Sport Pilot Program At Van Nuys: $8,400, No FAA Medical

$8,400 at LA Flight School, as a complete package rather than an hourly rate. That figure covers the airplane, your instructor, ground school and simulator time. Financing is available through Stratus Financial and we run in-house payment plans. If you fly a discovery flight first, from $229, the full cost of it is credited against the package when you enroll within twenty-four hours.

Correct for daytime flying. A valid United States driver license is accepted in place of an FAA medical certificate for sport pilot privileges under 14 CFR 61.23(c)(1)(ii), in an aircraft meeting 14 CFR 61.316. Four conditions are set by 14 CFR 61.303(b): you must comply with every restriction and limitation on your driver license and with any judicial or administrative order about driving; you must have been found eligible for at least a third-class medical at your most recent application; your most recent medical certificate must not have been suspended or revoked and no Special Issuance authorization withdrawn; and you must not know, or have reason to know, of any medical condition that would make you unable to operate an aircraft in a safe manner. Night flying is the exception — 14 CFR 61.329 requires a part 67 medical certificate, or that you meet the conditions of 14 CFR 61.113(i) (BasicMed).

At Van Nuys Airport, 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, Van Nuys, CA 91406. It is the closest airport of any size for most of the San Fernando Valley and the west side, reachable from the 405, the 101 and the 118 without crossing the Sepulveda Pass. Parking is free and directly outside. Call (818) 290-8249.

The FAA minimum is twenty hours of flight time under 14 CFR 61.313, against forty for a private pilot certificate. How close you stay to that minimum depends almost entirely on how often you fly. Two or three lessons a week keeps the total down; a lesson every other week means spending the first part of each one recovering ground you had already covered.

Act as pilot in command of any aircraft meeting 14 CFR 61.316 — for airplanes that means a stall speed (VS1) of 59 knots CAS or less, four seats at most, unpressurised, fixed gear and a fixed, ground-adjustable or automated controllable-pitch propeller. Retractable landing gear, or a manual controllable-pitch propeller, needs the training and endorsement in 14 CFR 61.331. You may carry one passenger, stay at or below ten thousand feet MSL or two thousand feet AGL whichever is higher, need three statute miles of visibility, and may not fly for compensation or hire. With the 14 CFR 61.325 endorsement you earn here as a matter of course you can also use towered airports and Class B, C and D airspace, which around Los Angeles means Van Nuys, Burbank and Santa Monica.

Yes. The FAA's MOSAIC final rule (90 FR 35034, published 24 July 2025) set sport pilot aircraft eligibility by 14 CFR 61.316 from 22 October 2025: a stall speed (VS1) of 59 knots CAS or less for airplanes, four seats maximum, unpressurised, fixed gear and a fixed, ground-adjustable or automated controllable-pitch propeller, with retractable landing gear and a manual controllable-pitch propeller available under the 14 CFR 61.331 endorsements. The light-sport aircraft definition in 14 CFR 1.1, and the 1,320 lb maximum takeoff weight inside it, were removed by a second set of amendments that took effect on 24 July 2026. Sport pilots also gained night privileges under 14 CFR 61.329, subject to a part 67 medical certificate or meeting the conditions of 14 CFR 61.113(i) (BasicMed). The one-passenger limit in 14 CFR 61.315(c)(4) did not change, and whether a specific airplane now qualifies depends on its published VS1 at maximum certificated takeoff weight rather than on any FAA list.

Yes. Sport is $8,400 and the standard private pilot course is $10,900, a difference of $2,500, and the sport license typically finishes sooner because the hour minimum is half. The private certificate buys you four seats filled rather than two, night flying that does not depend on holding a medical certificate, and every rating beyond it, so the right answer depends on what you plan to do rather than on the price alone.

Yes, and every hour you have already flown counts toward the forty-hour private minimum. You add night flying, instrument reference training, a longer cross-country and time in a four-seat airplane, then take the private written exam and checkride. You will need a third class medical certificate at that stage, and we can point you to an examiner near the airport.

Either a free in-person consultation, which takes about thirty minutes and commits you to nothing, or a discovery flight from $229 where you fly the airplane yourself from the left seat with an instructor beside you. The flight time is loggable and counts toward the license. Call (818) 290-8249 or come to Suite 108A any day between nine and nine.