Overview
There is no flight school in Simi Valley because there is no airport in Simi Valley. The nearest one is You Fly LA at Van Nuys Airport — 20.7 miles east on the 118, roughly 31 minutes, at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Main Terminal Unit 108, Van Nuys, CA 91406.
Simi Valley has about 125,634 residents and a median household income near $122,100, and not one runway, strip or based aircraft inside the city limits. It is the largest, best-off community in the region with no aviation infrastructure of any kind. The compensation is the drive: the 118 is the quietest freeway approach to this airport from any direction. South over the 23, the Conejo Valley communities have their own write-up — see flight school in Westlake Village. For a first flight rather than a course, see the Thousand Oaks discovery flight page.
The 118 East Is The Easiest Drive To Van Nuys Airport
Every other city we serve negotiates something — the Sepulveda Pass, the Newhall Pass, the Conejo Grade, the 101 through Woodland Hills. Simi Valley has the Ronald Reagan Freeway.
The route. Pick up the 118 eastbound anywhere from Madera Road to Kuehner Drive. Climb through the Santa Susana Pass, Rocky Peak on your left and the Simi Hills on your right, and drop into Chatsworth. Run east across the top of the San Fernando Valley — Topanga Canyon, De Soto, Tampa, Reseda — and exit at Balboa Blvd in Granada Hills. Turn right, head south five miles through Northridge past Cal State Northridge, and the airport is at 7900 Balboa, just below Roscoe.
The timing. Off-peak it is 26 to 31 minutes. Eastbound between 7:00 and 9:00 am it thickens from Tapo Canyon through Chatsworth; budget 40 to 50. That is still the mildest peak of any approach to this airport, for a structural reason: eastbound 118 traffic gets heavy where it meets the 405 and the 5, and you exit at Balboa several miles before that interchange. You never touch the congested half of the freeway.
One local detail. Balboa through the Sepulveda Basin closes after heavy rain, which plagues students approaching from the 101 — coming south from the 118 you stop at Roscoe, north of the basin, so it has never cost a Simi student a lesson.
The Nearest Airports To Simi Valley, Ranked Honestly
Van Nuys (KVNY), 20.7 miles east. A towered Class D field with two parallel runways and the largest concentration of training aircraft, instructors and maintenance in Southern California. One freeway, one exit, one turn.
Camarillo (KCMA), roughly the same distance west. A good airport reached badly: 118 west to the 23 south to the 101 west, two freeway transitions for the same mileage. It also sits at 77 feet on the Oxnard Plain, which matters in late spring. The two fields are compared properly in Van Nuys vs Camarillo for flight training.
Whiteman (KWHP) in Pacoima. Closer to east Simi in miles, but a small single-runway field with a fraction of the fleet depth. Availability, not mileage, decides how quickly anyone finishes. For the region-wide comparison see our Los Angeles flight school guide; for the field itself, Van Nuys Airport.
Simi Valley From The Air
A north-westerly departure from Van Nuys climbs over Granada Hills and Porter Ranch, crosses the Santa Susanas, and puts Simi Valley under the nose in eight or nine minutes at trainer speeds.
The first thing you notice is the shape of it. Simi Valley is a true valley — flat floor, hard mountain wall on both sides — and from three thousand feet the whole city reads at once, boundary to boundary, in a way Los Angeles never does. The Santa Susana Pass is the gap you just drove through, and seeing it from above is the moment the geography clicks: a narrow, sandstone-choked notch with the freeway, the old road and the rail line crammed in together. Corriganville sits at its mouth on the Simi side, and from the air you can see why a location scout picked it in the 1930s — a canyon opening straight out of raw rock. Further west, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is the easiest visual fix in Ventura County: a long white building alone on a green ridge above Wood Ranch.
A Valley With More Aviation History Than It Advertises
Inside the Reagan Library is the Air Force One Pavilion, holding SAM 27000 — the Boeing VC-137C, a military 707, that carried Reagan and six other presidents, displayed banking behind a glass wall with its nose out over the valley. Most people in Simi Valley have stood underneath it. Few have then gone and flown an airplane themselves, which is a strange gap for a city that keeps a presidential jet on a hill.
The other landmark is the ridge between Simi and the west Valley, where Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Field Laboratory sat. The engines that flew Atlas, Delta and Saturn were test-fired up there, and the terraced pads cut into the hills above Box Canyon are still visible from the air. Simi Valley did not just watch the space program on television.
Neighborhoods And ZIP Codes We Serve
93063 covers the east side — Santa Susana Knolls, Indian Hills, the Texas Tract, Big Sky and the Alamo Street corridor. These are the closest addresses to the airport; Santa Susana Knolls is inside twenty-five minutes off-peak because you start at the mouth of the pass. 93065 covers central and west Simi — the Town Center, Sinaloa, Mountain View, Woodside and Wood Ranch, with Wood Ranch adding five or six minutes. 93021 Moorpark is comfortably in range for weekend slots.
Drive Times From Simi Valley
| From | Distance | Off-Peak | Weekday AM Peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Susana Knolls (93063) | 17.5 mi | 23–27 min | 34–44 min |
| Big Sky (93063) | 19.5 mi | 26–30 min | 38–48 min |
| Simi Valley Town Center (93065) | 20.7 mi | 26–31 min | 40–50 min |
| Wood Ranch (93065) | 23.5 mi | 31–36 min | 45–56 min |
| Moorpark (93021) | 27.5 mi | 36–42 min | 50–65 min |
Weekends are the outlier in Simi Valley's favor: on a Sunday morning the eastbound 118 is close to empty and the Town Center to the airport gate is a flat 26 minutes.
Weather, And The Thing That Catches Simi Students Out
Simi Valley and Van Nuys are twenty miles apart and have different mornings in May and June. The marine layer pushes into the San Fernando Valley overnight and can sit until ten or eleven, while Simi — a bowl behind two ridges — is often in clear sun the whole time. Students leave home under blue sky and arrive to a 900-foot ceiling. Call before you set off in late spring; our weather and cancellation policy explains how we reschedule, and you are never charged for a flight we cannot fly.
Summer runs the other way. Van Nuys sits at 802 feet, and on a 100°F afternoon the density altitude works out close to 3,700 feet — longer takeoff roll, slower climb. From June to September, morning slots simply fly better.
Programs And Prices
Since Simi Valley has nowhere local to begin, here is the whole ladder in one place. Every figure is the total: our booking products carry no sales tax and no booking fee, so a $229 discovery flight costs $229.
| Program | Detail | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery Flight | 60 / 90 / 120 min | $229 / $299 / $399 |
| Discovery Flight For Two | Downtown LA or Malibu Coast | $299 / $399 / $499 |
| Full-Motion Simulator | 60 min | $189 |
| Sport Pilot | certificate | $8,400 |
| Private Pilot — Standard | 40 hr | $10,400 |
| Private Pilot — Comprehensive | 60 hr | $15,400 |
| Instrument Rating | rating | $11,700 |
| Commercial Pilot | certificate | $15,400 |
| Multi-Engine Rating | 7 days | $5,100 |
| Aircraft, per hour | standard | $179 |
| Instructor, per hour | flight or ground | $110 |
A private pilot certificate needs 40 hours minimum under Part 61 or 35 under Part 141, and most people fly more. See flight school cost in Los Angeles for the realistic total and private pilot license training for the certificate itself. For the certificate ladder end to end, see our page on pilot school options in Los Angeles.
How Simi Valley Students Usually Schedule
A two-hour block — brief, fly, debrief — costs about three hours door to door, a normal weekday commitment rather than an expedition. We are open 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, seven days a week, so the only real advice is to dodge the eastbound morning peak: a 10:00 am or 1:00 pm weekday slot, or anything at the weekend. To move faster, see accelerated flight training; to find out whether it suits you, start with a discovery flight.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Far Is Van Nuys Airport From Simi Valley?
About 20.7 miles, roughly 31 minutes. Take the 118 east through the Santa Susana Pass, exit at Balboa Blvd in Granada Hills, and drive south five miles to 7900 Balboa Blvd. Off-peak it is 26 to 31 minutes; in the morning peak, 40 to 50.
Is There An Airport Or Flight School In Simi Valley?
No. Simi Valley has no airport of any kind — no runway, no strip, no based aircraft. It is the largest city in the region with no aviation infrastructure at all, which is why residents drive east to Van Nuys.
Is The 118 Really Easier Than The Other Routes To Van Nuys?
Yes, for a specific reason. Eastbound 118 traffic builds where it meets the 405 and the 5, and you exit at Balboa several miles before that interchange. You also avoid the Sepulveda Pass, the Newhall Pass and the 101 through Woodland Hills entirely.
Should I Train At Camarillo Instead?
From Simi Valley, Camarillo means 118 west to the 23 south to the 101 west — two freeway transitions for roughly the same mileage. It also sits at 77 feet on the Oxnard Plain, so in May and June it stays under the marine layer on mornings when Van Nuys has already cleared.
Can I Fly Over The Reagan Library?
We can route past it at normal cruising altitude, and it is easy to see and photograph from the air. We do not make low passes over it, and temporary flight restrictions are occasionally published around major events there, which we check before every flight.
What Will I See From The Airplane On A Flight Over Simi Valley?
The Santa Susana Pass and Rocky Peak, Corriganville at the mouth of the pass, the whole valley floor framed by the Simi Hills and the Santa Susanas, the Reagan Library alone on its ridge above Wood Ranch, and the old Rocketdyne test terraces above Box Canyon.
What Does A First Flight Cost, And Are There Fees On Top?
Sixty minutes is $229, ninety is $299 and two hours is $399. There is no sales tax and no booking fee — $229 is the total. You fly the airplane yourself with an FAA-certificated instructor in the right seat, and the time logs toward your certificate.
Related Pages
- Flight School Near Woodland Hills — the next community along the corridor.
- What Is A Discovery Flight — what happens in that first hour.
- Full-Motion Flight Simulator — the Redbird, $120 an hour, weather-proof.
- Teen Flight Training — the course for ages 10 to 15.
- Flight School Near Chatsworth — the first Valley community east of the pass.
- Flight School Near West Hills — south-east once you are through the hills.
- Flight School Near Thousand Oaks — the other side of the county line.
- Service areas around Van Nuys — drive times from every neighborhood we serve.
Book Your First Flight From Simi Valley
Drive the 118 once and find out whether this is actually for you. We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Main Terminal Unit 108, Van Nuys, CA 91406, open 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM every day, and the listed price is the whole price.
Book A Discovery Flight — $229 Book A Free Consultation Call (818) 330-1318