Services at LA Flight School, Van Nuys Airport
Training, ratings, simulator sessions, aircraft rental and discovery flights, all run out of one hangar office on the west side of Van Nuys Airport.
What we do here, in plain terms
This page is the index. If you want to know whether we teach a particular thing, rent a particular aeroplane or sell a particular kind of flight, it is listed below with what it costs. We are based at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, on the western perimeter of Van Nuys Airport, and everything described here happens from that one office and the aircraft parked outside it. Nothing is subcontracted to another operator across the field.
Broadly there are four things we sell. Introductory flights for people who have never flown a light aircraft and want to try. Structured training programmes that end in an FAA certificate or rating. Simulator time in a Redbird MCX, used both inside those programmes and on its own. And aircraft rental for pilots who already hold a licence and simply want an aeroplane for the afternoon. Most people arrive through the first and stay for the others.
Alongside those sit the parts nobody advertises but everybody needs. Ground instruction and written exam preparation, which we run in person rather than pointing you at a video course. Checkride preparation, including the oral portion that catches more candidates out than the flying does. Aircraft checkouts for licensed pilots new to a type. And a free in-person consultation for anyone still deciding, with no obligation attached to it whatsoever.
What we do not do is worth stating too. We do not run a helicopter school, we do not sell aircraft, and we do not offer type ratings on jets. We are a general aviation flight school with a fleet ranging from a two-seat light-sport aeroplane to a twin, which covers everything from a first flight to a multi-engine rating. Beyond that we will happily tell you who on the field does what we do not.
Training and ratings, with prices
Every figure here is published and applies to everyone; there is no assessment-based pricing.
Standard Private Pilot
The full FAA Private Pilot Certificate. Where most students start.
Learn morePremium Private Pilot
The widest margin of hours for students who want no surprises.
Learn moreInstrument Rating
The rating that makes a licence useful in Southern California weather.
Learn moreTry it first — a discovery flight from Van Nuys
You fly the aircraft from the left seat with an instructor beside you. The time is loggable and counts toward a certificate.
Luxury Cirrus For Two
The SR22 Turbo, glass cockpit. 90 min $549, 120 min $699.
Learn moreRedbird Simulator Session
FAA-approved full-motion MCX, on the field at Van Nuys.
Learn moreHow to book any of it
The quickest route is the telephone. Call (818) 290-8249 between 9 AM and 9 PM, any day of the week, and you reach the desk at Suite 108A rather than an answering service. For a discovery flight we can usually offer something within a few days, and we will ask about weight and passenger numbers at the time of booking so the aircraft is matched properly. For training, the first call is a short conversation about your goals and your schedule.
If you would rather look before deciding, the in-person consultation is free and takes about thirty minutes. You will see the aircraft on the ramp, sit in the Redbird MCX, meet an instructor and get written numbers to take away. Nothing is signed at it. It is genuinely the most useful half-hour available to anyone comparing flight schools, and it costs nothing but the drive out to Balboa Blvd.
Finding us is straightforward once you know that Balboa Boulevard runs along the airport's western boundary. From the 405, exit at Sherman Way and head west to Balboa, then turn north; the airport fence runs along your right and our office block sits just past Saticoy. From the Westside, allow extra time for the 405 through the Sepulveda Pass on weekday mornings. From the east Valley, Sherman Way and Vanowen Street run straight across without touching a freeway. Parking outside our door is free and unattended, and Suite 108A is a numbered door in the block beside the hangars.
What makes this a workable place to train
Maintenance handled on site
Aircraft are looked after here rather than being flown elsewhere and left waiting. That keeps availability high, which is the single most underrated factor in how long a certificate takes. A school with lovely aeroplanes that are always in maintenance will cost you months you cannot get back.
Ground school taught in person
Written exam preparation and ground instruction happen face to face with an instructor who will notice when you have nodded along without following. Video courses have their place as revision, but the questions that matter are the ones you did not know to ask, and those only surface in a room with somebody.
Long opening hours
We are open from 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week. That is not a slogan; it is what makes training compatible with a job. Evening slots also cover the night flying requirement for the private certificate, so time that would otherwise be a scheduling problem becomes part of the syllabus.
One school, every stage
First flight, licence, instrument rating, complex time, multi-engine rating and rental afterwards, all from one office with one set of records. You are never re-inducted somewhere new mid-path or asked to prove your history to a stranger. For anyone planning to fly for years rather than months, that continuity matters.
The fleet, and what your package covers
Seven aircraft cover the range from first lesson to twin-engine work. Primary training runs on the Cessna 162 Skycatcher and the Piper Warrior, with the Diamond DA20 and its bubble canopy for anyone who wants the view, and the Piper Arrow II, retractable gear and a constant-speed propeller, for complex time. Your package covers the aircraft and the instructor together, so which aeroplane you train in is a choice rather than a separate line on an invoice.
At the top of the fleet sit the Cirrus SR22 Turbo and the twin-engine Piper Seminole. The Cirrus brings a full glass cockpit, turbocharged performance and an airframe parachute; the Seminole is where the $5,100 Multi-Engine Rating is flown. Licensed pilots take a checkout with an instructor first, which we run in-house. Sitting alongside them is the Redbird MCX full-motion simulator at $189 for a sixty-minute session, bookable on its own or built into a programme.
Services beyond the training programmes
These are the things people ring up about that are not a certificate or a rating.
Aircraft rental for licensed pilots
If you already hold a certificate, you can fly our aircraft after a checkout with one of our instructors; ring the desk at Suite 108A for what is available and on what terms. Renters get the same maintenance standard and the same booking system as students.
Redbird MCX simulator sessions
Full-motion simulator time at $189 for a sixty-minute session, available whether or not you are enrolled in a programme. It is the cheapest place to practise instrument approaches, engine failures and weather scenarios, and it flies regardless of what the sky is doing.
Ground school and written exam prep
In-person instruction covering the FAA knowledge test material, from airspace and weather to performance and regulations. It runs alongside flight training rather than as a separate course, so what you study in the room appears in the aeroplane that week.
Free in-person consultation
Thirty minutes at Suite 108A with an instructor, the aircraft and the simulator, and no obligation at the end of it. Bring your schedule and your budget and you will leave with a written plan rather than a brochure.
Common questions
7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, on the western side of the field. The airport has several entrances serving different tenants, so use the street address rather than the airport name if you are being dropped off. Parking on site is free and unattended, and the office is a numbered door in the block beside the hangars.
Yes. Bring your certificate, your logbook and your medical, and an instructor will fly a checkout with you in the type you want to rent. We do not publish a rate card on this page, because what we sell are packages rather than blocks of flying time; ring (818) 290-8249 and the desk at Suite 108A will talk you through what is free and when. Currency requirements apply as usual.
Yes, at $189 for a sixty-minute session in the Redbird MCX. It is a full-motion device rather than a desktop trainer, with configurable weather and failures. Instrument pilots use it to stay sharp, students use it to rehearse procedures before spending aircraft money, and it is available whatever the weather is doing outside.
Aircraft time with fuel, instructor time in the air and on the ground, and the briefings either side of each lesson. Outside it, as at any school, sit the FAA written exam fee, the examiner's fee for your checkride, your medical certificate and personal equipment such as a headset. We tell you those figures up front rather than at the end.
Ground instruction is built into every programme, and we teach it in person at Suite 108A. If you are preparing for a written exam and only need the knowledge portion, talk to us about arranging sessions on their own. Most students find the in-person format catches gaps that a video course lets them skate past.
Yes. Discovery Flight For Two is $299 for sixty minutes, $399 for ninety and $499 for two hours, with one person flying and the other in the back. The luxury version in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo is $399, $549 and $699. Tell us the passengers' weights when booking so we can match the aircraft.
Every day, 9 AM to 9 PM. Weekends are our busiest period, so book ahead if you want a Saturday morning slot, which is the most requested time of the week. Weekday evenings are usually easier to get at short notice and are perfectly good flying, especially for night training.
Either through Stratus Financial, our aviation lending partner, or through our in-house payment plan, which takes a deposit and spreads the balance across your programme with no interest. Prices range from $4,200 for the teen package to $89,000 for the full airline track, and we will put a monthly figure against any of them.
Not sure which service you need
Ring (818) 290-8249 between 9 AM and 9 PM and describe what you are trying to do; an instructor will tell you which of the above fits and what it costs. If nothing here suits, we will say so.