A short, focused add-on flown in the Piper Seminole for pilots who already hold a private or commercial certificate, based at Van Nuys, six miles from Sherman Oaks.
If you already hold a private or commercial certificate, the multi-engine rating is one of the shorter items left on the list. There is no written exam and no minimum hour requirement, only a practical test, and the practical test is what writes the syllabus. Most pilots finish in five to eight hours of dual spread across about a week. The rating is $5,100 and that figure does not move around.
The content is mostly asymmetric thrust. Vmc demonstrations, failures on the takeoff roll and after rotation, drift-down and single-engine service ceiling, single-engine approaches, and a single-engine go-around you will think about afterward. The Seminole has counter-rotating propellers, so there is no critical engine to argue about, which does not make the Vmc discussion any shorter, only more honest.
The Sherman Oaks pilots who come to us for this usually already fly out of Van Nuys or Whiteman and want the rating for a specific reason: a step toward a commercial job, insurance on a twin they are buying into, or a partnership in something with two engines. Six miles from Ventura Boulevard means the whole rating can be done without rearranging your working week around it.
Four stages of flying and one long ground session, typically five to eight hours of dual in total.
Seminole systems, performance charts, weight and balance, and the aerodynamics an examiner will push on: Vmc and everything that moves it, accelerate-stop and accelerate-go, single-engine climb performance. Two or three hours, and worth doing properly, because the oral is where most of the pressure in this checkride sits.
Starts, taxi with differential power, takeoffs and landings, steep turns, slow flight and stalls with both engines running. The airplane is not difficult to fly. It is simply faster than what you are used to, and considerably less forgiving of an unstable approach.
Simulated failures in cruise, in the climb and on approach. Identify, verify, feather. Drift-down, single-engine service ceiling, single-engine approaches and the single-engine go-around. This section takes the hours, and repetition in the Redbird MCX is what keeps the cost of it under control.
The full Vmc demonstration, engine failure during the takeoff roll and after rotation, and everything flown to Airman Certification Standards tolerances rather than to your own comfort. By the end of this stage the identify-verify-feather sequence should be automatic rather than considered.
Oral first, then the flight, with a designated examiner. A pass adds multi-engine land privileges to the certificate you already hold. Seminole rental afterward is $649 an hour, and most pilots fly it a few times in the following month to keep the handling fresh.
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.
Sherman Oaks to 7900 Balboa Boulevard, Suite 108A is six miles. If you already fly out of Van Nuys you know the run: the 405 north, off at Roscoe, west to Balboa, then south along the west side of the field. Twelve minutes clear, and rarely much more than that before ten in the morning.
Coming from the Ventura Boulevard end of Sherman Oaks, the surface route through the Sepulveda Basin is quicker than it looks. West to Balboa, then straight north past Lake Balboa and the golf courses to the hangar, with no freeway involved at all. Parking is free on site, which for a rating you will be flying twice a day for a week is worth knowing in advance.
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: 180 horsepower a side, counter-rotating propellers, and honest handling on one engine. It rents at $649 an hour once you hold the rating. The airplane is maintained on the same schedule as the rest of the fleet and does not sit idle between students, which matters more than usual for a rating this compressed.
The Redbird MCX full-motion simulator carries a good share of the engine-out work. Failures can be set, flown, discussed and immediately reflown without burning twin-engine fuel, and it is a large part of why a five-to-eight-hour rating stays a five-to-eight-hour rating. If you want to feel the airplane before committing, a multi-engine discovery flight is $499 for sixty minutes.
The engine-out work happens over terrain most Sherman Oaks pilots already know by heart.
A large stretch of flat, open, unbuilt ground immediately south of the field. Every instructor here has a view on where you would put a twin down after a departure failure, and this is almost always the answer.
The wall of hills rising out of south Sherman Oaks toward Mulholland Drive. It is the reason single-engine service ceiling stops being an abstract number in a chart and becomes a route decision you make out loud.
The block at Riverside and Woodman, with dense residential streets packed around it. A useful reminder of exactly what is underneath you when the conversation turns to engine-out planning over the Valley floor.
Two courses filling the basin directly under the departure path, green and unmistakable from any altitude. They mark the line between the airport environment and the Encino side of the Valley.
It is $5,100, and most pilots finish in five to eight hours of dual across about a week. There is no FAA written exam and no minimum hour requirement, so the practical test standards set the pace rather than a logbook total. If you are current and comfortable in a single, a week is a realistic plan rather than an optimistic one.
At minimum a private pilot certificate, plus a current medical and reasonable currency. The rating is added to the certificate you already hold, so if you arrive with a commercial certificate you leave with commercial multi-engine land privileges. If you hold an instrument rating and want instrument privileges in the twin, that is handled on the same checkride, so tell us at the first ground session.
North and west of the field, out over the Sepulveda Basin and toward the Santa Susana Mountains and Santa Clarita. That keeps it clear of the built-up Valley floor and well clear of the Burbank Class C to the east. If you already fly out of Van Nuys, it is the same practice area you have used for everything else.
Yes. The multi-engine rating is a self-contained add-on and a good number of the pilots we fly it with keep their airplane, their club or their regular instructor somewhere else entirely. Bring your logbook and current medical to Suite 108A at 7900 Balboa Boulevard and we will build a schedule around what you already have.
Yes, at $649 an hour, subject to a checkout and the usual insurance requirements. Most pilots who finish the rating fly it several times in the first month to stay comfortable on one engine. It is also a genuinely useful airplane for a run to Santa Barbara, Mammoth or Las Vegas with three people and bags aboard.
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.
Bring your logbook and we will tell you inside ten minutes whether a week is realistic for you. Call (818) 290-8249, drive the twelve minutes from Sherman Oaks, and park free outside Suite 108A.
Or Send Us A Message And We'll Come Back To You The Same Day →
