Full-Motion Flight Simulator Experience (60 Minutes)
Full-Motion Flight Simulator Experience (60 Minutes)
An hour at the controls of an FAA-approved Redbird full-motion simulator at Van Nuys Airport, with an FAA-certificated instructor in the seat beside you. The platform moves. The scenery wraps around you. And unlike an airplane, it has a pause button.
This is the session to book when the weather is doing something unhelpful, when somebody in the party is nervous about small airplanes, or when you want to try the controls before committing to a flight. It is also the only thing we sell with no weight limit at all, which matters to more people than you would guess.
What It Actually Is
A full-motion simulator is not a game and not a screen on a desk. It is an enclosed cockpit on a motion platform that pitches, rolls and yaws to reproduce the cues your body expects — the push in the seat on takeoff, the settle in a turn. The controls are real hardware, laid out where they live in the airplane, and because the device is FAA-approved the time is loggable.
What makes it useful as a first lesson is control. Your instructor sets the weather: fly the same approach in clear evening air, then again in fog. Freeze it mid-air, talk about what happened, run it again from the same point. No airplane will ever let you do that.
The Route Of Flight
You are not restricted to a route — that is part of the point — but most first sessions run something like this.
| Segment | What You Do |
|---|---|
| Briefing | Roughly twenty-five minutes: controls, instruments, the plan, your questions |
| Takeoff | Line up and fly it yourself, instructor alongside |
| Air work | Climbs, descents, level turns, holding heading and altitude |
| Circuits and landings | Repeat the approach as often as you like — repositioning is instant |
| Weather on demand | The same approach again in fog, crosswind or at night |
| Debrief | What went well, what to work on, what a real flight adds |
What The Number Buys
$189 covers the simulator and the instructor. Nothing is added at the desk.
- The Simulator — An FAA-approved Redbird on a full-motion platform, indoors at Van Nuys Airport.
- The Briefing — About twenty-five minutes before you fly, covering the controls, the instruments and the plan.
- Sixty Minutes In The Seat — The stated hour is time at the controls, running the scenario.
- An FAA-Certificated Instructor — Beside you for the whole session, teaching and running the scenario rather than watching a screen.
- The Pause Button — Freeze it, discuss it, fly it again. The machine's biggest teaching advantage.
- A Signed Logbook Entry — Your instructor signs the session in your logbook.
- Time Toward A License — Approved simulator time counts toward FAA requirements, and your instructor will explain exactly how the hours apply to the certificate or rating you are after.
One Quick Check Before You Book
There is no weight limit on the simulator. None. If a weight limit is what has been standing between you and a discovery flight, this is the session to book — and if you would still rather fly the real airplane, call (818) 330-1318 before you book anything and we will talk through the options with you. There is often a way to make an airplane work.
The simulator is never canceled by weather. Rain, wind, fog and heat make no difference to a machine that is indoors — your instructor can dial that weather in deliberately if it is useful. Our weather and cancellation policy still applies for rescheduling: free up to 24 hours before.
Who This Suits
Nervous flyers, because nothing leaves the ground. Anybody who wants to try the controls before booking a flight. Parents and kids who want an hour that does not depend on the marine layer. People who cannot meet an airplane's weight limit. And anyone thinking seriously about training, because it makes the first real lesson go much better.
Cleared For Departure
Book online or call us — 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week, at Van Nuys Airport. Your confirmation carries the address, the parking and who to ask for. No medical certificate, no experience, nothing to bring.
Useful reading first: what to expect on your discovery flight, our discovery flight FAQ, and flying out of Van Nuys Airport. If the simulator is a warm-up for the real thing, the airplanes you would fly next are the Piper Warrior PA-28-161, the Cirrus SR22 and the Diamond DA20-C1.
The Flights In The Air
- Discovery Flight In Los Angeles — sixty minutes, one seat, $229.
- Discovery Flight For Two Over Downtown Los Angeles — sixty minutes, two seats, $299.
- Malibu Coast Discovery Flight For Two — ninety minutes to Point Dume and back, $399.
- Luxury Cirrus SR22 Discovery Flight — glass panel and leather seats, $499 ($599 with a passenger).
Book The Simulator Hour
Sixty minutes in a full-motion Redbird with an instructor, $189, never canceled by weather. Call 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week. It also makes an easy present — a flight gift certificate works for the simulator or for any of the flights.
Call (818) 330-1318