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 Training For West Hills, At Van Nuys Airport
West Hills sits directly beneath the airspace where Van Nuys students practice, which means the airplanes you hear on a Saturday morning are doing exactly what you would be doing.
5.0★100+ reviews on Google
$10,900standard private pilot course
100%of your first flight credited
15+ yrsinstructor experience
Local
You Already Live Under The Classroom
Anyone who has spent a weekend in a garden off Valley Circle or Woodlake knows the sound. Light aircraft cross West Hills all day, because the ground west and north-west of Van Nuys is where students go to practice, and the route out there passes over this corner of the Valley. Most people stop noticing after a year. A few look up, work out that those airplanes contain someone on their fourth or fifth lesson, and start wondering what it would take to be the one flying.
The honest answer is money and rhythm, in that order. Money, because a private pilot certificate is a real purchase: $10,900 for the standard course, $15,900 for the comprehensive version and $22,500 for the premium one. Rhythm, because the students who finish are the ones who fly twice a week rather than twice a month. West Hills has an advantage on the second point that almost nowhere else in the county has, which is that the airport is twenty minutes away on ordinary streets.
The neighborhood itself suits this. West Hills is largely people who have stayed put: households near Chaminade and West Hills Hospital, families in the cul-de-sacs above Sherman Way, and professionals who commute east into the Valley each morning and would rather not commute anywhere at all at the weekend. Long tenure means predictable weekends, and predictable weekends are exactly what flight training needs. It is a far better predictor of finishing the course than natural ability is.
The cost is also less monolithic than it looks. Very few people write one check. Financing runs through Stratus Financial, we operate our own payment plans in house, and the first flight is credited back in full if you enroll within a day of taking it. Between those three things, most West Hills students end up paying for the certificate over the same sort of period they would finance a car, and flying it long after the car has gone.
Courses & Pricing
Every Course 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
Multi-Engine Rating
For existing pilots adding a twin.
$5,100
04
Solo Certificate
Enough training to take an aircraft around the pattern alone.
$5,500
05
Sport Pilot
A real certificate, fewer hours, narrower privileges.
$8,400
06
Private Pilot Most Enrolled
The one most people mean by “learn to fly.”
$10,900
07
Instrument Rating
Turns a fair-weather pilot into a useful one.
$11,700
08
Comprehensive Private Pilot
Private with flight time, ground instruction and materials bundled.
$15,900
09
Premium Private Pilot
The most flight time before your checkride - 80 logged hours.
$22,500
10
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
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.
Getting Here
West Hills To 7900 Balboa Blvd
Sherman Way is the run most people settle on. Pick it up at Valley Circle or Fallbrook and drive east in a straight line through Canoga Park, Winnetka, Reseda and Lake Balboa. At Balboa Boulevard turn south and the airport perimeter appears within a couple of blocks. It is about ten miles, twenty minutes in normal traffic, and there is no freeway on it at any point, which is the reason West Hills students almost never miss a booking.
If Sherman Way is congested, Vanowen and Victory run the same direction and land you in the same place, and none of the three involves a freeway. From the northern streets near Chatsworth, Valley Circle up to the 118 and east to Balboa works well and is often quicker in the late afternoon. The 101 is the one route worth avoiding, since it adds distance and puts you into Woodland Hills traffic for no gain.
The address is 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, Van Nuys, CA 91406, and the parking outside is ours and free. No structure, no ticket, no gate code and no waiting around for an escort to walk you across a ramp. We are open nine in the morning until nine at night, seven days a week, so a lesson can go before work, after work or in the middle of a Sunday. The number is (818) 290-8249.
Why Van Nuys
What Makes This Convenient From West Hills
1
Your Lesson Starts At Takeoff
The maneuvering areas used out of Van Nuys sit west and north-west, which is the direction of your own house. You are not paying twenty minutes of aircraft time to reach somewhere useful before the teaching begins. Over a full certificate that saves several hours of billable flying, and more of each lesson goes on learning.
2
The Simulator Stretches The Budget
A session in the Redbird MCX costs a fraction of the same time in the air and can be repeated endlessly. Emergency drills, instrument approaches and diversions are far better learned in a machine you can pause. Students who use it properly reach the same standard for less money, which matters when the total is measured in thousands rather than hundreds.
3
Nobody Has To Pay It All At Once
Financing is available through Stratus Financial and we run payment plans ourselves. The consultation where we walk through it is free and carries no obligation. You will leave knowing the full price of the course you are considering and what a monthly figure would look like, which is a more useful conversation than a rate card ever is.
4
Twenty Minutes Changes The Maths
A lesson from West Hills costs you around two and a half hours door to door. That is small enough to fit a weekday evening or half a weekend morning, and small enough that twice a week is realistic rather than aspirational. Frequency is the biggest lever on what the certificate ends up costing.
The Fleet
The Aircraft, And What Comes After The Certificate
You will start in a Cessna 162 Skycatcher, a Diamond DA20 or a Piper Warrior. All three are honest, lightly loaded airplanes that make your mistakes obvious, which is the point of a trainer. Your package covers the aircraft and the instructor together, so a morning flight out over the Simi Hills and back before lunch is already paid for and the choice of type is yours. West Hills students tend to work the total out early, and we would rather they had one honest figure than a rate card to add up.
After that there is somewhere to progress to without ever leaving the school. The Piper Arrow II adds retractable gear and a constant-speed propeller. The Cirrus SR22 Turbo is a glass-cockpit four-seater with a parachute built into the airframe and the range to make a weekend in Utah reasonable. The Piper Seminole is the twin the $5,100 Multi-Engine Rating is flown in, and the Redbird MCX full-motion simulator sits alongside them at $189 for a sixty-minute session, for the work best done on the ground.
From The Air
West Hills From A Couple Of Thousand Feet
Turn west after departure and these arrive in roughly this order.
🍊
The Orcutt Ranch Citrus Grove
A dense rectangle of dark orange and walnut trees off Justice Street, completely unlike the roofs surrounding it. It is the most obvious green anomaly in West Hills from the air.
🏜️
The Chatsworth Reservoir Basin
A vast pale bowl behind the fences off Valley Circle, empty of water and full of scrub where nobody expects open land. From above it is the largest single feature on this side of the Valley.
🛍️
The Fallbrook Center Roofs
The mall's long white rooftops and car parks read as a bright block against the housing grid on Fallbrook Avenue. Students use it to find Vanowen and trace their own street from there.
⛰️
The Simi Hills Plateau
The high folded ground north-west of town rises abruptly out of the suburb, the old field laboratory terraces cut into its top. It marks where the county stops and where much of your practice flying happens.
FAQ
Common Questions
Sherman Way east to Balboa, then south, is the one most students use. Ten miles, twenty minutes, no freeway at any point. Vanowen and Victory are equivalent alternatives if it is slow. From the streets nearest Chatsworth, Valley Circle up to the 118 and east is often faster late in the day.
Yes. We take bookings until nine at night, seven days a week. From West Hills that means leaving home at six and being back before nine with a full lesson flown. In summer the daylight holds past eight, and at the night-flying stage those late slots become the ones you need.
Because the practice areas for Van Nuys lie west and north-west of the field, and the transit crosses this part of the Valley. Most of what you hear on a weekend morning is training: steep turns, stalls, slow flight and engine-failure drills. You will soon recognize them by the engine note.
Some pay in stages as they train, some finance through Stratus Financial, and some use our in-house payment plans. Most combine two of the three. We go through the options at a free consultation with no pressure attached, and the discovery flight fee is credited in full if you enroll within twenty-four hours.
Hours and margin. The standard course at $10,900 covers the certificate for someone training consistently. The comprehensive course at $15,900 builds in extra flight and simulator time for interrupted schedules. The premium course at $22,500 adds generous hours and heavy one-to-one attention. The certificate is identical in all three cases.
For most students, yes. The Redbird MCX is a full-motion device that can be paused, reset and repeated, which no aircraft can. Instrument work, emergencies and cross-country planning are cheaper and better learned there first. An introductory hour is $189, and simulator time is included in the comprehensive and premium courses.
It is worth a conversation. At $8,400 it costs less and takes fewer hours, but limits you to lighter aircraft, daylight and a single passenger. If your ambition is local weekend flying over the Simi Hills, that may be all you need. If you picture three passengers and Mammoth, take the private certificate.
You park outside Suite 108A, come in, and spend about sixty minutes with an instructor going through the syllabus, the aircraft and the full cost. It is free and there is nothing to sign. Plenty of people book a discovery flight for the same day.
Talk To Us
Twenty Minutes, And No Obligation
Drive down Sherman Way one afternoon and see the aircraft, the simulator and the numbers before deciding anything. Call (818) 290-8249 or come to Suite 108A any day between nine and nine.
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
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.
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 · 100+ Google reviews