Luxury Cirrus SR22 Discovery Flight (90 Minutes)
Luxury Cirrus SR22 Discovery Flight (90 Minutes)
Your Time In The Airplane
minutes in the airplane.
Exactly that, every time.
Also 60 min ($499) and 120 min ($799) — each is time in the airplane.
Your visit, start to finish · about 2½ hours
- Check-in, then a briefing of about 5 min
- Walk-around with your instructor
- In the airplane, 90 min
- Logbook and wrap-up
Booking Is Fully Automatic
- Book Online. Only open times show on the calendar.
- Text + Email. Confirmation the moment you pay.
- Book In Advance. Weekends and sunsets go first.
Ninety minutes over Los Angeles in a Cirrus SR22: glass panel, leather seats, air conditioning, a side yoke and a parachute built into the airframe. You fly it with an FAA-certificated instructor in the right seat: $649 for one flyer. Bring a passenger for $200 more and they ride along with a headset, hearing everything.
Two things separate this from the sixty-minute Cirrus flight. The coast, first: ninety minutes crosses the Santa Monica Mountains and gets you over Santa Monica Bay and up the shoreline toward Malibu, which the hour does not. And the SR22 is fast, covering more ground per minute than a trainer, so ninety minutes here reaches further than ninety minutes in a Warrior.
The Airplane
The SR22 is a modern high-performance single that feels closer to a well-made car than a trainer.
- Glass Panel — Large flight displays instead of round dials, moving map in front of you.
- Side Yoke — A control at the side of the seat rather than a column between your knees.
- Leather And Air Conditioning — Which matters on a Valley afternoon.
- CAPS — A whole-airframe parachute system, standard on the Cirrus.
- Speed — More miles for the same minutes, which makes the coastal leg comfortable rather than rushed.
Detail on the airframe, panel and parachute is on our Cirrus specifications reference.
The Route Of Flight
You depart Van Nuys over the Sepulveda Basin and climb to the Mulholland ridge. Cross it and the city arrives at once: the Hollywood Sign, Griffith Observatory, the LA River east past Dodger Stadium, the downtown towers at 2,500 to 3,500 feet. Then west across the Santa Monica Mountains and out over Santa Monica Bay, up the shoreline toward Malibu, then inland for home.
| Leg | What You See |
|---|---|
| Sepulveda Basin and Mulholland ridge | The departure climb, then the city all at once |
| Hollywood Sign and Griffith Observatory | The angle no hiking trail gives you |
| LA River and downtown | The channel east, then the towers at 2,500 to 3,500 feet |
| Santa Monica Bay and the pier | The shoreline from the seaward side |
| Malibu and the run home | Surf line, then back over the canyons to Van Nuys |
Air traffic control and weather shape the exact track, and ninety minutes leaves room to adjust it in the air. Sunset slots are the ones people ask for.
What The Number Buys
$649 covers you, the airplane, the fuel and the instructor. A passenger is $200 more ($849 for the two of you). Nothing is added at the desk.
- Room For A Passenger — Add one for $200: they ride along on the intercom, hearing the instruction and the radio calls. Instructor plus two is our maximum.
- The Pre-Flight Briefing — About five minutes on the ground, including an introduction to the panel. A passenger sits in on it too.
- The Walk-Around — The full pre-flight inspection, done with your instructor.
- Ninety Minutes Of Flight Time — Flight time, not time at the airport. Allow about two and a half hours end to end.
- An FAA-Certificated Instructor — In the right seat throughout, teaching and working the radios.
- More Time At The Controls — The real difference from the hour: you fly the city legs, the crossing to the coast and the coastal run, with time to try climbs, descents and turns.
- A Signed Logbook Entry — Dated, with the airplane and the time: a 1.5-hour first entry.
- Time Toward A Private Pilot License — Every minute counts toward a private pilot license.
This flight is normally flown in a Cirrus SR22 rather than guaranteed in a specific airframe on a specific day.
One Quick Check Before You Book
The Cirrus SR22 has a 200 lb per person limit and a 400 lb combined limit — more generous than our Piper Warrior flights, but still a weight and balance calculation we have to do. If you or your passenger is near the limit, or you are not sure, call (818) 330-1318 before you book and we will sort it out. There is usually an option, and it is easier to find on the phone than at the airport.
Free rescheduling up to 24 hours before, and if the weather says no, you do not pay. See our weather and cancellation policy.
Cleared For Departure
Book online, or call and we will find a slot with you, including a sunset one. We fly seven days a week, 10 AM to 7 PM, from Van Nuys Airport. Your confirmation carries the address, the parking and who to ask for.
Worth reading: what to expect, our FAQ, flying out of Van Nuys Airport, and discovery flights in Los Angeles.
Shorter Or Longer
- Luxury Cirrus SR22 Discovery Flight (60 Minutes) — the city route in the same airplane, $499 for one flyer.
- Luxury Cirrus SR22 Discovery Flight (120 Minutes) — the full coast to Point Dume, most hands-on time we offer, $799 for one flyer.
- Discovery Flight For Two (90 Minutes) — ninety minutes in a Piper Warrior, $399.
Book The Ninety-Minute Cirrus Flight
Ninety minutes in a Cirrus SR22: $649 all in for one flyer, $849 with a passenger. Call 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days, and ask about sunset timing. Giving it to someone? A flight gift certificate lets them choose the date.
Call (818) 330-1318The Route
An Hour Over Los Angeles, Landmark By Landmark
Sixty minutes out of Van Nuys Airport: past Universal Studios, the Hollywood Sign and Griffith Observatory, one full circle around Downtown LA, then west along the north side of SoFi Stadium and LAX to the coast, up the shoreline from Venice Beach to Malibu and home over the hills. Your instructor takes off and lands. You fly 50–80% of it.
- About 1 Hour From Van Nuys
- You Fly 50–80%
- From $229 All-In
- No Experience Needed
The San Fernando Valley Over The Wing 01Instructor Takeoff
Van Nuys Airport
Takeoff From Van Nuys
Your instructor handles the takeoff from Van Nuys, one of the busiest general aviation airports anywhere, and explains what is happening the whole way up. Clear of the pattern, you take the controls.
Universal Studios Hollywood From The Air 02You’re Flying
Universal Studios
The Studio Lots From Above
Your first landmark, only a few minutes out. From the air the studio lots are a small city of soundstages and backlots, with the theme park perched on the hill above the freeway.
The Hollywood Sign On Mount Lee 03You’re Flying
Hollywood Sign
Level With The Letters
You fly past the Hollywood Sign close to the height of the letters, a view that belongs to pilots, with the radio tower on the summit and the San Gabriel Mountains beyond.
Griffith Observatory From The Air 04You’re Flying
Griffith Observatory
The White Domes Over The Basin
Griffith Observatory sits on its ridge in Griffith Park with the entire Los Angeles basin spread out behind it, all the way to the ocean on a clear day.
Circling The Downtown Towers 05You’re Flying
Downtown LA
One Full Circle Around The Towers
You come in from the south and fly one complete counterclockwise circle around the Downtown skyline, so the towers pass off your wing from every side with the mountains behind them.
SoFi Stadium From Just North 06You’re Flying
SoFi Stadium
The Stadium Off Your Left Wing
The route passes just north of SoFi Stadium and never crosses over it. The translucent roof of the Rams and Chargers home slides past your left wing.
LAX From The North Side 07You’re Flying
LAX
Airliners On Approach Beside You
Off your left wing, airliners line up on final for LAX, one of the busiest airports on Earth. You stay north of the airport the whole time and never fly over it.
Venice Beach Over The Wing 08You’re Flying
Venice Beach
Turn Right At The Ocean
The boardwalk, the skate park and the wide beach, then a right turn to follow the shoreline north with Santa Monica Bay opening up ahead of you.
Santa Monica Pier From The Air 09You’re Flying
Santa Monica Pier
The Ferris Wheel Below
The pier and its Ferris wheel go by beneath you with surf breaking along the beach, a scene from a hundred films, now seen from your own airplane.
The Malibu Coast At Sunset 10You’re Flying
Malibu
Where The Mountains Meet The Sea
You follow the coast past Pacific Palisades to Malibu, where the Santa Monica Mountains fall straight into the Pacific and Pacific Coast Highway traces the shore.
Back Across The San Fernando Valley 11You’re Flying
Warner Center
Back Over The Hills
A turn north over the Santa Monica Mountains brings you to Warner Center in Woodland Hills, then east across the San Fernando Valley with Van Nuys lined up ahead.
12Instructor Landing
Back At Van Nuys
Your Instructor Lands, Then You Debrief
Bring a pilot logbook and your instructor signs your first entry. Enroll in a course within 24 hours and the full cost of your flight is credited toward your training.
Book This Flight
Typical route, flown without landing anywhere but Van Nuys. Weather and air traffic control set the final path on the day.