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.
Private Pilot Licence (PPL) · Van Nuys Airport
PPL Pilot: What The Licence Actually Lets You Do
A PPL pilot may act as pilot in command, carry as many passengers as the aircraft seats, fly at night, and go anywhere in the United States. What a PPL pilot may never do is be paid to fly. 14 CFR 61.113 contains the whole of it, and almost every question people ask about private pilot privileges is answered by one paragraph of that section.
5.0★85 reviews on Google
61.113the regulation that defines every PPL privilege
Pro ratathe most you may accept from a passenger
$10,900private pilot programme at Van Nuys, published
The Direct Answer
What Can A PPL Pilot Do?
A PPL pilot can act as pilot in command of any aircraft they hold a category and class rating for, carry passengers, fly at night, fly cross-country anywhere in the United States, and land at almost any public airport without filing anything. The one thing a private pilot licence does not permit is flying for compensation or hire. That single restriction, written into 14 CFR 61.113(a), is the boundary; everything else in the section is an exception carved out of it.
People consistently underestimate the freedom inside that boundary. Nothing about a PPL restricts you to daylight, to good weather aerodromes, to a local area, or to one aeroplane. You can rent an aircraft in another state and keep it for a week. You can fly four people to Big Bear for lunch. You can depart Van Nuys after dark and be over the Mojave in twenty minutes, provided you meet the night recency in 14 CFR 61.57(b). The restrictions people imagine are almost always currency and rating restrictions rather than privilege restrictions.
And people consistently underestimate how tight the compensation wall is. It is not a rule about profit. It is a rule about being paid for the act of flying at all. A PPL pilot who accepts $50 toward fuel from a passenger has almost certainly stayed legal; a PPL pilot who accepts $50 to deliver a parcel has not.
14 CFR 61.113
The Compensation Wall, And Every Exception The FAA Carved Into It
Read the section once and the shape becomes obvious: one prohibition, then eight narrow doors through it.
(A) The Prohibition Itself
No person who holds a private pilot certificate may act as pilot in command of an aircraft that is carrying passengers or property for compensation or hire, and no such person may, for compensation or hire, act as pilot in command of an aircraft. Two prohibitions in one sentence: you cannot carry paying passengers or cargo, and you cannot yourself be paid to be the pilot. Either one on its own is enough to break the rule.
(B) Flights Incidental To A Business
A private pilot may act as pilot in command of an aircraft in connection with any business or employment if the flight is only incidental to that business or employment and the aircraft does not carry passengers or property for compensation or hire. This is the paragraph that lets a builder fly themselves to a site inspection and count the trip as work. It is not the paragraph that lets a builder charge a client for the flight.
(C) Pro Rata Cost Sharing
A private pilot may not pay less than the pro rata share of the operating expenses of a flight with passengers, provided the expenses involve only fuel, oil, airport expenditures, or rental fees. Read the double negative slowly, because it is the source of most of the confusion. The pilot must pay at least their equal share. Four people on board means the pilot pays at least a quarter. And only four categories of expense may be shared at all: fuel, oil, airport expenditures, rental fees. Not the pilot’s time, not depreciation, not a landing fee dressed up as a service charge.
(D) Charitable And Community Events
A private pilot may act as pilot in command of a charitable, nonprofit or community event flight described in 14 CFR 91.146, if the sponsor and the pilot comply with the requirements of that section. Those requirements are real and specific — notification, pilot experience minimums, and limits on what may be flown — so a charity flight is not simply a flight you decided was for a good cause.
(E), (F), (G) And (H) The Narrow Doors
(e) permits reimbursement for fuel, oil, airport expenditures or rental fees on a search and location operation conducted under the direction of a government agency or an organisation that conducts search and location operations. (f) permits a private pilot who is an aircraft salesman with at least 200 hours of logged flight time to demonstrate an aircraft in flight to a prospective buyer. (g) permits glider towing under 14 CFR 61.69. (h) covers production flight testing of light-sport aircraft under stated experience conditions. None of these is a general-purpose exemption, and none of them applies to the ordinary weekend flight.
(I) Flying A PPL On BasicMed
Paragraph (i) is the one that changed what most private pilots do about medicals. A private pilot may act as pilot in command without holding a medical certificate, subject to the conditions in 14 CFR 61.23(c)(3), in an aircraft authorised to carry not more than 7 occupants with a maximum certificated takeoff weight of not more than 12,500 pounds, carrying no more than 6 passengers, at or below 18,000 feet MSL, at an indicated airspeed of not more than 250 knots, and not for compensation or hire. Flight outside the United States needs the authorisation of the country concerned.
Where PPL Pilots Get Caught
Four Situations That Look Fine And Are Not
None of these involves anyone intending to break a rule. All four are common.
1
The Favour That Becomes A Service
Flying a colleague to a meeting is fine under 61.113(b) if the flight is incidental to your own business and nobody is paying for transport. The moment the colleague’s employer reimburses you for the flight itself, you are being paid to fly.
2
Holding Out
Offering flights to the public — a post in a group, a notice on a board, a listing on an app — is holding out, and holding out plus compensation is common carriage. That needs an operating certificate, not a PPL.
3
The Free Ride You Receive
Compensation runs both ways. Accepting free flight time, free fuel or free use of an aircraft in exchange for flying somebody somewhere is being compensated, even though no cash moves.
4
Currency, Not Privilege
Most PPL pilots who cannot legally carry passengers this weekend are not blocked by 61.113. They are blocked by 14 CFR 61.57 — three takeoffs and landings in the preceding 90 days, and to a full stop for night.
What Lapses And What Does Not
Does A PPL Expire?
No. A private pilot certificate has no expiry date printed on it and never has. What lapses is your currency, and there are two separate clocks. Under 14 CFR 61.56 you need a flight review with an authorised instructor — a minimum of one hour of ground training and one hour of flight training — within the preceding 24 calendar months before you may act as pilot in command at all. Under 14 CFR 61.57(a) you need three takeoffs and three landings as sole manipulator of the controls within the preceding 90 days before you may carry passengers, and under 61.57(b) those must be to a full stop, during the period beginning one hour after sunset and ending one hour before sunrise, before you may carry passengers at night.
A pilot who has not flown for three years still holds the licence. They simply cannot use it until they have flown a review. In practice that is one or two flights with an instructor, and it is the cheapest lesson in aviation because nothing has actually been lost except recent practice.
The medical is the third clock and it is the one that surprises people. Under 14 CFR 61.23(d) a third-class medical certificate is valid until the end of the 60th month after the month of the examination if you were under 40 on the day of the exam, and the 24th month if you were 40 or over. BasicMed under 61.113(i) is the alternative once you have held a medical at some point since July 2006.
Becoming One
What It Costs To Become A PPL Pilot At Van Nuys
Aircraft, instructor, ground school, simulator time and books are inside every package price. The hours are part of the price rather than a variable bolted on later.
Standard Private Pilot
$10,900
40 logged hours, the 14 CFR 61.109 minimum. 38 hours single-engine, 30 hours dual, 2 hours in the Redbird MCX, 3 hours of ground school. Right if you can fly two or three times a week.
- ✓Single-engine Cessna, Piper or Diamond — 38 hrs
- ✓Dual flight instruction — 30 hrs
- ✓Redbird full-motion simulator — 2 hrs
- ✓Ground school — 3 hrs
- ✓Books and materials included
Most chosen
Comprehensive Private Pilot
$15,900
60 logged hours and ten hours of ground school, which is closer to what a private pilot licence actually takes most people. 55 hours single-engine, 50 hours dual, 5 simulator hours.
- ✓Single-engine Cessna, Piper or Diamond — 55 hrs
- ✓Dual flight instruction — 50 hrs
- ✓Redbird full-motion simulator — 5 hrs
- ✓Ground school — 10 hrs
- ✓Books and materials included
Premium Private Pilot
$22,500
The same syllabus flown in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo with a glass cockpit and a whole-airframe parachute. 38 hours in the aircraft, 30 hours dual, 2 simulator hours.
- ✓Cirrus SR22 Turbo, glass cockpit — 38 hrs
- ✓Dual flight instruction — 30 hrs
- ✓Redbird full-motion simulator — 2 hrs
- ✓Ground school — 3 hrs
- ✓Books and materials included
Start with an hour before you commit to sixty of them. A discovery flight is a real lesson, logged as dual instruction under 14 CFR 61.51, and the full price comes off any private pilot programme if you enrol within 24 hours.
Enrolled students fly single-engine aircraft at $179 an hour, wet. That is the only hourly figure we publish. Financing through Stratus Financial and our in-house plans starts at $2,500 down.
Back to School: $500 off any private pilot program through 30 September 2026. Standard $10,400 · Comprehensive $15,400 · Premium $22,000. Ask when you enroll.
What People Say
5.0 Stars, 85 Google Reviews
Three things repeat across our reviews on Google, and none of them is the aeroplane.
★
The Briefing, Not The View
The compliment that comes back most often is about the twenty minutes at the table before the engine starts. People remember being told what was going to happen before it happened.
★
Lessons That Actually Happen
Eleven instructors and a fleet we own outright. Reviewers mention scheduling more often than they mention the aircraft, which tells you what most people find hard about learning to fly.
★
The Number Does Not Move
You enrol at $10,900 and you finish at $10,900. Nobody writes a five-star review about a surprise invoice, and the absence of one comes up constantly.
Step One
An Hour In The Left Seat Answers This Better Than A Regulation Does
A $229 discovery flight from Van Nuys is a real lesson. You fly the aircraft, a CFI is legally pilot in command under 14 CFR 91.3(a), the hour is logged as dual instruction and counts toward the 40 hours in 14 CFR 61.109, and the full price comes off any private pilot programme if you enrol within 24 hours. Call (818) 290-8249 or book a free consultation and ask us anything on this page in person.
Discovery Flight For One
$229
60 minutes · you fly the aircraft · credited in full on enrolment within 24 hours
Book A Discovery Flight
Or Call (818) 290-8249
Keep Reading
The Private Pilot Licence
Private Pilot License (PPL): The Complete GuidePPL Flying: Staying Current After The CheckridePrivate Pilot License RequirementsThe Private Pilot Checkride, Start To FinishPrivate Pilot Cross-Country Requirements
FAQ
PPL Pilot Privileges: The Questions People Actually Ask
A PPL pilot is someone holding a private pilot certificate, which the rest of the world calls a private pilot licence. It permits acting as pilot in command of aircraft in the categories and classes on the certificate, carrying passengers, and flying at night, anywhere in the United States. 14 CFR 61.113 prohibits doing any of that for compensation or hire.
No. 14 CFR 61.113(a) prohibits a private pilot from acting as pilot in command of an aircraft carrying passengers or property for compensation or hire, and from acting as pilot in command for compensation or hire at all. Being paid to fly requires a commercial pilot certificate, which needs 250 hours under 14 CFR 61.129.
Yes, within limits. Under 14 CFR 61.113(c) the pilot may not pay less than the pro rata share of the operating expenses, and only fuel, oil, airport expenditures and rental fees may be shared. With three passengers the pilot pays at least a quarter of those four items. Anything the passengers give beyond that is compensation.
As many as the aircraft is certificated to seat, with no regulatory limit in 14 CFR 61.113 itself. The practical limits are the aircraft, its weight and balance, and 14 CFR 61.57 recency: three takeoffs and landings in the preceding 90 days for day passengers, and three to a full stop at night for night passengers.
Yes. A private pilot certificate carries no daylight restriction. 14 CFR 61.109(a)(2) requires 3 hours of night flight training during the course, including a cross-country of over 100 nautical miles and 10 takeoffs and 10 landings to a full stop, so night flying is part of the training rather than an add-on.
No, not without an instrument rating. A private pilot without one is restricted to visual meteorological conditions. Adding an instrument rating under 14 CFR 61.65 requires 50 hours of cross-country pilot-in-command time and 40 hours of actual or simulated instrument time, and costs $11,700 at Van Nuys.
Yes, subject to the rules of the country being flown to and, where the flight is conducted on BasicMed rather than a medical certificate, the authorisation of that country under 14 CFR 61.113(i). A US private pilot certificate is issued without a geographic limit.
The certificate itself does not expire. To act as pilot in command you need a flight review within the preceding 24 calendar months under 14 CFR 61.56, consisting of at least one hour of ground training and one hour of flight training. Carrying passengers additionally needs the 90-day recency in 14 CFR 61.57.
No. Instructing for compensation requires a flight instructor certificate. A private pilot may not be paid to teach, and 14 CFR 61.113 makes no exception for instruction. The CFI certificate is a separate qualification built on a commercial certificate.
Only with the multi-engine class rating added to the certificate. A rating is added to an existing private pilot certificate rather than replacing it, which is why the multi-engine add-on at Van Nuys is $5,100 rather than the price of starting again.
No Cost, No Obligation
Get The Full Training Plan And Price Sheet
The three private pilot packages, what each one includes, the financing options and a realistic timeline built around how often you can actually fly. Sent to you in one email. Nobody will pressure you.
- Every package price, itemised
- Financing from $2,500 down
- A timeline based on your schedule
Loved On Google
Eighty-Five 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.