(818) 399-9905 · Open 9 AM–9 PM, 7 Days a Week · ★★★★★ 4.9 · 500+ Reviews · Van Nuys Airport
The steps to get a pilot license are simpler than most people expect: one intro flight, a quick medical exam, structured lessons, two FAA tests — done. Here is the full sequence, in order, from the team at LA Flight School at Van Nuys Airport.
Every private pilot in America has walked the same basic path. What changes from person to person is pace, not order. Below is the sequence exactly as it will unfold for you in Los Angeles — no filler, no mystery.
Before you commit to anything, fly. A discovery flight puts you in the left seat with an instructor beside you, and the hour counts toward your license.
Look for instructor availability, a well-maintained fleet, and honest pricing. Our pricing page shows every program cost up front.
U.S. citizens simply show a passport or birth certificate; non-citizens complete a TSA flight-training security check online. Your student pilot certificate application takes minutes through the FAA's IACRA system.
A third-class medical from an Aviation Medical Examiner clears you for solo flight. Most students pass in one visit — our FAA medical certificate guide covers the whole process.
Knowledge and stick-and-rudder skill grow fastest side by side. You'll learn weather, airspace, and aerodynamics while you practice climbs, turns, and landings over the San Fernando Valley.
Somewhere around 15–25 hours, your instructor steps out and you fly the pattern alone. It's a supervised, carefully earned milestone — and a day you will never forget.
The FAA knowledge test is 60+ multiple-choice questions with a 70% passing score. Study steadily through training and it never becomes a roadblock.
Longer solo trips to new airports, plus night flying over the glittering LA basin, round out the FAA's experience requirements.
An oral exam plus a flight test with an FAA-designated examiner. Pass both and you leave the airport a private pilot — usually with your temporary certificate in hand that afternoon.
You don't need to map the entire journey before takeoff. Three moves get momentum going: schedule an intro flight, verify your paperwork situation, and book the medical exam. Everything after that, your instructor sequences for you.
Wondering whether you qualify at all? Skim our pilot license requirements page — if you're 17 or older (16 to solo), speak English, and can pass a routine physical, the FAA has a seat for you.
Fundamentals first: taxiing, takeoffs, climbs, turns, slow flight, and landing after landing until they're smooth. Every lesson follows the same rhythm — brief, fly, debrief.
Now you're navigating: planning routes, talking to SoCal air traffic control, and flying solo trips to airports like Camarillo and Santa Barbara.
Maneuvers polished to FAA standards, mock oral exams, and a final review. Your instructor signs you off only when you're flying above the bar.
Between aircraft lessons, our Redbird MCX full-motion simulator lets you rehearse radio calls, emergency procedures, and instrument scans without burning avgas. Students who mix simulator sessions into their training typically reach solo and checkride readiness in fewer total aircraft hours — which means real savings. Curious what the whole journey costs? See how much a pilot license costs, or explore the bigger picture in how to become a pilot.
One flight over Los Angeles will tell you more than a hundred articles. Climb into the left seat at Van Nuys Airport and start your logbook.
Real students, real first flights, real ratings — straight from Google and Yelp.
The fastest way to know if the left seat is for you is to stand on the flight line. Book a free consultation — or reach us whichever way you like.
Tour the school, meet your instructors, sit in the cockpit, and leave with a personal training plan and exact pricing. Your Discovery Flight fee is credited toward training when you enroll within 24 hours.
One minute, a few details, fast answers from a real person on our team.
