You don't need to know anything yet.
Most people who walk into our hangar at Van Nuys have never touched a control yoke and have no idea what a licence costs. This page fixes both — in about five minutes, in plain English.
Three things nobody tells you on day one
Flight schools are strangely bad at explaining the basics. Here they are, plainly.
You fly the aeroplane on your very first lesson
Not a simulator, not a demo ride. Your instructor handles the radio and the tricky bits, and you take the controls once you're clear of the pattern. Every minute of it is logged and counts toward a licence.
There is no single "price of a licence"
Anyone quoting one number is guessing. What actually drives your cost is how often you fly. Fly twice a week and you finish faster and cheaper than someone flying twice a month, because you spend less time re-learning. Our packages are fixed so you know the ceiling.
The medical is easier than you think — and sometimes optional
Glasses are fine. Most common medications are fine. And if the FAA medical worries you, the Sport Pilot route lets you fly on a valid driver's licence instead. Almost nobody knows that option exists.
What do you actually want out of flying?
Pick the one that sounds most like you. It jumps you straight into the quiz with the first question already answered.
How you get from the ramp to a licence
Five stages. Nobody skips them and nobody does them in a weekend. Here is what each one really involves.
Discovery flight
An hour in a real aircraft with an instructor, with you flying most of it. If you enrol within 24 hours, the whole cost comes off your training.
Day oneMedical & student certificate
A visit to an aviation medical examiner and an online application. Straightforward for most people, and skippable on the Sport Pilot route.
Week 1–2Lessons & ground school
Flying and studying in parallel — take-offs, landings, navigation, radio work, weather. This is the bulk of your time and your budget.
Month 1–6First solo
Your instructor steps out and you fly the pattern alone. Most students reach this at 15–25 hours. It is the day everything changes.
The milestoneWritten & checkride
A knowledge exam, then a flight test with an FAA examiner. Pass it and you hold a certificate that never expires.
The finishFind your flight path
Answer six honest questions and we'll match you to the programme that actually fits — with the real price, not a range.
What's pulling you toward flying?
There is no wrong answer here — this just decides which questions come next.
How old is the future pilot?
There is no upper limit on learning to fly. Age only changes which paperwork applies and when — you can start lessons at any age, solo at 16 and hold a licence at 17.
Any concerns about the FAA medical?
Glasses are fine. So are most everyday medications. We ask because there is a legitimate route that skips the FAA medical entirely, and hardly anyone knows about it.
Realistically, how often could you fly?
Be honest rather than optimistic. This is the single biggest driver of what your training ends up costing.
How are you thinking about paying for it?
We would rather have this conversation now than three lessons in. Every answer here is normal and none of them changes how you get treated.
Where are you starting from?
Last one.
Where should we send your flight plan?
We’ll send the programme we matched you to, what it costs and what happens next — then a Van Nuys instructor follows it up whichever way you pick. A real one, not a call centre, and there’s no obligation to book anything.
A copy is on its way to your inbox, and an instructor will follow up the way you asked.
That's on its way.
A Van Nuys instructor has your answers and will come back to you the way you asked. If you'd rather not wait, the hangar line is open 9 AM – 9 PM, seven days.
Let's talk about the money
Flight training is a real expense and pretending otherwise helps nobody. Here is how ours works.
Fixed packages, not a meter running
Most schools quote you an hourly rate and let the total drift. We price whole programmes so you know the ceiling before you start — from a Solo Certificate at $5,500 through the Standard Private Pilot at $10,900 to the zero-to-airline track at $89,000.
- Aircraft, instructor and ground instruction are inside the package price
- Your discovery flight comes off the total in full if you enrol within 24 hours
- Sport Pilot at $8,400 is the shortest route to flying legally on your own
- Nothing is charged for a lesson the weather cancels
If you need to spread it out
Financing is available through Stratus Financial, and we run in-house payment plans for students who would rather deal directly with us. Plenty of people also simply pay lesson by lesson — that is completely normal and we will build a schedule around it.
The things people ask us before their first lesson
No. Every student we have ever trained started with zero hours. The arithmetic involved is addition, subtraction and reading a chart — your instructor teaches all of it on the ground before it ever matters in the air.
Yes. Corrected vision is fine for every class of FAA medical. The requirement is that your vision is correctable to 20/40, not that it is perfect without help.
The honest answer is that it depends almost entirely on how often you fly. Students flying two or three times a week typically finish in four to six months. Flying twice a month, expect well over a year and a higher total cost, because each lesson spends time re-covering the last one.
That is exactly what the discovery flight is for. It is $229 for a full hour in the aircraft with an instructor, you fly most of it yourself, and you owe nothing afterwards. If it turns out not to be for you, you have had an hour over Los Angeles and a logbook entry, and we part on good terms.
There is no upper limit at all. At the lower end you can begin lessons at any age, fly solo at 16 and hold a private pilot certificate at 17. Younger students usually start with our Teen Flight Training Package at $4,200.
7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, Van Nuys, CA 91406, on the west side of Van Nuys Airport just off the 405. Parking is free and on site, and we are open 9 AM to 9 PM every day of the week.
Still reading? Come and see it.
Turn up, walk the ramp, sit in an aircraft and ask an instructor the questions this page did not answer. It costs nothing and takes about an hour.