Flying lessons are $179 an hour here: wet, single-engine, and that is the package rate for enrolled students at Van Nuys Airport. Wet means fuel and oil are already inside the number. Below is exactly what a package includes, what a lesson looks like from start to finish, and why we sell training this way.
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...
Ask five flight schools what a lesson costs and you will get five numbers that are not comparable, because some quote a dry figure and add fuel afterwards, and others quote aircraft-only and bill the instructor separately in a way you find out about later.
Here it is in one line. Enrolled students fly single-engine aircraft at $179 an hour, wet. Fuel and oil are in the number and they do not move when the price of avgas moves. That rate is not a teaser and it is not a promotion — it is the rate our published private pilot programs are built from, which is why what a private pilot license costs is a fixed number rather than an estimate.
We do not sell training by the hour to walk-up customers, and we do not publish a rental card — here is how our package pricing works. Students here train on a package, because a package is what makes the total predictable and the hourly figure low.
The hourly rate is one ingredient. The package is the thing you actually buy, and every item below is inside the published price rather than added at the desk.
| Included in every private pilot package | Standard · $10,900 |
|---|---|
| Single-Engine aircraft time (Cessna · Piper · Diamond), wet at $179/hr | 38 hrs |
| Dual flight instruction with a CFI | 30 hrs |
| Redbird full-motion simulator | 2 hrs |
| Ground school | 3 hrs |
| Pre-flight and post-flight briefing on every lesson | included |
| Books and training materials | included |
| Total logged flight time | 40 hrs |
The Comprehensive Private Pilot Program at $15,900 is the same list scaled up: 55 hours of aircraft time, 50 hours of dual, 5 hours of simulator, 10 hours of ground school and 60 hours logged. The Premium Private Pilot Program at $22,500 runs the Standard hour allowance in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo with a full glass cockpit.
Three things people get wrong when they compare hourly figures between schools. None of them are about the rate itself.
A typical lesson is about thirty minutes of preflight and briefing, an hour to an hour and a half airborne, and twenty minutes of debrief. Aircraft time is billed on the Hobbs meter, which only runs when the engine runs. The briefing on either side of it is inside every package price we publish.
A dry figure excludes fuel, which you then buy separately at whatever the FBO is charging that week. Our $179 is wet. When a school quotes you something that looks unusually low for a four-seat aircraft, that is almost always why.
Briefings are where a great deal of the learning happens, and at many schools they are billed by the hour on top of the flight. Ours are included in all 3 private pilot programs, along with 3 to 10 hours of formal ground school depending on which one you choose.
Flight training goes wrong financially in a very predictable way. A student is quoted an hourly figure, flies irregularly, watches the rate go up twice, and discovers eighteen months later that the certificate cost half as much again as they were told. Nobody lied to them. They were simply sold an hour instead of an outcome, which is why we publish exactly what is and is not included.
A package fixes the price at enrollment and fixes what is inside it: the aircraft hours, the dual instruction, the simulator time, the ground school and the books. At $179 an hour wet, the Standard Private Pilot Program is $10,900 and covers the 40 hours of logged flight time a license needs. If avgas doubles next spring, that is our problem, not yours.
It also removes the worst incentive in the industry. When a school makes money on every extra hour, there is no pressure to make lessons efficient. When the price is fixed, the only way we both win is if you are ready for your checkride on schedule.
The $179 buys time in airplanes that live on this ramp, are inspected on our schedule under the FAR 91.409(b) 100-hour cycle required for instruction for hire, and are flown by our own 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 all 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. A standalone session is $189.
Every instructor holds a commercial or ATP certificate plus a CFI and a current medical, and the instructor is legally pilot in command on every flight you make together. That matters more in Los Angeles airspace than almost anywhere else in the country.
There are 11 instructors on the team, so lessons are not held hostage to one person having a free Tuesday afternoon. You are matched to an instructor at the start, and if the fit is wrong you can change without it costing you anything or being awkward.
Instruction time, the pre-flight brief and the debrief are all inside the package price. You are not watching a clock during the part of the lesson where the actual teaching happens.
On Google, the same three things come up again and again.
The most repeated compliment in our reviews is not the aircraft or the price — it is the debrief.
Eleven instructors and a fleet we own means lessons happen when we say they will.
The number you enroll at is the number you finish at. Reviewers mention this constantly.
Three published programs, three fixed prices, all built on the same wet package rate.
The FAA minimum path, flown consistently. Best if you can fly two or three times a week.
Room to finish on a real-life schedule, with more than three times the ground school.
Train from lesson one in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo with its full glass cockpit.
Other published program prices: Sport Pilot $8,400 · Instrument Rating $11,700 · Multi-Engine add-on $5,100 · Solo Certificate $5,500 · Teens aged 10 to 15 $4,200 · zero-to-airline $89,000. Financing from $2,500 down with monthly plans available.
A discovery flight is a real lesson at a below-package price. You fly the aircraft, the time is loggable dual instruction, and the whole amount comes off your program if you enroll within 24 hours.
Full motion, FAA approved, indoors. Good if the marine layer is in or you would rather not be airborne on day one.
You are the one flying. 90 minutes $299, 120 minutes $399. Credited in full on enrollment within 24 hours.
Sit down with an instructor, look at your calendar and your budget, and get a written plan. No obligation.
What $179 an hour covers, the three private pilot packages it builds into, the financing options and a realistic timeline for your schedule — sent to you as one PDF. No one will pressure you.
Sixty minutes over Los Angeles, you flying, an instructor beside you, logged as real dual instruction. Enroll within 24 hours and the $229 comes straight off your program. Call (818) 290-8249, open 9am to 9pm, seven days.
$179 an hour, wet, single-engine — that is the package rate for enrolled students at Van Nuys Airport. Wet means fuel and oil are already included, so the number does not move when the price of avgas moves. It is the rate our published private pilot programs are built from, starting at $10,900 for the Standard program.
At Van Nuys the rate for enrolled students is $179 an hour wet in a single-engine Cessna, Piper or Diamond, and that is the rate our published programs are built from. The Standard Private Pilot Program is $10,900 for 40 logged hours and the Comprehensive is $15,900 for 60. 355 flyable days a year is why a license tends to cost less here than in most of the country.
The Standard Private Pilot Program is $10,900 and includes 38 hours of single-engine aircraft time, 30 hours of dual flight instruction, 2 hours in the Redbird full-motion simulator, 3 hours of ground school and all books and training materials, building to 40 hours of logged flight time. Pre-flight and post-flight briefings are included on every lesson.
A typical lesson is about 1.5 hours of aircraft time on the Hobbs meter plus roughly fifty minutes of briefing either side of it, and at $179 an hour wet that aircraft time is the only part billed. The briefings are inside the package price. Your first lesson can be a $229 discovery flight, which is credited back in full if you enroll within 24 hours.
Start with a 60-minute discovery flight at $229. It is a real lesson with an instructor and you fly the aircraft yourself, the time is loggable toward your certificate, and the full $229 is credited against any program if you enroll within 24 hours. After that you are on package pricing at $179 an hour like every other enrolled student.
Wet means fuel and oil are included in the hourly figure. A dry figure excludes fuel, which you then buy separately at whatever the FBO is charging that week, and it is the usual explanation for a quote that looks surprisingly low for a four-seat aircraft. Our $179 an hour is wet.
FAR 61.109 sets a 40-hour minimum for a private pilot certificate, which is roughly 30 lessons, and the Standard Private Pilot Program at $10,900 is built around exactly that. Students who cannot fly two or three times a week usually choose the Comprehensive program at $15,900, which builds to 60 hours of logged flight time.
No. Dual flight instruction is inside the package price — 30 hours on the Standard program, 50 hours on the Comprehensive program — along with the pre-flight brief and the debrief on every lesson. There is no separate instructor line item to discover later.
Partly, and you should. Every private pilot program includes Redbird full-motion simulator time — 2 hours on the Standard and Premium programs, 5 hours on the Comprehensive. A standalone session is $189, it is FAA-approved, and 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
