Everything people ask before they book a discovery flight at Van Nuys, answered straight. If your question is not here, call (818) 330-1318 — we are open 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week, and an instructor answers rather than a call center. If you are comparing schools rather than booking a first flight, we keep a separate list of the questions worth asking any flight school.
The Two Things Most People Want To Know: a discovery flight is a real flying lesson and you fly the airplane yourself. Weight limits are 180 lb per person and 360 lb combined in the Piper Warrior, 200 lb and 400 lb combined in the Cirrus SR22, and there is no limit in the simulator. Free rescheduling up to 24 hours before · if the weather says no, you do not pay.
Before You Book Anything
What Is A Discovery Flight?
A discovery flight — also called an introductory flight or a first flying lesson — is a single, one-off flight lesson designed for someone who has never flown a small airplane. You sit in the left seat, which is the pilot's seat, with a full set of controls in front of you. An FAA-certificated flight instructor sits in the right seat with an identical set and can take over instantly. You fly the airplane.
The full definition, including how a discovery flight differs from a commercial sightseeing tour under the FAA's rules and exactly why the time is loggable, is set out at length in our complete guide to what a discovery flight is.
Is A Discovery Flight The Same As A Sightseeing Tour?
No. A tour is a ride: you sit, you look out of the window, somebody else flies. A discovery flight is a lesson — you do the pre-flight walk-around, you handle the controls in flight, and you get a debrief afterwards. If what you actually want is the view, that is a perfectly good thing to want, and you can still book a discovery flight and tell your instructor at the briefing that you would like to fly ten minutes and sightsee the rest. Nobody will push you.
Do I Need Any Experience To Book?
None at all. The overwhelming majority of people who fly with us have never touched the controls of a small aircraft. The hour assumes exactly that.
Do I Need A Pilot License Or A Medical Certificate?
No, neither. Your instructor is the certificated pilot in command and you are receiving instruction, so no license, medical certificate or paperwork of any kind is required from you. An FAA medical only becomes relevant much later, if you decide to fly solo.
How Old Do You Have To Be?
There is no minimum age to take a lesson. Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian who signs on their behalf. Children need to be big enough to see over the panel and to wear a headset comfortably, so call (818) 330-1318 if you are booking for someone young and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth it yet.
Am I Too Old To Do This?
No. There is no upper age limit on flying for pleasure and no upper age limit on a discovery flight. People book these in their seventies and enjoy them enormously.
Can I Fly If I Wear Glasses Or Contact Lenses?
Yes. Bring them and wear them. Vision correctable to 20/20 is the standard that matters even later on for a medical certificate — uncorrected 20/20 is not required.
Is It Safe?
You are flying with an FAA-certificated instructor in a maintained training aircraft at a towered airport with a control tower watching the pattern. Aircraft used for instruction are inspected far more frequently than privately owned airplanes. The pilot in command has final authority over whether a flight is safe to conduct, and that decision is not negotiable — which is exactly the reason it is safe.
Do I Need To Be A US Citizen?
No. A discovery flight is an introductory lesson and non-US visitors are welcome. Bring a valid passport as your photo identification.
Prices And What Is Included
How Much Does A Discovery Flight Cost In Los Angeles?
Sixty minutes for one person is $229. Sixty minutes for two over downtown Los Angeles is $299. Ninety minutes for two along the Malibu coast is $399. Sixty minutes in the luxury Cirrus SR22 is $499 for one flyer, or $599 with a passenger. An hour in the full-motion simulator is $189.
| Flight | Length | People | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery Flight In Los Angeles | 60 min | 1 | $229 |
| Discovery Flight For Two Over Downtown Los Angeles | 60 min | 2 | $299 |
| Malibu Coast Discovery Flight For Two | 90 min | 2 | $399 |
| Luxury Cirrus SR22 Discovery Flight | 60 min | 1, or 2 with a passenger | $499 ($599 with a passenger) |
| Full-Motion Flight Simulator Experience | 60 min | 1 | $189 |
What Is Included In The Price?
The airplane, the fuel, your FAA-certificated instructor, the headsets, the pre-flight briefing and the debrief afterwards. There is no fuel surcharge, no landing fee, no booking fee and no card fee. Nothing is added at the desk when you land.
Do I Have To Tip The Instructor?
No. Tipping is not expected and the price you paid is the whole price.
Do You Sell Gift Cards?
Yes. You Fly LA gift cards are available in thirteen amounts from $189 to $1,049, which lines up with every flight we sell. They are emailed rather than posted, and the recipient books their own date on our calendar rather than being handed one that may not suit them. If you are buying for someone who has talked about flying for years without doing anything about it, this is the version of the gift that actually gets used.
Can I Book For A Group?
Yes. Birthdays, bachelor parties, corporate days and proposals all work well, and we can run several aircraft in sequence so that a group flies through the afternoon. See Groups, Proposals And Events or call (818) 330-1318.
Weight, Eligibility And What To Bring
What Are The Weight Limits?
One quick check before you book. Every aircraft has a certificated weight limit set by the manufacturer, and it is an aircraft safety limit rather than a preference — we cannot fly outside it for anyone.
| Aircraft | Maximum Per Person | Maximum Combined |
|---|---|---|
| Piper Warrior | 180 lb | 360 lb |
| Cirrus SR22 | 200 lb | 400 lb |
| Full-Motion Simulator | No limit | No limit |
If you are close to a limit, or you are not sure, call us on (818) 330-1318 before you book and we will help you choose the right flight. We would much rather have that conversation on the phone than turn you away at the door. The Cirrus SR22 carries more, and the simulator carries anyone.
What Do I Need To Bring?
Government photo identification and closed-toe shoes. That is the whole list. Sunglasses and a layer are worth having, headsets are provided, and there is nothing to sign in advance.
What Should I Wear?
Anything comfortable that is not loose enough to get in the way of the controls. The cockpit is warm on the ground at Van Nuys and cooler at altitude, so something you can add a layer to works best.
Can I Bring A Camera Or Film It?
Yes. Bring a phone or a camera. You will have both hands occupied for a good part of the flight, so the pictures usually happen while your instructor has the controls back — which is one small argument for the ninety-minute Malibu flight over a sixty-minute one.
Can Someone Ride Along And Watch?
Yes, on the two-person flights. One of you flies from the left seat and the other rides along on the intercom hearing everything. You cannot swap seats in the air, because weight and balance is calculated on the ground before you go, so decide who is flying before you book.
On The Day
How Long Should I Allow At The Airport?
About two hours for a sixty-minute flight. Roughly thirty minutes of briefing and walk-around before, the flight itself, then a debrief. Nothing about it is rushed.
How Much Of The Flight Do I Actually Fly?
Everything except the takeoff and the landing, which stay with your instructor. Those are the two phases with the least margin, at a towered airport with jets in the pattern. Both are narrated with hands on the controls so you can see what is happening. Everything in between — straight and level, turns, climbs, descents, holding a heading — is genuinely yours.
What If I Am Nervous?
Tell your instructor at the briefing. It changes the whole hour: they fly more of it, explain more of it, stay lower and smoother, and check in with you instead of waiting for you to volunteer that you have had enough. Nerves are the normal state of a first flight and almost nobody mentions them at the desk. Mention them.
What If I Have A Genuine Fear Of Flying?
Aerophobia is a clinical condition rather than nerves, and a light aircraft is not exposure therapy. If the thought of the door closing produces a panic response, we will say on the phone that a qualified therapist is the right first call. What we can offer afterwards is the full-motion simulator: it sits on the ground, it can be stopped at any point, and nothing about it is irreversible.
What If I Feel Unwell In The Air?
We come back and land, and nobody makes anything of it. Tell your instructor before you walk out if you are prone to motion sickness — they will fly a smoother profile, avoid steep turns and stay lower. Eating beforehand and booking the earliest slot of the day both help more than people expect.
What Route Will We Fly?
It depends on the day, the weather and what air traffic control gives us. Typical routes take in the Sepulveda Basin, the Santa Monica Mountains, downtown Los Angeles, the Hollywood Hills or the Malibu coastline. The longer flights get further. Full detail is on What To Expect On Your Discovery Flight.
Where Do I Park?
There is parking on site at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Main Terminal Unit 108, Van Nuys, CA 91406 . Give a satnav or a rideshare driver the street address rather than "Van Nuys Airport" — the field has several public gates spread over a mile of frontage, and we are at Main Terminal Unit 108.
The Aircraft And The Airport
What Airplane Will I Fly?
Most discovery flights are flown in the Piper Warrior PA-28-161 — a stable four-seat low-wing trainer with room for a passenger in the back. We also reference the two-seat Diamond DA20-C1 with its bubble canopy and control stick, and the luxury flight is flown in the glass-panel Cirrus SR22 , with our Cirrus SR series reference covering the airframe that family shares. Specs for all three are on The Airplanes You'll Fly.
Is It A Small Plane? How Small?
Smaller than most people picture and simpler too. The Warrior seats four, the DA20 seats two. You sit shoulder to shoulder with your instructor with a clear view forward and down, which is precisely why the view from a training airplane beats the view from an airliner.
What Does It Mean That Van Nuys Is A Class D Airport?
Class D means Van Nuys has a control tower, and that changes your first hour more than the aircraft does. From the moment the engine starts you are listening to a controller, and by the time you line up you have heard a dozen other aircraft do what you are about to do. Van Nuys is one of the busiest general aviation airports in the world, with two parallel runways and a genuine mix of traffic. It sounds intimidating and is the opposite: the pattern is disciplined because it has to be. More on our Flying Out Of Van Nuys Airport page.
Do You Fly Over Downtown, The Hollywood Sign Or The Beach?
Frequently, and it depends on the routing air traffic control gives us on the day. The Discovery Flight For Two Over Downtown Los Angeles is built around the basin and the skyline; the Malibu Coast flight is built around the shoreline and needs the extra thirty minutes to do it properly.
Weather, Booking And Cancellation
How Often Does Weather Cancel A Flight In Los Angeles?
Rarely. Southern California is one of the most flyable places in the country, and Van Nuys sits fifteen miles inland, which puts it above the marine layer far earlier in the day than the coastal fields. When weather does stop a flight, we move it and you are not charged.
What Is The Marine Layer?
Low coastal stratus that pushes into the LA basin overnight in late spring and summer and usually burns off through the morning. If you are booking in June, an afternoon slot is the safer choice; the rest of the year, a morning slot gives you the smoothest air.
What Time Of Day Is Best?
Early morning is smoothest and coolest, which is why it books out first. Afternoons bring thermals off the Valley floor and, in autumn, Santa Ana winds. Evening flights near sunset are the ones people photograph.
Can I Reschedule?
Yes. Free rescheduling up to 24 hours before · if the weather says no, you do not pay. Full detail, including no-shows and late arrivals, is on our Weather And Cancellation Policy page.
What Happens If You Cancel For Weather?
We contact you as soon as we can, we move you to a new slot at no cost, and your purchase stays valid. The pilot in command has the final say on whether a flight is safe to conduct, and we would always rather move a flight than fly a bad one.
How Far Ahead Should I Book?
A week for a specific day and time, particularly for weekend mornings and the last slot before sunset, which go first. Weekdays often have same-week availability. If you want a particular airplane or a particular time, call (818) 330-1318 — a specific aircraft is easier to hold with a phone call than a click.
Are You Open At Weekends?
We are open 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week, and discovery flights run 10 AM to 7 PM every day.
Afterwards
Does The Flight Count Toward A Pilot License?
Yes. The hour is dual instruction received, it is written into a logbook in your name and signed by your instructor, and it counts toward the flight time the FAA requires for a private pilot certificate under 14 CFR 61.109. A logbook is yours, not ours — if you fly with us once and then move away, that hour still counts and any instructor in the country will accept it. Nothing about it expires.
What comes after that first logbook entry — the FAA medical, the student pilot certificate application, the written exam, the currency rules and the checkride — is collected in the order you actually meet them on our student pilot resources hub. Two of the questions we field most often have pages of their own: what disqualifies you from being a pilot and whether you can be a pilot if you are colorblind. If your question is about the calendar instead, how long becoming a pilot actually takes answers it end to end.
What If I Decide I Want To Keep Going?
Tell your instructor and they will talk you through what the path actually looks like, honestly, including the parts that cost money. Our Learn To Fly In Los Angeles page covers the same ground in writing.
If the first question in your head is the price, our breakdown of what flight school actually costs prices every certificate from sport pilot to the airlines, line by line, including the fees that sit outside any school's package.
What If I Decide Flying Is Not For Me?
That is a completely valid outcome and it is a large part of the reason a discovery flight exists. Plenty of people spend years assuming they would love to fly and find out in twenty minutes that what they really wanted was the view. Either answer is worth the hour, and both are better than another evening of watching cockpit videos.
Can I Book Another One?
Yes, as many as you like, and people do — a second flight in a different airplane, or the same flight with a different person in the other seat. Call us and we will help you pick something different rather than sell you the same hour twice.
Book Your First Hour In The Left Seat
Discovery flights over Los Angeles from Van Nuys Airport, from $229. No experience needed. Free rescheduling up to 24 hours before · if the weather says no, you do not pay.
Book A Discovery Flight →Still stuck on something? Call (818) 330-1318, 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week, or read What To Expect On Your Discovery Flight and About You Fly LA. Questions about training rather than a first flight are answered on the flight training FAQ.