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.
Van Nuys Airport · KVNY
Private Pilot Course Near Calabasas, At Van Nuys Airport
The closest full training fleet to Calabasas sits fourteen miles east, which is the entire reason people from the Las Virgenes side end up learning to fly at Van Nuys.
5.0★85 reviews on Google
$10,900standard private pilot course
2,000+discovery flights flown safely
15+ yrsbehind every instructor
Local
What Near Me Actually Means When You Live In Calabasas
Calabasas has no airfield of its own, so the useful question is which one is genuinely closest, and the answer is Van Nuys Airport at fourteen miles, where our aircraft and our office are. Camarillo is roughly twenty-five miles the other way, over the Conejo Grade, and we do not operate there. Santa Monica is a similar distance south through the canyons and is scheduled to shut at the end of 2028, which makes it an odd place to start a relationship with an instructor that will run a year or more. Van Nuys wins on distance and on everything after distance.
The second half of that answer is what sits underneath you five minutes after wheels up. From Van Nuys the practice areas run west along the spine of the Santa Monica Mountains and north over the Simi Hills, so somebody from Calabasas spends most lessons above ground they can already name from the car. Steep turns over the Las Virgenes corridor, slow flight above the reservoir, then down the ridge to the water at Point Dume. Not many students anywhere learn on terrain this familiar.
People who start a private pilot course from this part of the county usually arrive with a destination in mind rather than a career. Santa Barbara is about forty minutes in the air against a bad two hours on the 101 in August. Catalina, Big Bear and the Owens Valley open up the same way, and so does the small mercy of skipping the Grapevine. That is the honest appeal of the certificate here, which is why these conversations start with range and seats rather than a running meter.
What decides how long the course takes is how often you fly, not how far you drive. Two lessons a week gets most people to a checkride inside a year; one lesson a fortnight can stretch past two, because every flight begins by rebuilding what the last one taught. Summer afternoons on the Valley floor also run hot enough that density altitude turns into a genuine planning item, so Calabasas students tend to settle on morning slots and hold them by booking several weeks at a time.
Training Packages
Private Pilot Routes And What Each One Costs
Each of these is priced as a course, not as an open-ended hourly meter.
Most Popular
Standard Private Pilot
$10,900
The full FAA Private Pilot Certificate. Where most students start.
Learn MorePremium Private Pilot
$22,500
The widest margin of hours for students who want no surprises.
Learn MoreInstrument Rating
$11,700
The rating that makes a license useful in Southern California weather.
Learn MoreEvery course above is a package, not an hourly rate — the price covers the aircraft, your instructor, ground school and the simulator time in that package. Financing is available through Stratus Financial and through in-house payment plans, and a discovery flight is credited in full against any package if you enroll within 24 hours. All training is flown from Van Nuys Airport (KVNY), 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A.
Discovery Flights
Try It First — A Discovery Flight From Van Nuys
You fly the aircraft from the left seat with an instructor beside you. The time is loggable and counts toward a certificate.
Luxury Cirrus For Two
$399/ 60 min
The SR22 Turbo, glass cockpit. 90 min $549, 120 min $699.
Learn MoreRedbird Simulator Session
$189/ 1 hr
FAA-approved full-motion MCX, on the field at Van Nuys.
Learn MoreGetting Here
Calabasas To 7900 Balboa Blvd, Fourteen Miles
Most of it is 101. Get on eastbound at Parkway Calabasas or Mulholland Drive, hold the middle lanes through Woodland Hills and Tarzana, and take the Balboa Boulevard exit in Encino. Turn left and head north. Balboa crosses Ventura, Burbank and Oxnard, skirts the recreation land inside the Sepulveda Basin, then runs dead straight up the western fence of the airport. Number 7900 is on your right and Suite 108A faces our own lot. Twenty minutes when the freeway is behaving.
There is a northern alternative worth learning for the afternoons when it is not. Take Valley Circle Boulevard up to Victory Boulevard and run Victory east through West Hills, Canoga Park and Winnetka. Victory follows the southern boundary of the airfield and meets Balboa a couple of blocks from our door, so you approach from below the runways instead of through Encino. Traffic lights rather than a car park. Roscoe Boulevard does the same job a mile further north if you prefer coming at the field from above.
Parking is free and it belongs to us: an open lot outside Suite 108A, no gate, no machine, no walk from a structure. Arrive at half past nine and the trip is twenty minutes each way. Arrive at half past five and the eastbound run through Tarzana adds fifteen. We fly until nine at night seven days a week, and those late slots are quiet in both directions. On a first visit, ring (818) 290-8249 as you leave the freeway.
Why Van Nuys
Why The Extra Fourteen Miles Pays For Itself
1
Two Parallel Runways, So You Actually Land
Circuit work is where a certificate is won, and the limit is usually how many landings you get in a lesson. Van Nuys runs two parallel strips with light aircraft kept on the shorter one, so there are fewer long holds behind departing jets. On a busy Saturday that is four or five extra landings.
2
The Good Air Is Ten Minutes Away
Departing west, the mountains and the coastal practice areas are underneath you before the engine has finished warming through. Nobody pays for a forty-minute transit to somewhere worth practicing, which quietly removes a large slice of the cost of every lesson. Coming home, the Calabasas ridge line points straight at the field.
3
The Same Instructor, All The Way Through
Our instructors hold FAA certification and fifteen or more years of flying each, and you keep the same one from the first briefing through to the checkride recommendation. That continuity is worth more than most students expect. Nobody spends a lesson proving to a stranger what they could already do a fortnight ago.
4
You Can Cost It Out Before You Commit
An in-person consultation is free and involves no deposit. Come and look at the aircraft, sit in the Redbird, ask what happens if you miss three weeks, and get real figures against a real calendar. Every number on this page is the price of the course, not a booking fee.
The Fleet
The Aircraft A Private Course Is Flown In
You will train in a Cessna 162 Skycatcher, a Piper Warrior or a Diamond DA20, all of them inside the course price. The 162 is high-wing, which shades the cockpit and gives a clean view of the ground for navigation. The Warrior and the DA20 sit low, so the wing is out of the way in a turn and the sky above stays open, which is worth something under the shelves of Class B airspace south of the field. All three forgive the mistakes a student is supposed to be making.
After the checkride the ramp keeps going. The Piper Arrow II brings retractable gear and a constant-speed propeller. The Cirrus SR22 Turbo is glass panel, turbocharged and fitted with an airframe parachute, and it is the machine most private owners around the Las Virgenes hills eventually settle on. The twin-engine Piper Seminole carries the $5,100 multi-engine rating. The Redbird MCX full-motion simulator, $189 for a sixty-minute session, is where the cheap repetitions live: an instructor can freeze weather, fail an instrument and reset you on final in seconds.
From The Air
Calabasas From Two Thousand Five Hundred Feet
Four features that place you exactly on a westbound departure.
💧
Las Virgenes Reservoir
A long green sheet of water tucked behind the ridge above Malibu Canyon Road, invisible from almost every street in town. It is the most reliable navigation feature on this side of the hill.
🏛️
King Gillette Ranch
White Spanish-colonial buildings around lawns and a pond at the mouth of Malibu Canyon, the burn line from the 2018 fire still legible behind them. From above it is the one formal rectangle in miles of chaparral.
🛻
The Landfill Terraces On Lost Hills Road
Stepped benches cut into the hillside north of the 101, unmistakable because nothing else nearby is that geometric. Pilots use it as the turn between the Calabasas basin and the open ground toward Simi.
🏍️
Mulholland Highway And The Rock Store Curves
A thin grey ribbon writhing west through the Santa Monica Mountains toward Kanan, motorcycles stacked outside the store on a Sunday. Follow it with your eye and it puts you on the coast at Leo Carrillo.
FAQ
Common Questions
Van Nuys Airport, at fourteen miles and about twenty minutes east on the 101, and it is the only field we operate from. Camarillo is roughly twenty-five miles west over the Conejo Grade, and Santa Monica a similar distance south through the canyons; both are places you might fly to, not places we teach from. Van Nuys is also the only field of the three with a full training fleet, a twin, a full-motion simulator and a tower staffed around the clock.
Twenty minutes off-peak, thirty-five in the worst of the eastbound afternoon. Valley Circle to Victory Boulevard is the surface alternative and it moves when the 101 does not. Parking is free in our own open lot outside Suite 108A, with no barrier and nobody to pay. Most students dodge the problem by flying mid-morning or after seven.
The standard course is $10,900. Comprehensive is $15,900 and premium is $22,500, both of which buy more hours and more flexibility rather than a different certificate. For a smaller first goal, the solo certificate is $5,500 and the sport pilot license $8,400. Financing runs through Stratus Financial or through our own payment plans.
The FAA minimum is forty hours, but sixty to seventy-five is realistic for somebody flying around a job. Frequency moves that number more than talent does. Two flights a week keeps skills warm; one flight a month pushes you toward the top of the range and costs more in the end.
A third-class medical from an FAA-designated examiner covers private training and solo flight. Get it early rather than late, because it is the one item that can genuinely stop a plan. Most healthy applicants pass without difficulty, and we can point you toward examiners close to the Valley.
There is no minimum age to begin instruction. You can fly solo at sixteen and hold a private certificate at seventeen, so a student who starts in their last year of school can be certificated before they leave it. You also need to read, speak and understand English.
Santa Barbara is about forty minutes, Catalina roughly the same, Big Bear and Paso Robles inside ninety. San Luis Obispo, Mammoth and the wine country fields become weekend distances rather than expeditions. The Warrior and the 162 stay open to you afterwards, which keeps flying a normal weekend habit once the course is done.
Book a discovery flight from $229 and fly the airplane yourself for sixty minutes with an instructor beside you. The time is logged in your name and counts toward the certificate, and if you enroll within twenty-four hours the whole cost comes off your course fee. If you would rather talk first, the consultation is free.
Talk To Us
Come And See It Before You Decide
Drive the fourteen miles once, walk the ramp, sit in the aircraft you would learn in, and get real numbers against your own calendar. Call (818) 290-8249 or book a $229 discovery flight and take the controls over the Las Virgenes hills yourself.
Discovery Flight For One
$229
60 minutes, hands on the controls, fully loggable
Book A Discovery Flight
Or Call (818) 290-8249
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.
Aviation News
Latest From The Field
Notes from the flight line at Van Nuys — weather, regulation changes, checkride questions and the cost of training, written up as they come.
Van Nuys Airport · KVNY
(818) 290-8249
7900 Balboa Blvd. Suite 108A
Van Nuys, CA 91406 Get directions →
Open the full contact page
Open 7 days · 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Los Angeles Flight School7900 Balboa Blvd. Suite 108A
Van Nuys, CA 91406 Get directions →
★★★★★
5.0 · 85 Google reviews