The FAA private pilot certificate — the PPL — takes 40 hours of flight time under 14 CFR 61.109 and can be held from age 17 under 14 CFR 61.103. At Van Nuys the standard program is $10,900, published rather than quoted, and most students finish in three to six months flying two or three times a week.
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.
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
$399Book Or Gift
Same Price
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
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.
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...
A private pilot certificate is the FAA certificate that lets you act as pilot in command of an aircraft and carry passengers, anywhere in the United States, day or night, in aircraft you are rated and current in. Pilots call it a PPL. 14 CFR 61.109 requires at least 40 hours of flight time, including 20 hours of flight training from an instructor and 10 hours of solo. 14 CFR 61.103 sets the minimum age at 17, and 14 CFR 61.23 requires at least a third-class medical certificate before you fly solo.
The FAA's 40 hours is a floor rather than a forecast. AOPA puts what students actually need at between 50 and 70 hours, and where you land in that band is decided almost entirely by how often you fly rather than by aptitude. That is why our programs are priced as fixed packages — $10,900 for 40 logged hours, $15,900 for 60 — instead of an hourly meter that charges a slow student more. Almost everyone starts the same way, with a discovery flight at Van Nuys: one hour, $229, and you fly it yourself.
What the certificate does not let you do is be paid to fly. 14 CFR 61.113 prohibits acting as pilot in command for compensation or hire, with the limited exceptions listed in that section, and permits a private pilot to pay no less than their pro rata share of a flight's operating expenses. Being paid is what the commercial certificate at 250 hours under 14 CFR 61.129 is for. The full privilege list, and the cost-sharing arithmetic people get wrong, is on our PPL pilot privileges page.
Every requirement with the regulation that creates it. This is the complete list for an airplane single-engine land rating.
| Requirement | Regulation | The standard |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum age to hold the certificate | 14 CFR 61.103 | 17 |
| Minimum age to fly solo | 14 CFR 61.83 | 16 |
| Language | 14 CFR 61.103 | Read, speak, write and understand English |
| Medical certificate before solo | 14 CFR 61.23 | At least third class |
| Total flight time | 14 CFR 61.109 | 40 hours minimum |
| Dual flight training | 14 CFR 61.109(a) | 20 hours |
| Cross-country training | 14 CFR 61.109(a)(1) | 3 hours |
| Night training | 14 CFR 61.109(a)(2) | 3 hours, one flight over 100 nm, 10 full-stop landings |
| Instrument training | 14 CFR 61.109(a)(3) | 3 hours by reference to instruments |
| Practical test preparation | 14 CFR 61.109(a)(4) | 3 hours within the preceding 2 calendar months |
| Solo flight time | 14 CFR 61.109(a)(5) | 10 hours, of which 5 hours solo cross-country |
| Long solo cross-country | 14 CFR 61.109(a)(5)(ii) | 150 nm total, full-stop landings at three points, one leg over 50 nm |
| Knowledge test | FAA Airman Knowledge Testing Matrix | 60 questions, 2 hours, pass mark 70 |
| Practical test prerequisites | 14 CFR 61.39 | Endorsement within the preceding 2 calendar months |
Three phases, and what actually happens in each.
Aircraft control, the traffic pattern, takeoffs and landings, slow flight, stalls and emergency procedures, flown in the Cessna, Piper or Diamond single-engine trainers. Redbird MCX full-motion simulator sessions cover procedures and emergencies at a fraction of an aircraft hour, and they are never canceled for weather.
Before you fly solo, 14 CFR 61.87 requires a pre-solo aeronautical knowledge test written by your instructor, flight training in every maneuver the regulation lists, a finding of satisfactory proficiency, and a logbook endorsement for the specific make and model given within the preceding 90 days. Most students reach that point somewhere between 15 and 25 hours.
Flight planning, navigation, towered and non-towered fields, day and night. Van Nuys is a Class D field under the Los Angeles Class B shelf, so the radio work is real from the first lesson and it transfers to any airspace in the country.
The regulation drives this phase: 3 hours of cross-country training and 3 hours of night training including a flight of over 100 nautical miles and 10 full-stop landings under 14 CFR 61.109(a)(1) and (a)(2), then 5 hours of solo cross-country including the 150-nautical-mile flight with full-stop landings at three points under 14 CFR 61.109(a)(5). The routes we actually fly for each of those are listed on the cross-country requirements page.
Maneuvers polished to the published standard, mock oral examinations and a stage check before the practical test. 14 CFR 61.39 requires an instructor endorsement within the preceding 2 calendar months and the knowledge test already passed; 14 CFR 61.43 requires every task performed to standard on the day.
We would rather tell a student they are not ready than send them early. A candidate who fails has lost weeks, and under 14 CFR 61.49 a retest requires additional training and a further endorsement before it can be booked. What the day itself involves is set out on the private pilot checkride page.
Four things that are specific to this field rather than true of every school.
We counted twelve months of NOAA hourly observations at Van Nuys against a 3,000 ft ceiling and 5 statute miles visibility. In June only 40% of 7am observations met those minima, rising to 93% by 11am, which is a scheduling instruction rather than a caveat.
Van Nuys sits beneath the Los Angeles Class B airspace. You learn tower communications, transitions and airspace boundaries as a matter of routine, not as a special exercise late in training.
Aircraft we own and maintain on our own schedule. 14 CFR 91.409(b) requires a 100-hour inspection on any aircraft used for instruction for hire, in addition to the annual inspection.
$10,900, $15,900 and $22,500 for the three private pilot programs, and $179 an hour wet for enrolled students. The number you enroll at is the number on this page.
All 85 are on Google. We do not aggregate a rating from anywhere else and we do not publish a figure we cannot point at.
The compliment that repeats is about the twenty minutes at the table before the engine starts. People remember being told what was going to happen before it happened.
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.
You enroll 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.
Our Courses
Ten programs flown out of Van Nuys Airport, with real pricing on every one. Start with an hour at the controls, or go straight through to airline-hireable qualifications — it is the same ladder either way.
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
Rating
For pilots already certificated who are adding a twin. Trained in our own Piper Seminole.
$5,100 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
A $229 discovery flight from Van Nuys is a real lesson: you fly the aircraft from the left seat, the hour is logged as dual instruction toward the 40 hours in 14 CFR 61.109, and the full price comes off any private pilot program if you enroll within 24 hours. Call (818) 290-8249 or book a free consultation.
Three to six months flying two or three times a week. 14 CFR 61.109 sets a 40-hour minimum and AOPA puts what students actually need at between 50 and 70 hours. Our study of NOAA observations at Van Nuys counted 355 flyable days a year, so weather rarely sets the pace here.
40 hours minimum under 14 CFR 61.109: at least 20 hours of flight training from an instructor and 10 hours of solo. Within those, 3 hours of cross-country training, 3 hours of night training with a flight over 100 nautical miles and 10 full-stop landings, 3 hours of instrument training, and a 150-nautical-mile solo cross-country with full-stop landings at three points.
$10,900 for the standard program with 40 logged hours, $15,900 for the comprehensive with 60 logged hours, and $22,500 for the premium program flown in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo. Each includes the aircraft, the instructor, ground school, simulator time and books. Financing starts at $2,500 down.
Private pilot license. It is the abbreviation pilots use for what the FAA formally calls a private pilot certificate, issued under 14 CFR Part 61 with 40 hours of flight experience required by 14 CFR 61.109.
Yes, anywhere in the United States, day or night, in aircraft you are rated and current in. 14 CFR 61.113 prohibits acting as pilot in command for compensation or hire, with the limited exceptions listed in that section, and permits you to pay no less than your pro rata share of a flight's operating expenses when passengers share the cost.
Single-engine Cessna, Piper and Diamond trainers on the standard and comprehensive programs, and the Cirrus SR22 Turbo with its glass cockpit on the premium program. All are owned and maintained by the school, and 14 CFR 91.409(b) requires a 100-hour inspection on any aircraft used for instruction for hire in addition to the annual.
No. 14 CFR 61.23 requires at least a third-class medical certificate before you fly solo, not before you fly with an instructor. A third-class medical is valid for 60 calendar months if you are under 40 on the date of the examination and 24 calendar months if you are 40 or over.
17 to hold the certificate under 14 CFR 61.103 and 16 to fly an airplane solo under 14 CFR 61.83. Training can begin at any age, and there is no upper age limit anywhere in the regulations.
The private pilot airplane knowledge test is 60 questions with a 2-hour allowance and a minimum passing score of 70, per the FAA Airman Knowledge Testing Matrix. Under 14 CFR 61.35 you need an instructor endorsement or other authorized evidence of ground training before you sit it.
No. The certificate itself does not expire. 14 CFR 61.56 requires a flight review with an authorized instructor every 24 calendar months to keep acting as pilot in command, and 14 CFR 61.57 sets the takeoff and landing recency required to carry passengers.
Usually the instrument rating under 14 CFR 61.65, which 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. After that, a commercial certificate at 250 hours under 14 CFR 61.129 for anyone intending to be paid to fly.
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.
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.
Aviation News
Notes from the flight line at Van Nuys — weather, regulation changes, checkride questions and the cost of training, written up as they come.
Open 7 days · 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Los Angeles Flight School
