Private Pilot License in Los Angeles — Your Wings Start at Van Nuys
The FAA private pilot certificate is your gateway to flying: carry passengers, fly anywhere in the country, and build toward every advanced rating. Requirements, syllabus, real prices — all of it, here.
What the FAA requires for a private pilot certificate
Age and language
Be at least 17 to hold the certificate — you can start training at any age and solo at 16 — and read, speak and understand English.
A third-class FAA medical
Needed before your first solo, not your first lesson. Our step-by-step guide shows how to get one in Los Angeles, including the paths for corrected vision and color blindness.
Flight hours
A minimum of 40 hours including 20 dual and 10 solo; the national average is 55 to 70. Training frequency is what keeps you near the minimum.
Two exams
The FAA written knowledge test (60 questions, ~$175) and the practical checkride with an FAA examiner. We prepare you for both inside the program.
How PPL training actually unfolds at Van Nuys
Phase one is pre-solo: aircraft control, takeoffs and landings, and emergency procedures in the Cessna 162 or Piper Warrior, with Redbird MCX simulator sessions covering procedures at a fraction of aircraft cost. Then comes the day you will never forget — your first solo, typically after 15 to 25 hours, when your instructor steps out and the airplane is yours.
Phase two is cross-country: navigation, flight planning, towered and non-towered fields, day and night flights across Southern California — the Malibu coast, the Central Valley, the desert. This is where LA training shines: every kind of airspace and terrain inside a 30-minute flight.
Phase three is checkride preparation: polishing maneuvers to FAA standards, mock oral exams, and a stage check before the practical test. Our students walk into the checkride having already flown it, twice.
Three programs, one certificate
Aircraft, instructor, ground school and simulator time included in every package.
Standard Private Pilot
FAA-minimum structure in the Cessna 162 or Piper Warrior, for consistent students.
Learn moreComprehensive Private Pilot
Realistic hours plus extra sim and ground time. Most popular.
Learn morePrivate pilot questions
Three to six months flying two to three times per week. Accelerated full-time students finish in six to eight weeks. Los Angeles weather almost never gets in the way.
Yes — friends and family, anywhere in the U.S., day or night. You cannot be paid to fly until you earn a commercial certificate.
The Cessna 162 Skycatcher or Piper Warrior for most students; the Premium program trains in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo. All are maintained in-house and included in package pricing.
No. Corrected 20/40 vision is fine, color blindness usually has a path, and the math is arithmetic, not calculus. If you can drive a car thoughtfully, you can learn to fly.
Because you graduate better: real towered airspace from lesson one, professional controllers, and radio confidence that transfers to any airport in the world — plus the largest training fleet on the field, so lessons don't get cancelled.
Lesson one is waiting
Start with a $229 discovery flight — loggable time that counts toward your certificate and is credited in full if you enroll within 24 hours. Call (818) 290-8249.