserves a straight answer rather than a sales one.
Start with the part that is a matter of public record. Under a 2017 consent decree between the City of Santa Monica and the FAA, the runway at KSMO was shortened to 3,500 feet, and the airport is publicly reported to be scheduled for closure after 2028. That is not a comment on anyone operating there. There are good instructors and good operators on that field, and they will be flying somewhere else afterwards. It matters to you because a private pilot certificate takes most people nine to eighteen months, an instrument rating usually follows it, and the aircraft you rent after that has to live somewhere. Choosing where to start a multi-year path is a decision worth making with a calendar in front of you rather than a map.
The second reason has nothing to do with any of that. Van Nuys is a Class D field sitting under the LAX Class B shelf and one of the busiest general aviation airports in the world. You talk to a control tower from the first lesson. Not in month four, not after you change fields. Ground, tower, pattern entries, sequencing behind traffic that is faster than you, all of it becomes ordinary while you are still learning to land. Pilots who learn at quiet airports get that education later, usually in a hurry, and usually somewhere they would rather not be learning it.
Now the trade-off, because there is one. Van Nuys is busy. Some mornings you will hold short behind two jets and a helicopter, and that is time on the Hobbs you would not burn at a sleepy field. We think radio fluency is worth it. If you disagree, that is a defensible position, but make it knowingly.
One more thing that is not glamorous and decides more outcomes than either: we own our aircraft and we have eleven instructors. Schools with three airplanes and two instructors cancel. A student who loses two lessons a month to somebody else's scheduling adds close to a year.
Twelve months of NOAA ASOS observations, one field against the other, published with the method and the raw tables.
Van Nuys recorded 355 flyable days in the twelve months to August 2026. Santa Monica recorded 343. Both were measured the same way, against a ceiling of 3,000 feet and visibility of 5 statute miles, which is the minimum most schools apply to student solo and early dual instruction.
Twelve days apart across a whole year sounds like nothing. The annual figure hides the thing that will actually decide whether you finish.
Look at the mornings instead. In August, 84% of 7am observations at Van Nuys met training minima. At Santa Monica the same month, at the same hour, the figure was 48%. One field flies four mornings in five. The other flips a coin. June is poor everywhere and worse on the water: 40% at Van Nuys against 33% at Santa Monica.
The cause is the ridge you drive over to get here. The marine layer pushes in off the ocean overnight and banks up against the south face of the Santa Monica Mountains. Van Nuys sits behind them, inland, in a basin that heats faster and burns the cloud off earlier. That is the entire mechanism, and it is why a twenty-mile drive changes your odds so much.
Inside those numbers is a practical instruction. In June at Van Nuys only 40% of 7am slots met minima, 93% did by 11am, and from 1pm it ran 97 to 100%. If you live in Santa Monica, book the afternoon. You will step around the marine layer and the Sepulveda Pass in the same move.
| Airport | Flyable days | 7am, August | 7am, June |
|---|---|---|---|
| Van Nuys (KVNY) | 355 | 84% | 40% |
| Santa Monica (KSMO) | 343 | 48% | 33% |
Method, definitions and the full tables are published in our flyable days flight training study.
We train pilots from Santa Monica, Ocean Park, Venice, Mar Vista, Brentwood and Pacific Palisades at Van Nuys Airport, about 35 minutes away.
The practice area from Van Nuys runs west and south across the Santa Monica Mountains and out to the coast. Most Santa Monica students are looking down at their own street inside the first three lessons. It is a strange feeling and a good one.
The pier, the Getty, Malibu, Lake Balboa and the Sepulveda Basin stop being scenery and become reporting points. You start reading Los Angeles the way a pilot reads it, by the shape of the coast and the gaps in the hills.
Camarillo, Santa Barbara and the Palos Verdes coastline are all an easy leg from Van Nuys. The Camarillo lunch flight is a real thing students do with family once they can carry passengers.
One practical note for anyone weighing the drive. Two lessons a week finishes a private pilot certificate faster and for less money than four lessons a month, because what you build on Tuesday is still there on Friday and mostly gone by the following Thursday. Santa Monica is close enough that twice a week is realistic. That is the advantage you have over students coming from further out, and most people waste it.
One page, one price list. No quote form, no discovery call before you are allowed to see a number.
| Course | What it covers | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery flight, 60 minutes | A real first lesson. You fly, the time is logged as dual instruction. | $229 |
| Discovery flight, 90 minutes | Longer route, more time on the controls. | $299 |
| Discovery flight, 120 minutes | Coast and downtown, the full loop. | $399 |
| Multi-engine discovery, Piper Seminole | Twin-engine introduction from the left seat. | $499 |
| Camarillo lunch flight for two | Fly out, eat, fly back. A day, not a lesson. | $699 |
| Redbird MCX simulator session | Full-motion, FAA-approved, never canceled for weather. | $189 |
| Teen aviation, ages 10 to 15 | Structured introduction for younger students. | $4,200 |
| Solo Certificate | Everything up to and including your first solo. | $5,500 |
| Sport Pilot | The lighter certificate, no FAA medical required with a valid driver license. | $8,400 |
| Private Pilot, Standard | 40 hours logged flight time. | $10,900 |
| Private Pilot, Comprehensive | 60 hours logged flight time. The one most people finish on. | $15,900 |
| Private Pilot, Premium | 40 hours logged, flown in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo. | $22,500 |
| Instrument Rating | The rating that makes a marine layer morning flyable. | $11,700 |
| Multi-Engine add-on | Piper Seminole, added to an existing certificate. | $5,100 |
| Zero to airline | Ab initio through to the airline transport pilot track. | $89,000 |
Enrolled students train on package pricing at $179 an hour wet in a single-engine aircraft. The number you enroll at is the number you finish at. Financing starts from $2,500 down with monthly plans.
Not a broker rental and not a tired airframe with twelve thousand hours on it. Every aircraft on this ramp is ours, inspected on our schedule, flown by our instructors every day.
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 transfer straight to the aircraft, and it is never canceled for weather.
Simulator hours are built into every private pilot program: 2 hours on Standard and Premium, 5 hours on Comprehensive. For a Santa Monica student, a simulator slot is also the one lesson a low overcast cannot take away from you.
Eleven instructors, and most of them are here because they want to teach rather than because they need 1,500 hours in a hurry. That distinction shows up in the debrief, which is where flying is actually learned. Anyone can talk you through a steep turn. Far fewer can tell you why yours went wrong in a way you remember on Friday.
Every instructor holds a commercial or ATP certificate, a CFI and a current medical, and on every flight the instructor is legally pilot in command. You are matched to one person so you are not re-explaining yourself every week. If the fit is wrong, say so and we change it. Nobody takes it personally and your certificate is the point.
The size of the team is also the scheduling answer. When an instructor is sick or off flying a checkride, someone else flies with you instead of your week evaporating. Students driving in from Santa Monica almost always book a fixed slot on the same day at the same time, and a school needs depth for that to hold.
On Google, the same three things come up over and over.
The compliment we get most often is not about the fleet or the price. It is about instructors who sit down afterwards and explain what actually happened in the air.
Eleven instructors and a fleet we own. When a lesson is canceled it is the weather, not the staffing, and reviewers notice the difference.
You enroll at a number and you finish at that number. Reviewers mention this constantly, which tells you something about the rest of the industry.
All three include the aircraft, dual instruction, Redbird simulator time, ground school and materials. Financing from $2,500 down with monthly plans.
The FAA minimum path. Right for people who can fly twice a week and hold it.
Built around what people actually take rather than what the regulation allows. Most students finish here.
Flown entirely in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo. Glass cockpit from day one and a whole-airframe parachute.
A discovery flight is a real lesson. You fly the aircraft from the left seat with a certified instructor beside you, the time is logged as dual instruction in your logbook, and the full price is credited against any program if you enroll within 24 hours. Coming from Santa Monica, book late morning and you will miss the traffic and the marine layer together.
The nearest one we run is at Van Nuys Airport, 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, about 20 miles and 30 to 40 minutes north of Santa Monica on the 405. We train students from Santa Monica, Ocean Park, Venice, Mar Vista, Brentwood and Pacific Palisades. A discovery flight is $229 for 60 minutes and it is a real lesson, logged as dual instruction.
Thirty to forty minutes off-peak, using the 405 north over the Sepulveda Pass and exiting at Roscoe or Victory. In peak northbound traffic it can reach an hour, which is why we recommend mid-morning or early-afternoon lesson slots. Parking at 7900 Balboa Blvd is on site and free.
It is a fair question and the answer is on the public record. Under a 2017 consent decree with the FAA the runway at KSMO was shortened to 3,500 feet, and the airport is publicly reported to be scheduled to close after 2028. A private pilot certificate takes most people nine to eighteen months and an instrument rating usually follows, so it is worth choosing a field you can still be flying from in five years.
Yes, and the gap is in the mornings rather than the annual total. Our own study of twelve months of NOAA ASOS data recorded 355 flyable days at Van Nuys against 343 at Santa Monica, but in August only 48% of 7am observations at Santa Monica met training minima against 84% at Van Nuys. Van Nuys sits inland behind the Santa Monica Mountains, which is the whole reason.
Mid-morning or early afternoon. In June at Van Nuys only 40% of 7am slots met training minima, 93% did by 11am and 97 to 100% from 1pm, and those same hours avoid the worst of the northbound 405. A 10am or 1pm start is the single most useful scheduling decision a Westside student makes.
Not with us, and we would rather say so plainly. We operate from one field, Van Nuys Airport, and every Westside student drives the 405 or Sepulveda Blvd to reach it. The trade is 35 minutes of driving for a Class D tower, 355 flyable days a year and eleven instructors, and most students decide that is worth it after one flight.
Three fixed prices: $10,900 for the Standard program with 40 hours logged, $15,900 for the Comprehensive with 60 hours logged, and $22,500 for the Premium flown in a Cirrus SR22 Turbo. Each includes aircraft, dual instruction, Redbird simulator time, ground school and materials. Financing starts from $2,500 down.
A real first lesson rather than a sightseeing ride. It is $229 for 60 minutes, $299 for 90 and $399 for 120, you fly the aircraft yourself with a certified instructor beside you, the time is logged as dual instruction, and the full amount is credited against any program if you enroll within 24 hours.
Forty hours is the FAA minimum under FAR 61.109. Most people in the United States finish somewhere between 60 and 75, which is why our Comprehensive program is built around 60 logged hours rather than the legal minimum. Flying twice a week gets you near the low end; flying twice a month does not.
The practice area runs west and south over the Santa Monica Mountains and out to the coast, so Santa Monica students end up flying over their own neighborhood regularly. Lake Balboa, the Sepulveda Basin, the Getty and the shoreline from Malibu down past the pier all become navigation references within the first few lessons.
Yes. The teen aviation course for ages 10 to 15 is $4,200. There is no minimum age to take lessons, you can fly an airplane solo at 16, and a private pilot certificate can be issued at 17. Plenty of Santa Monica families start a 14-year-old and have them soloing on their sixteenth birthday.
Yes. The Instrument Rating is $11,700 and the Multi-Engine add-on is $5,100, flown in our Piper Seminole. An instrument rating is the rating that turns a marine layer morning from a cancellation into a lesson, which matters more to coastal students than to anyone else.
Yes, and coastal students use it most. Our Redbird MCX is a full-motion, FAA-approved, fully enclosed simulator, a standalone session is $189, and simulator hours are already built into every private pilot program: 2 hours on Standard and Premium, 5 hours on Comprehensive. It is never canceled for weather.
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
