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.
Lesson one · Van Nuys Airport, KVNY
Introductory flight lessons at Van Nuys
An introductory flight is the first lesson of a private pilot course, sold on its own. Sixty minutes, $229, you at the controls with an FAA-certificated instructor beside you, and the hour signed into a logbook that counts toward your licence.
$229 for 60 minutesLogged toward the 40-hour minimumNo licence or medical needed5.0★ · 85 Google reviews
$229an introductory flight lesson, 60 minutes, one person flying
40 hrsthe private pilot minimum under 14 CFR 61.109(a) — this hour counts
5.0★85 reviews on Google
355flyable days a year at Van Nuys Airport
Direct answer
What is an introductory flight?
An introductory flight is a single flying lesson, taught by a certificated flight instructor, sold to somebody who is not yet enrolled on a course. At Van Nuys it costs $229 for sixty minutes. You sit in the left seat with a full set of controls, you fly the aircraft for most of the hour, and the lesson is written into a logbook and signed.
The word doing the work in that sentence is lesson. This is not a sightseeing seat and it is not a demonstration. It is the same first lesson a student flies on day one of a private pilot course, taught to the same standard, in the same aircraft, by the same instructors. The only difference is that you have not signed up for anything yet.
That distinction matters commercially as well as legally. A ride operator sells you a view. An introductory flight lesson sells you an instructor's undivided attention for an hour, and hands you a record of it that any flight school in the country will accept.
Nothing is required to book one. No experience, no pilot certificate, no medical certificate, no aviation knowledge. You need photo identification and shoes you can walk on a ramp in.
Terminology
Introductory flight, intro flight, discovery flight: is there a difference?
No. They are three names for the same hour, and which one you hear depends on who is selling it. Here is the honest map, because the inconsistency wastes a lot of people's time.
| What you will see it called | Who tends to use it | What it actually is |
|---|---|---|
| Introductory flight / introductory flight lesson | Schools that teach from a syllabus, and the FAA's own vocabulary for introductory flights conducted by instructors | Lesson one of a private pilot course |
| Intro flight / intro lesson | The same thing, shortened, mostly in conversation and search | Lesson one of a private pilot course |
| Discovery flight | Marketing departments, because it sounds less like homework | Lesson one of a private pilot course |
| Introductory flying lesson | British and Commonwealth usage | Lesson one of a private pilot course |
| Air tour / scenic flight | Operators selling seats, not instruction | Not a lesson. You do not fly and nothing is logged |
The one line in that table that is genuinely different is the last one. If a price looks unusually low, check whether you are buying instruction or a seat — ask whether a certificated flight instructor will be teaching, and whether the time will be logged as dual instruction received. If the answer is no on either, it is a tour. We publish both honestly: our airplane tours over Los Angeles are a separate product, and we will point you at them if that is what you actually want.
The lesson
What is actually taught in an introductory flight lesson
Lesson one of a private pilot syllabus has a defined shape. Here is ours, in the order it happens, and what you are expected to be able to do by the end of each part.
01
Ground briefing — 15 to 20 minutes
The four forces, the three axes, and what each control surface does. Your instructor draws it, then shows it on the aircraft. By the end you can say what the yoke, the rudder pedals and the throttle each change, and in which order you would use them to make the aircraft climb.
02
Preflight inspection — 15 minutes
You walk the aircraft with a checklist: fuel quantity and grade, oil, control surfaces free and correct, tyres, static port, pitot tube. This is not a formality. The preflight is the single most repeated procedure in aviation and you start learning it on lesson one.
03
Start, taxi and run-up
You listen to the automated field information, hear ground control, and taxi with your feet rather than your hands, which surprises almost everybody. At the run-up area the instructor demonstrates the magneto and control checks and explains what each one is looking for.
04
Takeoff and departure
Your instructor flies the takeoff with you following through on the controls. Van Nuys is a Class D field under the Los Angeles Class B shelf, so there is real radio traffic and a real departure procedure, both of which your instructor narrates.
05
The four fundamentals — the core of the hour
Straight and level, climbs, descents and turns. These four manoeuvres are the foundation of every other thing a pilot does, and you fly all four yourself. Expect to hold altitude within a few hundred feet by the end and to be pleased about it.
06
Return, landing and debrief
Your instructor flies the approach and landing and talks you through the pattern. Inside, you get a written debrief: what you did well, what you would work on in lesson two, and the logbook entry with the instructor's signature and certificate number.
What you should not expect: to land the aircraft, to talk on the radio, or to feel competent. Nobody does on lesson one. If a school implies otherwise, they are selling you something other than instruction. For the hour-by-hour version of the same lesson, see your first flight lesson, what to expect.
Loggable time
Does an introductory flight count toward a pilot licence?
Yes, in full. The hour is dual instruction received and it counts toward the 40 hours of flight time that 14 CFR 61.109(a) sets as the minimum for a private pilot certificate in a single-engine aeroplane.
1
What goes in the logbook
Date. Aircraft make, model and tail number. Route, written KVNY–KVNY for a local flight. Flight time in tenths of an hour off the Hobbs meter. A figure in the dual-received column. Your instructor's signature and certificate number. One line, and it is a legal record you keep.
2
How the 40 hours break down
Of the 40 hours in 61.109(a), at least 20 must be flight training received from an authorised instructor and at least 10 must be solo. Your introductory lesson goes in the dual column. The rest of the requirement has shapes attached: cross-country, night, instrument reference time, and landings at a towered airport.
3
Forty is a floor
The national average for a private pilot certificate sits between 60 and 75 hours. The biggest single variable is how often you fly: two lessons a week holds the skill, one lesson a fortnight means paying twice to learn the same thing. We would rather tell you that at the start.
4
It does not expire
A logbook belongs to you, not to the school that made the entry. Fly one introductory lesson here, move to another state, come back to it in eight years — the hour still counts and any instructor will accept it. There is no window you have to continue within.
5
The medical comes later, not now
You need no medical certificate to take an introductory flight, because your instructor is the pilot in command. A third-class FAA medical is required before your first solo, not before your first lesson. Glasses and contact lenses are not an obstacle.
6
The $229 comes off your course
Enrol in a training programme within 24 hours of landing and the full price of the lesson is credited against it. Private pilot training starts at $10,900, so the introductory lesson stops being a purchase and becomes the first instalment.
More on the arithmetic: how many hours it takes to become a pilot and private pilot training at Van Nuys.
Where you learn
Why a first lesson at a Class D field is worth more
Van Nuys has a full-time control tower, which makes it Class D airspace. From engine start you are inside a controlled environment: you listen to ground, you listen to tower, and you fly a published pattern with other aircraft in it. On an uncontrolled field none of that happens, and the radio work arrives later as a frightening novelty.
Two parallel runways and a mix of business jets, helicopters, air ambulances and training aircraft make Van Nuys one of the busiest general aviation airports in the world. The pattern is disciplined precisely because it is busy, and pilots who learn here tend to be unbothered by traffic later.
Directly above the field sits the Los Angeles Class B shelf. Class B airspace is stacked in layers like an upside-down wedding cake, and the layer overhanging the San Fernando Valley has a floor you stay below unless you have a clearance. On your introductory lesson the instructor handles it, but you will watch the altimeter stop at a specific number for a specific, explainable reason.
The rules themselves are written up in Class D airspace explained and the wider airspace classes guide.
Weather and scheduling
Will the weather cancel it, and when should you book?
Rarely. Van Nuys gets 355 flyable days a year, measured across twelve months of NOAA ASOS observations at the field against a 3,000-foot ceiling and 5 statute miles of visibility — the standard most schools apply to early dual instruction. If we do stand down, we move your booking and nothing is charged.
| What to know | The number | What to do about it |
|---|---|---|
| Flyable days a year at Van Nuys | 355 | Book with reasonable confidence in any month |
| June, 7am observations meeting training minima | 40% | Avoid dawn slots in late spring and early summer |
| June, 11am | 93% | The marine layer has usually gone by mid-morning |
| June, 1pm onward | 97–100% | The safest booking window in early summer |
| August, 7am, Van Nuys against Santa Monica | 84% / 48% | Being fifteen miles inland is worth a great deal |
The full method and the raw tables are published in our flyable days study. On timing: the booking calendar on this page shows genuine availability rather than a request form, so what you can see is bookable. Weekend slots and the last flight before sunset go first. If the day or the aircraft you want is not showing, call (818) 290-8249 between 9am and 9pm, seven days. Cancellation and rescheduling terms are set out in full on our terms page.
Not for everyone
Who should not book an introductory flight
Three cases where we would rather say so before you pay.
A diagnosed fear of flying
Aerophobia is a clinical condition rather than nerves, and a light aircraft is not exposure therapy. If the thought of the door closing produces a panic response, a qualified therapist is the right first call and we will say so on the phone. When you are ready, the Redbird MCX simulator is the better first hour: it stays on the ground and it can be stopped. See our fear of flying pillar and the simulator route.
Somebody who wants the view
Wanting to look at Los Angeles from a small aircraft is a perfectly reasonable thing to want, and it is not what an introductory lesson is priced for. You can still book one and tell your instructor at the briefing that you want ten minutes on the controls and fifty looking out of the window. If you are certain you never want the controls, an airplane tour costs less and suits you better.
Anyone travelling on the day
Do not book a lesson for the morning of a flight out of LAX or a wedding you cannot be late for. Light aircraft schedules move for weather, for maintenance and for the aircraft in front of you in the pattern. Give the day some slack, or book the simulator, which never slips.
The fleet
You learn in aircraft we own and maintain
First lessons are flown in the light single-engine trainers — a Diamond DA20, a Piper Warrior or a Cessna 162 — because they are slow enough and forgiving enough that nothing gets ahead of a first-time pilot. The Cirrus SR22 Turbo and the twin Piper Seminole are there when you want them.
The whole fleet, with what each aircraft is used for, is on the training aircraft at Van Nuys Airport page.
Redbird MCX
A full-motion simulator, and it is not a toy
FAA-approved, fully enclosed, and it moves. An hour in it costs $189, it is never cancelled for weather, and it can be paused in the middle of a manoeuvre so you can ask a question properly — which is something an aeroplane cannot do.
Simulator hours are built into every private pilot programme: 2 hours on Standard and Premium, 5 hours on Comprehensive. More on the Redbird MCX simulator page.
Your instructor
Career instructors, not hour-builders passing through
Every instructor here holds a commercial or ATP certificate, a CFI and a current medical. On your introductory flight the instructor is legally pilot in command, which is the line between a lesson and a ride, and it is most of what the $229 pays for.
There are eleven of them, which matters more than it sounds: you are not waiting on one person's calendar, and if the teaching style is a poor fit you can change without an awkward conversation. You are matched to an instructor rather than handed whoever is free.
The compliment that repeats most often in our reviews is not the aircraft and not the scenery. It is the debrief — the twenty minutes afterwards where somebody sits down and explains what just happened.
What people say
5.0 stars, 85 Google reviews
Across our 85 reviews on Google the same three things come up again and again, and none of them is the view.
★
Instructors who actually teach
The most repeated compliment in our reviews is the debrief, not the aircraft and not the price. People remember being told what they did and why.
★
Scheduling that works
Eleven instructors and a fleet we own means lessons happen when we say they will. Reviewers keep mentioning that nothing was rescheduled.
★
Prices that do not move
The number you book at is the number you pay. Nobody has written about a surprise charge, because we do not add any.
Book it
Every introductory flight, with the price on it
The blue button books the lesson and opens the calendar on this page. The grey one books a free in-person consultation at Van Nuys instead, for anyone who would rather ask questions before spending anything. Or call (818) 290-8249, 9am to 9pm, seven days.
Most booked
Introductory Flight For One
$229 / 60 min
The standard first lesson. One hour, you flying, an instructor beside you.
- Diamond, Piper or Cessna
- Logged as dual instruction
- No fees added afterwards
- Credited in full on enrolment
Introductory Flight For One — 90 min
$299 / 90 min
Ninety minutes. Over the Santa Monica Mountains and out to the Malibu coast.
- Coast and mountains
- Logged as dual instruction
- More time on the controls
- Credited in full on enrolment
Introductory Flight For One — 120 min
$399 / 120 min
Two hours and a genuine cross-country, with airspace transitions and real navigation.
- More than one controller
- Logged as dual instruction
- What month four looks like
- Credited in full on enrolment
Introductory Flight For Two
$299 / 60 min
One of you flies from the left seat, the other rides in the back with a headset.
- Headsets for both
- One flies, one listens
- Seats decided on the ground
- Credited in full on enrolment
Introductory Flight For Two — 90 min
$399 / 90 min
Ninety minutes with a passenger, far enough to reach the water and back.
- Coast and mountains
- Headsets for both
- Logged as dual instruction
- Credited in full on enrolment
Introductory Flight For Two — 120 min
$499 / 120 min
Two hours with a passenger. The full cross-country, shared.
- Real navigation
- Headsets for both
- Logged as dual instruction
- Credited in full on enrolment
Luxury Cirrus For Two
$399 / 60 min
Cirrus SR22 Turbo. Side-yoke, full glass panel, air conditioning, CAPS parachute.
- Cirrus SR22 Turbo
- The Premium programme aircraft
- Two seats occupied
- Credited in full on enrolment
Luxury Cirrus For Two — 90 min
$549 / 90 min
Ninety minutes in the Cirrus, which at that speed is a different map altogether.
- Cirrus SR22 Turbo
- Coast or islands
- Two seats occupied
- Credited in full on enrolment
Multi-Engine Seminole
$499 / 60 min
Two engines and real multi-engine fundamentals in our twin Piper Seminole.
- Piper Seminole twin
- For the career-curious
- Logged as dual instruction
- Credited in full on enrolment
Redbird MCX Simulator
$189 / 1 hour
Full-motion, fully enclosed, FAA-approved. Never weather-cancelled, and you can stop it.
- Full-motion Redbird MCX
- You fly it yourself
- Weather-proof
- The right first hour if you are anxious
Every price includes the aircraft, the fuel and your FAA-certificated instructor. Longer twin-engine lessons and the Cirrus add-a-guest options are listed in the full discovery flight collection.
$500 off any private pilot program this summer. Standard $10,400 · Comprehensive $15,400 · Premium $22,000. Your introductory flight comes off the top of that as well when you enrol within 24 hours. Ask when you enroll.
Next step
Book lesson one and find out
An hour tells you more than a year of reading about it. If you would rather talk first, the consultation is free, takes about twenty minutes at 7900 Balboa Blvd, and commits you to nothing.
Not sure which to book? Start with what a discovery flight is, or find the nearest one to you in Los Angeles.
Introductory Flight For One
$229
60 minutes · you fly the aircraft · logged toward the 40-hour minimum · credited in full on enrolment
Start here
Discovery flight: what it is, what happens, what it costsDiscovery flight near me in Los AngelesDiscovery flight over Los Angeles, and what it costsYour first flight lesson, hour by hourEvery discovery flight we fly, with prices
FAQ
Introductory Flight Questions, Answered
An introductory flight is a single flying lesson taught by a certificated flight instructor and sold to someone who has not enrolled on a course. At Van Nuys Airport it is $229 for sixty minutes. You sit in the left seat with a full set of controls, fly the aircraft for most of the hour, and the lesson is logged and signed. No licence, medical certificate or experience is required.
Yes. Introductory flight, intro flight, introductory flying lesson and discovery flight all describe the same hour: lesson one of a private pilot course, flown with an instructor. The only genuinely different product is an air tour, where you are a passenger, nothing is logged and you do not touch the controls.
$229 for sixty minutes for one person at Van Nuys, including the aircraft, the fuel and your instructor. Ninety minutes is $299 and two hours is $399. With a passenger it is $299, $399 and $499 for the same three lengths. The Cirrus SR22 Turbo for two is $399, the twin-engine Seminole is $499, and an hour in the Redbird MCX simulator is $189.
Sixty minutes of flight time is the standard lesson and what most people book. Allow about two hours at the airport in total, because the ground briefing, the preflight inspection and the debrief afterwards all sit outside the flight time. Ninety-minute and two-hour lessons are available if you want to get past the San Fernando Valley.
Yes, for most of the hour. There are two complete sets of controls and the set in front of you works. Your instructor flies the takeoff and the landing, narrating both, and hands you the aircraft in between for straight and level flight, climbs, descents and turns — the four fundamentals every private pilot course starts with.
Yes. It is logged as dual instruction received and counts toward the 40 hours of flight time 14 CFR 61.109(a) sets as the minimum for a private pilot certificate. At least 20 of those 40 hours must be flight training from an authorised instructor and at least 10 must be solo. The entry does not expire and any school in the country will accept it.
No. Your instructor is the pilot in command and you are receiving instruction, so no medical certificate and no pilot certificate are required. A third-class FAA medical is needed later, before your first solo flight. Glasses and contact lenses are not a problem. If you have a specific condition, call (818) 290-8249 before booking for a straight answer.
There is no minimum age to receive flight instruction, and anyone under 18 needs a parent or guardian to sign. The practical limit is whether a student can reach the rudder pedals and see over the glareshield. For younger flyers we run a dedicated teen programme for ages 10 to 15 at $4,200.
Photo identification, sunglasses and closed shoes. Headsets are provided. Wear something you can add a layer to, because the cockpit is warm on the ground at Van Nuys and cooler at altitude. Eat beforehand — flying on an empty stomach is the most common and most avoidable cause of feeling unwell.
Book on this page and the calendar opens without leaving it, or call (818) 290-8249 between 9am and 9pm, seven days. We fly from Van Nuys Airport at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, Van Nuys, CA 91406, with free parking outside the door. Weekend slots and the last flight before sunset go first.
We move the booking and nothing is charged. Van Nuys averages 355 flyable days a year against a 3,000-foot ceiling and 5 statute miles of visibility. When a cancellation does happen it is usually a June or July morning, because only 40% of 7am observations meet training minima in June against 97% or better from 1pm.
That is exactly what it is for. One hour answers a question no amount of reading will: whether the noise, the movement and the workload suit you. If the answer is no, you have spent $229 and settled it. If the answer is yes, the $229 comes off your training programme when you enrol within 24 hours.
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.