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.
FAA Multi-Engine Add-On · Tarzana
Multi-Engine Rating For Tarzana Pilots
A short, intense add-on flown in the Piper Seminole, close enough to Tarzana that you can knock out the whole rating in a couple of weeks of mornings.
2,000+Discovery flights flown safely
5.0★Our Google rating, 100+ reviews
12 minFrom Tarzana to the flight line
9AM–9PMSeven days a week at KVNY
Multi-Engine Rating · Tarzana, Los Angeles County
The Add-On, Written For Pilots Who Already Fly
You already hold a private or commercial certificate, so this page can skip the sales pitch. The multi-engine add-on is $5,100, flown in the Piper Seminole, and most pilots finish in ten to fifteen hours. There is no additional knowledge test when you add the class rating to a certificate you already hold, which means the entire thing is ground work, flying, and an oral and practical with a designated examiner.
For anyone in Tarzana this is about as convenient as an add-on rating gets. Five miles and twelve minutes up Balboa Boulevard, an airplane on the ramp rather than a waitlist, and a school open 9 AM to 9 PM seven days a week. Pilots doing this rating usually want it compressed into a short block rather than spread across three months, and living this close is what makes that possible.
The Seminole has counter-rotating propellers, so there is no critical engine and the Vmc picture is symmetric. That is a friendlier introduction to asymmetric thrust than a conventional twin, but the work is the same: drag demonstrations, Vmc demonstrations with a firm grip on when to reduce power on the operating engine, feathering, and single-engine approaches flown to a standard that leaves no room for improvisation.
How It Works
Syllabus, Stage By Stage — Start To Certificate
Compressed into as few as two weeks if you can fly most mornings.
1
Ground: Asymmetric Thrust And The Numbers
Vmc and everything that moves it: weight, altitude, center of gravity, bank angle, gear and flap configuration. Accelerated stall awareness in the engine-out case, and why a Vmc roll is a different animal from a stall. This is the material the examiner will spend most of the oral on, so it goes first.
2
Seminole Systems And Performance
Fuel system and crossfeed, electrical, the counter-rotating installation, prop governors and the feathering mechanism including the unfeathering accumulator. Then the performance section: accelerate-stop, accelerate-go, single-engine service ceiling, and what a 76-knot blue line actually buys you on a hot Valley afternoon.
3
Normal Operations In The Twin
Takeoffs and landings, steep turns, slow flight and stalls flown to commercial or private standards depending on your certificate. The airplane is heavier and faster than what most people arrive from, and the first two hours are mostly about resetting your sight picture and your power management.
4
Engine-Out Work
The core of the rating. Engine failure on takeoff and in cruise, identify, verify, feather. Drag demonstration, Vmc demonstration, single-engine go-around limitations, and single-engine approaches and landings to a full stop. We do the higher-altitude work west toward the Simi Hills where there is room and no pattern traffic.
5
Checkride Preparation
A mock oral covering systems, performance and aerodynamics, then a full practical profile flown as the examiner will want to see it. Most pilots are ready between ten and fifteen hours. The $5,100 covers the standard course, and if you want extra polish we add the hours rather than push you at a date.
Transparent Pricing
Multi-Engine Rating Pricing For Tarzana Students
Every figure below is the real, published price. No "call for a quote," no hidden block-time minimums.
Add-On Rating
Multi-Engine Rating
Add multi-engine privileges to your existing private or commercial certificate, in our twin-engine Piper Seminole.
$5,100complete
- ✓Piper Seminole twin-engine trainer
- ✓Engine-out procedures & Vmc demos
- ✓Ground instruction included
- ✓Checkride preparation
- ✓Typically finished in 2–3 weeks
Already Rated And Current?
Aircraft are available to qualified pilots who have checked out with us — call for availability.
Callfor availability
- ✓Piper Seminole, wet
- ✓Checkout with one of our instructors required
- ✓Available 9AM–9PM daily
Fly The Twin First
Not rated yet? Take a Multi-Engine Discovery Flight and fly the Seminole hands-on.
$49960 min
- ✓Hands-on in the Seminole
- ✓Real multi-engine fundamentals
- ✓90 min $699 · 120 min $899
The multi-engine rating is the cheapest serious step in aviation — at $5,100 it is roughly half the cost of the private pilot certificate and it is the rating that unlocks the professional path. If you already hold a private or commercial certificate, this is the highest-return two weeks you can spend.
Getting Here From Tarzana
12 Minutes And 5 Miles From Tarzana
From Tarzana the tidiest route to the ramp is north on Reseda Boulevard to Sherman Way, then east to Balboa. Sherman Way runs along the north side of the field, so you approach 7900 Balboa from the top rather than fighting your way up from Victory. Twelve minutes, five miles, and almost no traffic if you are moving before 8 AM, which most pilots doing a compressed block are.
Parking is free and on site at Suite 108A, so you can leave the car for a three-hour block without thinking about it. If you are coming from the hillside streets south of Ventura Boulevard, budget an extra five minutes to get down to the boulevard. Ventura eastbound to Balboa northbound is the fallback route when Reseda Boulevard is backed up around the school run.
Book A Discovery Flight
Book Your Discovery Flight From Tarzana
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.
No Weather Cancellations
Redbird Simulator
$189
1 hour
Full-motion simulator with an instructor. No weight limit, no medical needed.
Reserve →
Most Popular
Discovery Flight For One
$229
60 minutes
You in the pilot's seat over Los Angeles, hands on the controls the whole way.
Book Now →
Most Gifted
Discovery Flight For Two
$299
60 minutes
One of you flies hands-on, the other takes in the skyline. Share the story.
Book Now →
The Showstopper
Luxury Discovery Flight
$499
60 minutes
Premium Cirrus SR22 glass cockpit and extended air time over the LA basin.
Book Now →
The Pro Move
Multi-Engine Discovery
$499
60 minutes
Twin-engine Piper Seminole and a genuine look at the professional path.
Book Now →
The Aircraft You'll Fly
The Piper Seminole And What Sits Around It
The multi-engine training is flown in the Piper Seminole, a four-seat piston twin with counter-rotating propellers and retractable gear, and the $5,100 add-on covers it. It is the standard airplane for this rating for good reason: predictable, honest at Vmc, and close enough to what an examiner sees every week that nothing about the checkride profile is unfamiliar to them.
The rest of the fleet is here if you want it. Piper Arrow II for complex currency, and the Cessna 162 Skycatcher, Diamond DA20 and Piper Warrior alongside it, all at $179 an hour wet for enrolled students. Turbocharged glass-cockpit time comes from the Cirrus SR22 Turbo on the $22,500 Premium program. The Redbird MCX full-motion simulator is useful for instrument currency alongside the rating if you are keeping an IFR ticket sharp at the same time.
What You'll See From The Air
Where You Will Fly It From Van Nuys
The local geography that shapes where the engine-out work actually happens.
🛣️
Reseda Boulevard
A dead-straight north-south line from the Santa Susana foothills down to the mountains behind Tarzana. It is the easiest visual reference in the west Valley and a convenient reporting line when you are repositioning.
⛳
Braemar Country Club
Green fairways cut into the hillside at the top of Reseda Boulevard, well above the boulevard. Distinctive enough to spot from any altitude and a useful marker for the edge of the Tarzana hills.
🏔️
The Simi Hills
Open, rising ground west of the Valley with room to work and no pattern traffic underneath. This is where the Vmc and drag demonstrations happen, because you want altitude and space for both.
🏘️
The Tarzana Hillside Grid
The curving streets on the old Burroughs ranch land south of Ventura Boulevard, standing out against the straight Valley grid to the north. A clean visual boundary between flat ground and terrain.
Questions From Tarzana
Multi-Engine Rating FAQ
$5,100 as an add-on to a certificate you already hold, flown in the Piper Seminole. Most pilots finish in ten to fifteen hours, which can be compressed into two weeks if you fly most mornings.
A current private or commercial pilot certificate, a valid medical, and a logbook in reasonable order. There is no additional FAA knowledge test for adding the multi-engine class rating to a certificate you hold. Bring your certificate, medical and logbook to the first session so the endorsements can be handled without a second trip.
Because the practice areas are close and the airplane is on the ramp rather than shared with three other schools. From Tarzana you are twelve minutes from the door, so a two and a half hour block including brief and debrief fits inside a morning. That is what lets people finish the rating in a fortnight rather than a season.
Yes, to standard, at safe altitude and with the recovery briefed before every one. The Seminole's counter-rotating props mean there is no critical engine, so the demonstration is symmetric and the emphasis is on recognizing the onset early and reducing power on the operating engine rather than fighting it with rudder.
North on Reseda Boulevard to Sherman Way, east to Balboa, then to 7900 Balboa Boulevard, Suite 108A. Five miles, around twelve minutes. Parking is free and on site with no meters, which is convenient when you are leaving the car for a long block several days running.
Book It Or Gift It
Fly It Yourself, Or Give The Flight To Someone Else
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
Two Seats
The Nice One
Twin Engine
Discovery Flight For One
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 It Or Gift It
Same Price Either Way
Discovery Flight For Two
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 It Or Gift It
Same Price Either Way
Luxury Discovery Flight
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
Bring A PassengerInstructor + 2 is our maximum+$100
$499Book It Or Gift It
Same Price Either Way
Multi-Engine Seminole
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 It Or Gift It
Same Price Either Way
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.
Courses & Pricing
The Rest Of What We Teach
★★★★★
5.0 Rating
100+ Google Reviews
Course prices are packages, not hourly rates - the aircraft, your instructor, ground school and simulator time are all in the figure. Van Nuys Airport, KVNY. Financing Available Through Stratus & In-House Plans.
Start Here
Discovery Flight
The First Hour At The Controls. Credited Toward Your Training If You Enroll Within 24 Hours Of Landing.
From$229
Book A Discovery Flight
01
Discovery Flight
The first hour at the controls; credits toward training if you enroll within 24 hours of landing.
From$229
02
Teen Flight Training Ages 10–15
Starting before it is legal to solo.
$4,200
03
Solo Certificate
Enough training to take an aircraft around the pattern alone.
$5,500
04
Sport Pilot
A real certificate, fewer hours, narrower privileges.
$8,400
05
Private Pilot Most Enrolled
The one most people mean by “learn to fly.”
$10,900
06
Instrument Rating
Turns a fair-weather pilot into a useful one.
$11,700
07
Comprehensive Private Pilot
Private with flight time, ground instruction and materials bundled.
$15,900
08
Premium Private Pilot
The most flight time before your checkride - 80 logged hours.
$22,500
09
Airline Pilot Program
Zero experience to airline-hireable qualifications.
$89,000
All Prices In USD. 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, Van Nuys, CA 91406 · Open 9 AM–9 PM, Seven Days. Free In-Person Tour Of The School
Loved On Google
Over 100 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.
Talk To A Real Instructor
Add Your Multi-Engine Rating, 12 Minutes From Tarzana
If you are current, have the logbook in order and want the rating finished rather than started, we can usually get a Seminole block on the schedule within the week. Call (818) 290-8249 and we will work out the fastest sequence that fits around whatever else your Tarzana week already contains.
Or Send Us A Message And We'll Come Back To You The Same Day →Multi-Engine Rating
$5,100
Complete Add-On Rating
Book A Discovery Flight
Full Multi-Engine Rating Details