If you already hold a private or commercial certificate, the multi-engine add-on is $5,100 in the Piper Seminole, at a field four miles from Encino.
If you are an Encino pilot already holding a private or commercial certificate, the multi-engine rating is the shortest useful thing left on your list. It is $5,100 as an add-on, flown in the Piper Seminole. There is no separate written exam for the add-on, so it comes down to a practical test and a compact syllabus, and most people fly it in a concentrated block rather than one lesson a week.
The practice areas work well from Van Nuys. Vmc demonstrations and engine-out work want altitude and space, and you get both quickly heading north over the hills toward the 118 or west toward Camarillo. Single-engine climb performance is the whole point of this rating, and the terrain around the Valley makes that lesson vivid in a way a flat field in Kansas cannot. You will think about the ridge south of Encino differently afterwards.
Practically, Encino is four miles from the hangar, which matters for a rating you want to fly on consecutive days. Booking the Seminole for three or four mornings in a row is realistic when the drive is ten minutes up Balboa Boulevard and there is no freeway in it. Seminole time is $649 an hour. If you want to sit in it first, a multi-engine discovery flight is $499 for sixty minutes.
Four stages, each of them shorter than the equivalent would be in a single.
Constant-speed props, critical engine and why the Seminole does not have one, feathering, accumulators, fuel crossfeed, and the numbers that actually matter. Vmc, Vyse, Vsse, and accelerate-stop and accelerate-go distances. This is where the rating is really earned, and the oral will go here first.
Starts, taxi, run-up, takeoff, cruise, descent and landing on two engines. Getting used to the sight picture, the trim changes, the yaw with power changes and how much more airplane you are carrying. Most pilots need less time on this stage than they expect, and more on the next one than they expect.
Identify, verify, feather. Zero-sideslip control with the bank into the operating engine, drift-down performance, engine-out approaches, and a single-engine go-around that shows you exactly why that maneuver has the reputation it has. Plus the Vmc demonstration, which is the item the examiner will watch most closely.
A mock oral covering systems, performance charts and aerodynamics, then a stage flight flown to practical test standards. Because this is an add-on there is no written test, so the oral carries more weight than you may be used to. We schedule the examiner once you and your instructor both think you are ready.
Every figure below is the real, published price. No "call for a quote," no hidden block-time minimums.
Add multi-engine privileges to your existing private or commercial certificate, in our twin-engine Piper Seminole.
Aircraft are available to qualified pilots who have checked out with us — call for availability.
Not rated yet? Take a Multi-Engine Discovery Flight and fly the Seminole hands-on.
From Encino it is Balboa Boulevard north and nothing else. Ventura, over the 101, past Burbank Boulevard, through the Sepulveda Basin between Lake Balboa and the golf course, then Victory, Vanowen, Sherman Way and Saticoy. 7900 Balboa is on the right, airport side of the street. Four miles, about ten minutes, and much the same drive at 7 AM as at 7 PM.
Suite 108A is inside the hangar complex at 7900 Balboa Blvd, and the parking lot outside it is free with no permit and no meter. That complex houses a number of unrelated flight schools, so go by the suite number rather than the street number when you arrive. If you are flying a block of consecutive days, the short drive from Encino is the reason it stays a block instead of turning into a month.
Pick your aircraft, pick a date and time, and you are on the schedule. You fly the airplane yourself with an FAA-certified instructor beside you — and every flight is 100% credited toward training if you enroll within 24 hours.
Full-motion simulator with an instructor. No weight limit, no medical needed.
Reserve →You in the pilot's seat over Los Angeles, hands on the controls the whole way.
Book Now →One of you flies hands-on, the other takes in the skyline. Share the story.
Book Now →Premium Cirrus SR22 glass cockpit and extended air time over the LA basin.
Book Now →Twin-engine Piper Seminole and a genuine look at the professional path.
Book Now →The rating is flown in the Piper Seminole, a four-seat light twin with counter-rotating Lycoming engines, constant-speed feathering props and retractable gear. It rents at $649 an hour. It is the standard multi-engine trainer for good reasons: it is honest, it is docile enough to learn engine-out handling in safely, and because the engines counter-rotate neither one is critical.
Ground work and procedure drills run in the Redbird MCX full-motion simulator, which is a sensible place to do repeated engine failures at 400 feet. The rest of the fleet is single-engine: Cessna 162 at $269, Piper Warrior at $269, Diamond DA20 at $329, Piper Arrow II at $349 for complex currency, and a Cirrus SR22 Turbo at $649 if you want glass-panel time alongside the twin.
Useful things to have in your eye when you are busy with one engine shut down.
The wall of terrain immediately south of Encino, running along Mulholland. It is the reason single-engine service ceiling stops being an abstract number the moment you are departing to the south.
Just east of the field in the Sepulveda Basin, with model aircraft operating low over it. Worth knowing about for its own sake, and a clear visual marker when you are set up on downwind.
A small banked oval on Oxnard Street in the basin, oddly easy to pick out from a few thousand feet, and a precise turning point when you are setting up an engine-out approach back toward the field.
The playing fields between Balboa Boulevard and the wildlife reserve. Wide, flat and unbuilt, which is the sort of thing worth having filed away on any departure heading south out of Van Nuys.
The add-on is $5,100 for pilots who already hold a private or commercial certificate. Seminole time on its own is $649 an hour if you are renting rather than training. A multi-engine discovery flight, if you want to see the airplane first, is $499 for sixty minutes, $699 for ninety and $899 for two hours.
A private or commercial pilot certificate and a current medical. There is no additional written exam for a multi-engine add-on, which is why the course is short. If you are instrument-rated and want multi-engine instrument privileges rather than a limitation, say so up front, because the checkride profile is different.
Faster than most people expect, provided you fly on consecutive days. Because Encino is four miles and about ten minutes from 7900 Balboa Blvd, blocking out several mornings in a row is realistic, and that is by far the most efficient way to fly this rating. Our hours run 9 AM to 9 PM every day, so weekend blocks work too.
Yes. Seminole rental is $649 an hour once you are checked out and current. The Cirrus SR22 Turbo is the same rate, the Piper Arrow II is $349 and the Diamond DA20 is $329. We will set up a checkout with an instructor before you take anything away on your own.
7900 Balboa Blvd is a large multi-tenant hangar complex on the Balboa side of Van Nuys Airport. We are in Suite 108A. Parking is free in the lot immediately outside, with no permit and no meter. Several unrelated schools operate out of the same complex, so navigate by the suite number.
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.
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
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
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.
Our Courses
Real pricing on every program we teach at Van Nuys Airport, beyond the pricing already shown above.
5.0 Average Rating
100+ Google Reviews
Start Here
The first hour at the controls, over Los Angeles, with an instructor beside you. It is the entry point to every course below — and the cheapest way to find out whether flying is actually for you.
From$229
Open 9 AM–9 PM, Seven Days · (818) 290-8249
CertificateMost Popular
The one most people mean by “learn to fly.” Fly with an instructor, fly alone, then carry passengers on your own certificate.
Fly With An Instructor Fly Solo Carry Passengers $10,900 Enroll Now
Youth Program
Ages 10–15. For young people who want to start before they can legally solo.
$4,200 View Course
Milestone
Enough training to take an aircraft around the pattern alone. The day everything changes.
$5,500 View Course
Certificate
A real certificate with fewer hours and narrower privileges. The shortest honest route to flying yourself.
$8,400 View Course
Bundle
Private Pilot with flight time, ground instruction and study materials bundled into one price.
$15,900 View CourseBundle
The same certificate as Private, with the most flight time before your checkride. Eighty logged hours, ground instruction and materials, all in one price.
80 Logged Hours Ground School Included Materials Included $22,500 View Course
Rating
The rating after Private. Turns a fair-weather pilot into a useful one who can file, launch and land in cloud.
$11,700 View Course
Our Fleet
Diamond DA20, Cessna 162, Piper Arrow II and our Piper Seminole twin — all on the field at Van Nuys.
View The FleetThe Full Route
Zero experience to airline-hireable qualifications, in one continuous program rather than nine separate ones. Financing is available, and every hour of it is flown out of Van Nuys.
$89,000Financing Available
Free In-Person Tour Before You Commit
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.
If you are already flying out of the Valley, this is a short rating with a very short drive attached, and the Seminole is usually available on the days you want it. Call (818) 290-8249 or come by 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, and we will look at the calendar and block out your days.
Or Send Us A Message And We'll Come Back To You The Same Day →
