Discovery Flights
The Best Views On A Discovery Flight Over Los Angeles
Los Angeles is a city that makes more sense from two thousand feet than it does from the ground. The freeways stop being a maze and become a diagram. The mountains that block your view from a street corner turn out to be a wall between two basins. And the things you have driven past a thousand times — the Observatory, the Sign, the towers downtown — arrive one after another in a way that reorganizes your mental map of the whole place.
This is a guide to what you can actually see on a discovery flight from Van Nuys, which route shows what, and when the light is best. All of it is flown from the left seat with your own hands on the controls, which is the part that makes it different from every helicopter tour you have been offered.
The Landmarks
The Hollywood Sign
The one everybody asks for, and one of the shortest hops from Van Nuys — it sits on the south side of the Santa Monica Mountains, a few minutes from departure. From the air you see it properly for the first time: the letters standing on the slope of Mount Lee, the transmission towers behind them, the Hollywood Reservoir tucked into the canyon below, and the whole Los Angeles basin spread out behind. From the ground you are always looking up at it from too far away. From the air you are level with it.
Griffith Observatory
A minute or two east of the Sign and, for many people, the better sight of the two. The white domes on the ridge, the lawn, the road switchbacking up through Griffith Park, and the fact that the whole thing is a green island in the middle of a dense city. Late afternoon is the moment — the low sun picks the domes out white against the hillside.
The Downtown Skyline
Downtown Los Angeles from the air is a genuine surprise, because from a car it never resolves into a skyline at all. In the air the cluster stands up out of the flatness — the US Bank Tower, the Wilshire Grand's spire, the whole tight group of towers with the freeway interchanges wrapped around it. Approach it from the northwest, as you do from Van Nuys, and it comes at you through the gap in the hills. This is the centerpiece of the Downtown Los Angeles flight for two.
Santa Monica Bay
Coming west over the mountains, the land ends and the Pacific begins in a single line, and the change in feeling in the cockpit is remarkable. The Santa Monica Pier, the Ferris wheel, the beach running north and south, the surf lines stacked up parallel to the sand, and on a clear winter day Catalina Island sitting on the horizon twenty-odd miles out. If you have only seen the Pacific from the beach, seeing where it goes is worth the ticket by itself.
Malibu And Point Dume
North of Santa Monica the coastline turns wild fast. The Pacific Coast Highway threads between the mountains and the water, houses cling to the cliffs, and the canyons run back inland into the Santa Monica Mountains. Point Dume is the headland that juts out into the ocean about twenty miles up — sheer cliff on the west side, a wide crescent beach on the east — and it is the turning point on our ninety-minute Malibu coast flight. Whales pass through here in season. You will not see them every flight, but people do see them.
The San Fernando Valley And The Mountains
Do not skip what is directly under the airport. The Valley from the air is a lesson in how Los Angeles was built — the grid running out to the mountains on every side, the Sepulveda Basin green in the middle of it, the studios in Burbank, the Verdugos and the San Gabriels stacked up to the north and east. On a clear day after rain, the San Gabriels have snow on them and the Pacific is visible from over the Valley, which is a view that makes people go quiet.
Which Route Shows What
| Flight | Duration | What You See |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery flight for one | 60 minutes | Valley, Hollywood Sign, Griffith Observatory, mountains — route flexes to the day |
| Downtown for two | 60 minutes | Sign, Observatory, downtown skyline, the basin |
| Malibu coast for two | 90 minutes | Santa Monica Bay, the coastline, Malibu, Point Dume, the canyons |
| Cirrus SR22, one flyer, passenger optional | 60 minutes | Your choice of route, flown faster and higher, in a glass cockpit |
Routes are always subject to air traffic control, the weather, and where the airspace is busy on the day. Los Angeles has some of the most complex airspace in the world, with LAX, Burbank, Santa Monica and Van Nuys all operating within a few miles of each other, and the controllers decide what happens. Your instructor will fly you the best version of the day that is available. If there is one landmark you especially want, say so at the briefing — they will build it in where they can.
Time Of Day And Light
Early Morning
The smoothest air of the day, by a wide margin. Before the ground heats up there is very little thermal turbulence, so the airplane sits still and the flying is easy — which makes morning the best slot for anyone worried about motion sickness or nerves. Visibility is often at its cleanest. The trade-off is the marine layer: low cloud can sit over the coast and the basin until mid-morning, which sometimes rules out the beach and leaves the Valley and the mountains clear.
Midday
The most reliable slot for the coast, because the marine layer has usually burned off. Light is flat and overhead, which is the least flattering for photographs, and the air is bumpier as thermals come off the hills. Perfectly comfortable flying, just not the postcard light.
Late Afternoon And Golden Hour
The best light of the day and the reason people book evening slots. In the last ninety minutes before sunset the whole city goes gold, the mountains throw long shadows across the Valley, the windows downtown catch the light, and the ocean west of Malibu turns into a sheet of it. This is the proposal flight and the anniversary flight. It is also our most requested time, so book it further ahead than you think you need to — sunset flights run in fall and winter, when the sun sets before our last flight lands at 7 PM.
Best of both: an early evening flight down the Malibu coast, out to Point Dume with the sun still up, and back along the shoreline as it drops. Ninety minutes, two people, $399.
The Very Best Days
The day after rain. Los Angeles rinses itself clean, the haze is gone, the San Gabriels have snow on top, and you can see Catalina and the Channel Islands and sometimes all the way to Mount Baldy in one sweep. Winter afternoons in Southern California are the underrated season for flying, and there are more of them than people from elsewhere expect.
Getting Photographs Worth Keeping
- Shoot through an open side window where the airplane has one, not through the windshield — far less glare and reflection.
- Leave polarized sunglasses off while photographing; they interact badly with aircraft windows.
- Wipe the window before you leave the ramp. Ten seconds, big difference.
- Secure the phone. A strap or a zipped pocket. Dropped objects in a cockpit go somewhere inconvenient.
- Hand over the controls first. Say “your controls,” take the shot, take them back. Do not try to do both.
- Bring a second person on the two-seat flights, so one of you flies and one shoots.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Can You See On A Discovery Flight Over Los Angeles?
From Van Nuys: the Hollywood Sign, Griffith Observatory, the downtown skyline, Santa Monica Bay and the pier, the Malibu coastline and Point Dume, and the San Fernando Valley with the San Gabriel Mountains behind it. Routes depend on the flight you book, the weather and air traffic control.
Which Discovery Flight Route Shows What?
The 60-minute flight for one covers the Valley, the Hollywood Sign, Griffith Observatory and the mountains. The Downtown flight for two adds the skyline and the basin. The 90-minute Malibu coast flight for two covers Santa Monica Bay, the coastline, Malibu and Point Dume. The Cirrus SR22 flies your choice of route faster and higher.
What Time Of Day Is Best For A Discovery Flight?
Early morning has the smoothest air but the marine layer can hide the coast until mid-morning. Midday is the most reliable for the coast. Late afternoon and golden hour give the best light and are the most requested slots, so book them further ahead. The day after rain is the clearest of all.
How Do I Get Good Photographs On A Discovery Flight?
Shoot through an open side window where the airplane has one, leave polarized sunglasses off, wipe the window before leaving the ramp, secure your phone, hand over the controls before you shoot, and on the two-seat flights let one person fly while the other photographs.
Booking A View
Every flight leaves from Van Nuys Airport (KVNY) in the San Fernando Valley — see Van Nuys Airport for directions and parking, and the airplane for what you will be flying. If you want a specific route or a specific time of day, call (818) 330-1318 between 9 AM and 9 PM, any day, and we will help you pick. If the weather does not cooperate, you do not pay, and rescheduling is free up to 24 hours before. Prices, requirements and how to choose between 60, 90 and 120 minutes are all in our complete guide to discovery flights in Los Angeles.
Giving the view to somebody else? A gift certificate lets them choose the route and the light themselves.
See Los Angeles From The Left Seat
The Sign, the Observatory, the skyline and the coast — flown by you, with an instructor beside you.
Book A Discovery Flight →Fly It Yourself
Lesson One Is A Discovery Flight
Sixty minutes from the left seat over Los Angeles with an FAA-certificated instructor beside you, logged as dual instruction toward a license. The quickest way to see what any of this means is to fly an hour of it.
Talk to an instructor or the owner — 9 AM–9 PM, 7 days
