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 · Thousand Oaks
Multi-Engine Rating For Thousand Oaks Pilots
An add-on rating flown in the Piper Seminole, done in a block of consecutive days, twenty-five miles east of Thousand Oaks at Van Nuys Airport.
2,000+Discovery flights flown safely
5.0★Our Google rating, 100+ reviews
35 minFrom Thousand Oaks to the flight line
9AM–9PMSeven days a week at KVNY
Multi-Engine Rating · Thousand Oaks, Ventura County
The Seminole Add-On, Flown As A Block
You already know the shape of this one. Roughly ten hours in a light twin, a few ground sessions, no written exam because you are adding a rating to a certificate you already hold, and a practical test at the end. It is $5,100 as an add-on and the Seminole rents at $649 an hour afterwards. It works best flown as a concentrated block over a week or two rather than dripped out across a season.
The Conejo Valley pilots who call us about this are usually flying something already and looking at what comes next. A Baron, a 310, a Twin Comanche sitting on the ramp at Camarillo. Some are commercial pilots clearing the box before an application. A few take the family up to Santa Ynez, Mammoth or Big Bear often enough that a second engine has stopped being an abstraction and started being a plan.
The local argument for the rating is in your own back yard. West out of Thousand Oaks the ground goes ridge, then the Conejo Grade, then the Oxnard plain. South it is Boney Mountain and then open water toward the Channel Islands. On one engine at night over any of that, the options get short fast. Training here means the engine-out work happens over precisely the terrain that made you want the rating.
How It Works
The Syllabus, In Four Stages — Start To Certificate
Four stages, and the third one is effectively the entire rating compressed into a handful of lessons.
1
Systems And Performance On The Ground
The Seminole's fuel and electrical systems, the counter-rotating propellers and why they remove the critical engine, accelerate-stop and accelerate-go distances, and single-engine service ceiling. Two or three sessions. Most of the reading you can do at home in Thousand Oaks before you ever make the drive over.
2
Flying It On Two Engines
Takeoffs, climbs, cruise, descents and landings, plus getting used to a second throttle quadrant, a gear lever that has to be operated and a checklist flow longer than you are used to. Short and soft field work flown to the standard of whichever certificate you are adding the rating to.
3
Engine Failures, Vmc And Single-Engine Work
The whole rating in miniature. Identify, verify, feather, and mean it. Drag demonstrations, the Vmc demonstration itself, a single-engine climb rate that will disappoint you exactly as much as it ought to, approaches on one engine, and the go-around you hope never to fly for real.
4
Oral, Flight Test And The Rating On Your Certificate
An oral covering systems, performance and single-engine aerodynamics, then the practical test with a designated examiner. No FAA written exam is required when you are adding a rating. We do not put anyone up for the checkride until the engine-out flow happens without you having to think about it.
Transparent Pricing
Multi-Engine Rating Pricing For Thousand Oaks 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 Thousand Oaks
35 Minutes And 25 Miles From Thousand Oaks
Twenty-five miles: the 101 east from Hampshire Road, Moorpark Road, Lynn Road or Westlake Boulevard, through Agoura Hills and Calabasas, off at Balboa Blvd and north past Victory and Vanowen. About thirty-five minutes with a clear freeway. If you currently keep an airplane at Camarillo you are used to driving the other way down the grade, and this is the same order of trip in the opposite direction.
Because the rating is best flown intensively, you will be making this drive most days for a week or two, and that is the one thing worth planning properly. Mid-morning and early-afternoon blocks miss both peaks entirely. If you are current in a single, some pilots simply fly themselves in instead, which is about fifteen minutes in the air against thirty-five on the road. Parking at 7900 Balboa Blvd is free, in the lot outside Suite 108A, and we are open 9 AM to 9 PM seven days a week.
Book A Discovery Flight
Book Your Discovery Flight From Thousand Oaks
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
Piper Seminole, Plus The Rest Of The Hangar
The rating is flown in the Piper Seminole: a conventional light twin with counter-rotating propellers, retractable gear and honest single-engine manners. It is the standard training twin because nothing about it is surprising, and what you meet later in a Baron or a 310 is all present here in a more forgiving form. Once the rating is on your certificate it rents at $649 an hour.
What else is on the field matters if you intend to stay. Glass-cockpit time in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo is also $649 an hour. Complex singles are $349 in the Piper Arrow II. The Diamond DA20 is $329 and the Cessna 162 Skycatcher and Piper Warrior are $269 apiece. And if your instrument currency has quietly lapsed, the Redbird MCX is the inexpensive place to put that right before the flight test.
What You'll See From The Air
Where The Single-Engine Work Happens
The engine-out drills are flown over terrain any Conejo Valley pilot already respects.
⛰️
Boney Mountain And Sandstone Peak
The highest ground in the Santa Monica Mountains, southwest of Thousand Oaks and roadless across most of its area. Look down during a single-engine drill over that and the case for a second engine makes itself without any help from an instructor.
🚜
The Oxnard Plain
Below the Conejo Grade, flat and gridded with irrigated rows all the way to the water. It is the one genuinely forgiving surface within gliding reach of this end of the valley, and worth knowing exactly where it starts.
🏝️
The Channel Islands
Anacapa and Santa Cruz out past the coast, with the water in between. That crossing is the standard argument for twin time in this part of California and the reason a fair number of local pilots come for the rating at all.
🐎
The Santa Rosa Valley
The strip of avocado groves and horse property between Thousand Oaks and Camarillo, north of the grade. From the air it is the clearest illustration of how little flat, open ground there really is on this side of the hills.
Questions From Thousand Oaks
Multi-Engine Rating FAQ
The add-on is $5,100. Seminole rental afterwards is $649 an hour, whether you are keeping current or taking it somewhere for the weekend. Adding a rating involves no FAA written exam, so there is no test fee at that stage, though the designated examiner sets and charges their own fee for the practical test.
Most pilots finish inside a week or two flying most days, on around ten hours in the airplane plus the ground work. If you have not flown much in the last few months, budget an extra session or two rather than spending the first three hours relearning how to land. Bring your logbook and we will give you a realistic number.
A certificate, private or commercial, and a medical that is still in date. That is the entire list. There is no minimum multi time to begin and no written exam to sit. Bring your certificate, medical and logbook to a free in-person consultation at Suite 108A and we will tell you honestly where you stand.
Thirty-five minutes each way for a week or two is the honest cost. What you get for it is the Seminole based on the field, FAA-certified instructors with more than fifteen years of experience, a full-motion simulator for the procedural work, and a towered field with real traffic to fly the single-engine approaches into. Parking at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A is free.
Yes, and it is a reasonable thing to do first. The Multi-Engine Discovery Flight is $499 for 60 minutes, $699 for 90 and $899 for 120, flown from the left seat. You will learn more about the airplane in that hour than from any amount of reading, the time is loggable, and enrolling within 24 hours puts 100% of the cost toward the rating.
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, 35 Minutes From Thousand Oaks
If the next airplane you want has two engines, this is $5,100 and a week or two of concentrated flying twenty-five miles east of Thousand Oaks. Call (818) 290-8249, or turn up at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A with your logbook and we will price it properly, any day between 9 AM and 9 PM.
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