The closest flight school to Brentwood is You Fly LA at Van Nuys Airport — 13.5 miles and roughly 22 minutes straight up the 405 over the Sepulveda Pass, at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Main Terminal Unit 108. From Pacific Palisades it is about 17.6 miles and 30 minutes; from Bel Air, less. Brentwood, the Palisades and Bel Air have no airfield of their own, so this is as close as flying lessons physically get on that side of the hill.
These are also the communities for whom Santa Monica Airport has been the default field for decades — and it is scheduled to close on December 31, 2028. If that is news, start with our Santa Monica Airport closure resource, which lays out what has actually been decided, what it means if you are mid-training or based there, and how the alternative fields compare. The same 405 run written from the neighboring Westside communities is on our Westwood flight school and Beverly Hills flight training pages.
Twenty-Two Minutes Over The Sepulveda Pass
The geography here is unusually kind. Brentwood sits at the south end of the Sepulveda Pass, and the pass is the one gap in the Santa Monica Mountains that a freeway goes through. You get on the 405 north at Sunset or Wilshire, climb past the Getty, come over the top, drop into the Valley, and exit at Roscoe Blvd — then west to Balboa and south. There is no complicated part.
From Pacific Palisades add Sunset Boulevard's winding run east through the canyon before you reach the freeway, which is where most of the extra eight minutes goes. From Bel Air, depending on which side of the ridge you are on, you may already be looking at the 405 from your window.
| Community | ZIP | Route | Distance / Drive | Median Household Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brentwood | 90049 | 405 N over the Sepulveda Pass, exit Roscoe Blvd | 13.5 mi · ~22 min | ~$170,600 |
| Pacific Palisades | 90272 | Sunset Blvd east to the 405 N, exit Roscoe Blvd | 17.6 mi · ~30 min | ~$189,700 |
| Bel Air | 90077 | Sepulveda or Beverly Glen to the 405 N | ~14–16 mi · ~22–28 min | ~$206,300 |
The pass is the pass — northbound between four and seven on a weekday it is slow, and it is worth reorganizing a lesson around rather than sitting in. Two habits solve it. Book morning slots: we open at 9:00 AM, and a 9 or 10 AM weekday flight is 22 minutes each way. Or take Sepulveda Blvd, the surface road that parallels the freeway over the top, which regularly beats the 405 in the worst hour.
The Premium Fleet — Because That Is What This Catchment Actually Books
We will be direct: the most common first booking from 90049, 90272 and 90077 is not the standard trainer. It is the Luxury Cirrus SR22 Discovery Flight — $499 for 60 minutes, $649 for 90, $799 for 120 for one flyer, or $599 / $849 / $1,049 with a passenger.
The SR22 is a different airplane from a training Piper in every way that a first-time passenger notices. Side-yoke control rather than a center yoke, a large integrated glass panel, leather seats, air conditioning, and a whole-airframe parachute system — CAPS — that can lower the entire aircraft under canopy. You fly it from the left seat with an instructor beside you, and a passenger can come along and see everything for $100 to $250 more. Weight limits are 200 lb per person and 400 lb combined. If you would rather start in a Piper Warrior on a standard route, the 60-minute discovery flight is $229, with limits of 180 lb per person and 360 lb combined. What happens after that first flight is set out on our Los Angeles flying lessons page.
The same preference runs through the training programs. Private Pilot — Standard is $10,400 for the 40-hour Part 61 minimum, and it is the right answer for most people: the same certificate, and you can transition to a Cirrus afterwards. Want to train in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo? Add it to any package at +$400 per hour, for as many hours as you choose — the honest choice for a specific person, someone who intends to own or routinely fly an SR22T. Paying to learn in type is rational if you will stay in type and wasteful if you will not, and we will tell you which one you are at a free in-person consultation rather than sell you the larger number. The aircraft themselves are covered on the Cirrus SR22 page, and the training track on Cirrus training in Los Angeles.
| Item | Detail | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Luxury Cirrus SR22 Discovery Flight | 60 / 90 / 120 min | $499 / $649 / $799 ($599 / $849 / $1,049 with a passenger) |
| Discovery Flight For Two — Malibu Coast | 60 / 90 / 120 min | $299 / $399 / $499 |
| Discovery Flight | 60 / 90 / 120 min, one person | $229 / $299 / $399 |
| Private Pilot — Standard | 40 hours, Part 61 minimum | $10,400 |
| Cirrus, per hour | SR22T, inside a course | $579 in a package |
| Instructor, per hour | flight or ground | $110 |
| Full-Motion Simulator | 60 min | $189 |
| Free In-Person Consultation | at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Main Terminal Unit 108 | $0 |
Every figure there is the true total. Our booking products carry no tax and no booking fee — $229 is the total, and $399 is $399. No resort charge, no fuel surcharge, no line item that appears at checkout. The first-flight pages for the two nearest communities are the Santa Monica discovery flight page and the Beverly Hills discovery flight page.
Two things this catchment asks for constantly. Gift certificates: a You Fly LA gift card is the version of this that works as a birthday, graduation or anniversary present, and the gifts collection shows the range. Private group flights: for a family, a birthday or a company offsite we run bookings on groups and events — several aircraft, staggered departures, everyone flying the same route.
What You Fly Over From Here
Off the runway at Van Nuys you turn southwest and the Santa Monica Mountains fill the windscreen almost immediately, Mulholland Drive tracing the ridge. Within a few minutes you are over the Sepulveda Pass — the 405 threaded through the notch below you, the same road you just drove — and the Getty Center sits on its own promontory on the west side, travertine and white, a completely different object from above than the one you pass on the freeway.
Then Brentwood arrives underneath: Sunset Boulevard curving through it, the country club greens, the streets stepping up into the canyons. West of that, Topanga State Park is the largest piece of undeveloped land inside a major American city and from 2,000 feet it reads exactly like that — a wedge of chaparral and canyon pushed right up against the grid, with fire roads drawn across it.
Come south over the ridge and the coast opens. Will Rogers State Historic Park is the obvious green notch above the Palisades; the historic ranch house there was lost in the January 2025 fire, and from the air the burn footprint across the Palisades and Topanga is still plain — as is the regrowth, which is the thing residents watch for and which reads far more clearly from 2,000 feet than from any road. It is one of the reasons Palisades residents ask to fly this stretch.
Beyond it the Palisades bluffs drop straight to Pacific Coast Highway, and the shoreline runs north through Castellammare and Sunset Point to Malibu, Point Dume standing out into the water. Turn the other way and Santa Monica Bay is the whole left half of the windscreen, the Pier out on its legs and the beach running south to Venice. On a clear winter afternoon Catalina sits on the horizon.
Almost everyone finds their own roof on the first flight. The coastline and Sunset Boulevard are unmissable references, and from up there the whole thing is smaller than you expect.
Why Van Nuys Rather Than Anywhere Else
Van Nuys is a Class D tower-controlled field with parallel runways — 16R/34L is 8,001 feet — beneath the Burbank Class C, just north of the Los Angeles Class B, at a field elevation of 802 feet. It carries the deepest maintenance, avionics and fuel infrastructure of any general aviation field in the region, which matters enormously to an owner and is invisible to a student until something needs fixing. The Van Nuys Airport page covers the field; flight training at Van Nuys covers the airspace.
The other candidates for this catchment do not hold up as well. Hawthorne is a shorter drive but sits in a tight box directly beneath the LAX Class B, three and a half miles from the approach corridor. Torrance is further south and gets more marine-layer days a year. Camarillo is an excellent airport an hour up the 101, which quietly doubles the time cost of every lesson. Whiteman is smaller, higher, and the subject of an active Los Angeles County study of its own future. The full side-by-side is in the closure resource. For the Camarillo question on its own, see how Van Nuys and Camarillo compare for flight training.
And the unglamorous argument is still the strongest one: training rewards frequency. Twice a week produces a certificate faster and for less total money than once, because less of each hour goes to recovering what went stale. At 22 minutes from Brentwood, that is a schedule you can actually keep. We are open 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, seven days a week, which is what makes a 6:30 PM Wednesday lesson possible at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Far Is Van Nuys Airport From Brentwood?
About 13.5 miles and roughly 22 minutes off-peak. Take the 405 north over the Sepulveda Pass past the Getty, exit at Roscoe Blvd, then west to Balboa Blvd and south to 7900 Balboa Blvd, Main Terminal Unit 108, Van Nuys, CA 91406.
How Far Is It From Pacific Palisades?
About 17.6 miles and roughly 30 minutes. Sunset Boulevard east through the canyon to the 405 north, then the same run over the pass. Most of the extra time compared with Brentwood is Sunset, not the freeway.
How Much Is A Cirrus Discovery Flight?
$499 for 60 minutes, $649 for 90 and $799 for 120 for one flyer in the Cirrus SR22, or $599, $849 and $1,049 with a passenger. There is no tax and no booking fee — the listed price is the total you pay. Weight limits are 200 lb per person and 400 lb combined.
Should I Learn In The Cirrus Or A Standard Trainer?
Learn in the standard trainer unless you intend to own or routinely fly a Cirrus afterwards. Private Pilot Standard is $10,400 and earns exactly the same certificate. Adding the Cirrus SR22 Turbo to a package at +$400 per hour makes sense only if you will stay in type, and we will tell you honestly which you are at a free consultation.
Does Santa Monica Airport Closing Affect Brentwood And Palisades Pilots?
Yes, because KSMO has been the default field for these communities. It is scheduled to close on December 31, 2028 under a 2017 consent decree with the FAA, with the site planned as parkland. If you rent or base an aircraft there, the useful moves are getting checked out at a second field early and getting onto hangar waiting lists, since both cost little now and cannot be bought back later.
Can I Buy A Flight As A Gift?
Yes. Gift cards are available in any amount and can be applied to any discovery flight, the simulator or a training program. For a birthday, an anniversary or a company offsite we also run private group flights with several aircraft departing together.
What Do I Need To Bring To A First Flight?
Photo ID, and that is essentially it. No medical certificate and no experience are required for a discovery flight. You will need an FAA medical and a student pilot certificate before you fly solo, and we walk you through that paperwork well in advance.
Related Pages
- Santa Monica Airport Closure & Flight Training — timeline, transfers and field comparison.
- Flight School For Santa Monica — the 405 run from the coast.
- Cirrus SR22 — the aircraft, the panel and CAPS.
- Aircraft Rental At Van Nuys — the aircraft, package rates and checkout requirements.
- Groups And Events — private group and corporate flights.
- What Is A Discovery Flight? — what the first hour involves.
- Teen Flight Training — the $4,200 course for ages 10–15.
- Flight School In Los Angeles — every field in the metro, compared honestly.
- Flight School Near Encino — the first Valley community north of the pass.
- Flight School Near Sherman Oaks — the other side of the 405 climb.
- Service areas around Van Nuys — drive times from every neighborhood we serve.
Book Your First Flight From Brentwood Or The Palisades
You have driven the Sepulveda Pass more times than you can count. Twenty-two minutes over the top, on the other side of that ridge, there is an SR22 with your name on the schedule and the whole coast you already live on laid out beneath it. We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Main Terminal Unit 108, Van Nuys, CA 91406, open 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM daily.
Book A Discovery Flight — $229 Book A Free Consultation Call (818) 330-1318