Around ten hours in the Piper Seminole, no written exam, $5,100, and a coastline that makes the argument for a second engine better than any briefing could.
Almost everybody who asks about this rating from Malibu already has a reason, and the reason is usually water. Catalina, the Channel Islands, or the leg down from Santa Barbara after dark with the shoreline on your left and very little on your right. A second engine changes what all of that means. The add-on is $5,100, and there is no FAA written exam because the certificate is already yours.
In practice: ten hours or so in the airplane, a few sessions on the ground covering systems, performance and asymmetric aerodynamics, then an oral and a flight test. Run it as a block. The engine-failure drill has to end up in your hands rather than in your memory, and that does not survive a fortnight between lessons. One to two weeks is what most pilots need.
The terrain is the honest part of the pitch. Between Van Nuys and the water there is a wall of chaparral with three roads through it and almost nowhere to put an airplane down. Do the engine-out work over that rather than over flat farmland and the drills stop being an academic exercise. Afterwards you have a sensible way to cross to Catalina with something held in reserve.
The order is the same everywhere; what varies is how quickly the failure drills become automatic.
Fuel, electrics and gear on the Seminole. Why counter-rotating propellers do away with the critical engine. The accelerate-stop and accelerate-go numbers, and what single-engine climb performance really looks like on a warm afternoon. Two or three sessions, and much of the reading can be done at home, which is worth doing when home is forty-five minutes away.
Takeoffs, climbs, cruise, descents, circuits and landings. Two of everything on the pedestal, gear that comes up and has to go down again, and an airplane heavier and quicker than whatever you have been flying lately. Short and soft field work to the standard that matches the certificate this rating is being attached to.
This is most of the rating. Engines failing at altitude and shortly after rotation, drag demonstrations, the Vmc demonstration itself, approaches on one engine, and a go-around on one engine that will teach you more about performance charts than the charts ever managed. Flown in the practice area and out over the ridge.
An oral first: systems, numbers, and why the airplane behaves the way it does with one propeller stopped. Then the flight itself. No written exam at this stage, and the examiner's fee is separate and paid to them. We put pilots up when the failure drills have been automatic for several flights, not once.
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.
If you already fly, you know the roads. Malibu Canyon Road from the Civic Center and the Colony, Kanan Dume from Point Dume and Zuma, Topanga Canyon Blvd from the eastern beaches, then the 101 east to Balboa Blvd, then north over Victory and Vanowen. Twenty-six miles and about forty-five minutes from the middle of Malibu. If you currently fly out of Santa Monica or Camarillo, this is a longer drive than you are used to, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise.
The counterweight is that the rating is short and intensive. A fortnight of near-daily lessons is the sensible way to run it, and the twin, the simulator and the instructors are all on this one field. We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, with free parking on site, open 9 AM to 9 PM seven days a week. That last part is what lets you fit the block around a working schedule instead of spending vacation days on it.
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 →You will fly the Piper Seminole, which is the twin most people learn on and for good reasons: counter-rotating propellers take the critical engine problem off the table, the systems are simple enough to stop being a distraction from the flying, and it degrades predictably when you take an engine away from it. Holding asymmetric currency after the checkride is the part most pilots underestimate, and it is worth planning before the test rather than after it.
The rest of the fleet matters if you intend to stay. The Cirrus SR22 Turbo, flown on the $22,500 Premium program, gives you a glass cockpit and the legs to make Santa Barbara or the Channel Islands a short afternoon. The Piper Arrow II is $179 an hour wet for enrolled students if you want to keep complex-single currency alongside it. And if you have let instrument currency slide, the Redbird MCX full-motion simulator will put it back cheaply, ideally before you go anywhere near a twin.
The reason these drills feel different here is entirely to do with what is underneath them.
Chaparral, firebreaks and a few dirt tracks between Kanan Dume and Malibu Canyon, with nothing resembling a usable field for miles in any direction. It is the most instructive scenery in the training area and nobody has to point that out to you.
About twenty-two miles of open water off the Palos Verdes shelf, showing as a gray wedge on the horizon from anywhere along this coast. That crossing sells more multi-engine ratings around here than any amount of advertising does.
Two long runways about twenty minutes northwest of the coast, and the obvious diversion pair for anything that goes quiet west of the ridge. Worth flying into deliberately once or twice before you ever need them in a hurry.
The abrupt western end of the Santa Monica Mountains, dropping to the sea above Point Mugu. It marks where the coast turns north and the Oxnard plain starts, and it makes a natural turnaround on a westbound exercise.
One certificate, private or commercial, plus a medical that has not expired. That is the whole list. An instrument rating is not required, though if you hold one you will want instrument privileges to carry across to the twin, which means demonstrating them on the checkride instead of accepting a VFR-only limitation. Bring the logbook in and we will estimate your hours from what you have actually been flying.
The add-on is $5,100. Flying most days, one to two weeks is normal: call it ten hours in the airplane with the ground work built around it. Pilots who have been away from flying for a year should plan on an extra session or two instead of pushing to finish on schedule. The designated examiner's fee sits outside the $5,100.
It is a fair question when you are making the trip nearly every day. Twenty-six miles and forty-five minutes each way is real. The argument for coming anyway is that the twin, the simulator and the instructors sit on one field, the block gets scheduled tightly rather than dragged out, and eastbound over the canyon in the morning is the easy direction. Parking at 7900 Balboa Blvd is free.
Mainly because of what is on the ramp. A Piper Seminole, a Cirrus SR22 Turbo, a complex single and a Redbird MCX full-motion simulator, with FAA-certified instructors who have been doing this more than fifteen years. You are not relocating your flying permanently either. Plenty of pilots come over for the fortnight, take the rating, and go straight back to their home field with it.
Yes. The Multi-Engine Discovery Flight is $499 for 60 minutes, $699 for 90 and $899 for 120, and you fly it yourself. An hour from Van Nuys is easily enough to get over the ridge, down the Malibu coast and back with time to feel what asymmetric thrust actually does. It logs as dual, and signing up within 24 hours puts the full amount against the rating.
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 the airplane you are working toward has two of everything, this is $5,100 and a couple of weeks of mornings. Call (818) 290-8249 or bring the logbook to 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, where we are on the field from 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days.
Or Send Us A Message And We'll Come Back To You The Same Day →
