You Fly LA operates from 7900 Balboa Blvd on Van Nuys Airport in Van Nuys, California, with a hangar and ramp for the training fleet, a classroom for the ground instruction built into every course, a Redbird MCX full-motion simulator, and a front office that is open from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM seven days a week. This page is a walk through all of it, so you know what you are booking before you drive out here.
If you want the wider story of who we are and how we price things, start with our about page. If you have already decided to visit, the practical detail is below, and you can call (818) 330-1318 to arrange a look around at a time when somebody is free to show you the airplanes properly.
The Airport, Which Decides Most Of It
A flight school's facilities are mostly the airport it sits on. Van Nuys, KVNY, is a Class D field with a full-time control tower, sitting under the shelf of the Los Angeles Class B airspace, and it is described by Los Angeles World Airports as one of the world's busiest general aviation airports. It has two parallel runways, and a road tunnel carries Sherman Way beneath the field.
| Feature | Detail | Why It Matters To A Student |
|---|---|---|
| Runway 16R/34L | 8,001 feet | Carries the jet and heavier traffic |
| Runway 16L/34R | 4,000 feet | The usual runway for light training aircraft |
| Airspace | Class D beneath the Los Angeles Class B shelf | You work a control tower from your first lesson |
| Tower | Full time | Radio discipline is trained, not optional |
| Our address | 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406 | On the Balboa Boulevard side of the field |
| Our hours | 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, seven days | Early and late slots have the smoothest air |
| Nearest alternatives | Whiteman 6 miles northeast, Burbank 11 miles east | Useful for cross-country training later |
Training at a busy towered field is harder for the first ten hours and better for every hour after that. A student who has spent fifty hours sequencing behind other traffic at Van Nuys is a calmer pilot on a first trip into a strange airport than one trained at a quiet strip. Our Van Nuys Airport page goes into the layout and the airspace in more detail.
Arriving, Parking And The First Fifteen Minutes
We are on the Balboa Boulevard side of the field, which is the western edge of the airport, and the drive in is the ordinary San Fernando Valley street grid rather than anything complicated. Allow more time than the map suggests, because Los Angeles traffic is not a rumor and a lesson that starts at 8:00 AM means leaving earlier than you think. If you are unsure where to leave the car when you arrive, call (818) 330-1318 before you set off and we will tell you exactly where to pull in.
Aim to be at the office fifteen minutes before your slot. That quarter of an hour is not padding: it is where identification gets checked, where weights go on the load sheet, and where you tell your instructor what you actually want out of the flight. A student who arrives five minutes late does not get a shorter briefing, they get a more rushed one, and the briefing is the part of the lesson that decides how much of the flight sticks.
The Hangar And The Ramp
The fleet lives partly in the hangar and partly on the ramp outside it. There are 20 airplanes in our fleet, and the training types you are most likely to meet are the Cessna 162 Skycatcher, the Piper Warrior PA-28-161, the Diamond DA20-C1, the Piper Arrow, the Piper Seminole twin and the Cirrus SR22 Turbo. Every one of them is on our fleet page with its tail numbers, avionics and hourly rate.
Two practical points about a hangar that people underestimate. The first is sun. Southern California destroys aircraft interiors, instrument faces and paint faster than almost anywhere else in the country, and an airplane that spends its nights indoors stays serviceable longer. The second is that a hangar is where maintenance actually gets looked at rather than deferred; if an aircraft is unserviceable you want it inside, being fixed, not parked on a ramp waiting for a slot.
The Classroom, And Why Ground Hours Are In Every Course
Every course we sell includes ground instruction, and the classroom is where most of it happens. The Sport Pilot course includes 10 hours of ground, the Private Pilot Standard course 3 hours, the Private Comprehensive course 10 hours, the Instrument course 10 hours, the Commercial course 30 hours and the Flight Instructor program 50 hours. Ground instruction on its own is $110 per hour, the same rate as instruction in the air.
What happens in there is not a lecture series. It is the weather briefing you could not make sense of, the cross-country plan you are about to fly, the systems questions an examiner will ask in an oral exam, and the written test preparation that most students leave too late. The ground school page sets out how we structure it around a working week.
The Simulator
We run a Redbird MCX, an FAA-approved advanced aviation training device with both single-engine and multi-engine profiles, plus a Redbird TD2 desktop trainer for procedures practice. The MCX moves: it is mounted on actuators that pitch and roll the cockpit with your control inputs, and it has wraparound visuals and aircraft-type controls rather than a desktop joystick.
| Device | Package $/hr | Retail $/hr | What It Counts For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Redbird MCX full-motion AATD | $120 | $200 | Up to 20 of the 40 instrument hours under 14 CFR 61.65; up to 50 creditable hours toward Commercial |
| Redbird TD2 desktop trainer | Free with packages | $90 | Procedures and flows practice |
| Simulator experience session | — | $189 | 60 minutes with an instructor, no weight limit, no medical needed |
The simulator is also the answer to a Los Angeles problem. Marine layer, low cloud and the occasional wind day will take flights off your calendar, and a student who treats a canceled lesson as a lost week loses momentum. An hour in the MCX on a day the airplane cannot fly keeps a syllabus moving and costs less than the aircraft. Our full-motion flight simulator page explains the device and what the motion actually contributes.
The Front Office
The office is where you check in, where the briefing before a discovery flight happens, and where the paperwork gets done. Mona is our office manager and Sophia is our student coordinator, and between them and the instructors, the phone is answered by somebody who has been on the ramp that day rather than by a call center. That matters most when you are asking whether the weather will hold or whether a slot has opened up.
Allow about two hours at the airport for a one-hour flight: ten minutes of arrival and paperwork, around twenty minutes of briefing, fifteen minutes of preflight inspection, the flight itself, and a debrief with the logbook entry at the end. Bring photo identification. Headsets are provided and there is no charge for them.
What We Do Not Have, And Why We Say So
Facilities pages are usually written as a list of things a school owns. The more useful version also says what is missing, because that is what changes whether a school suits you.
- We are not an FAA Part 141 pilot school. We train under Part 61. That is a real difference in how a syllabus is approved and audited, and it is set out plainly on our Part 61 versus Part 141 page.
- We do not issue I-20 forms. We cannot sponsor an M-1 student visa. Our international student pilots page explains which routes remain open.
- We have no student accommodation. Out-of-town students arrange their own, and our housing and transport guide sets out where to look and how to get to the field each day.
- There is no video walkthrough yet. The photographs on this page are the honest substitute until there is one.
Coming To See It
The photographs above are the honest version of a virtual tour: the ramp, the hangar, the simulator and the office as they actually look. The better tour is the one where you stand next to the airplane. Call (818) 330-1318 and ask for a time when an instructor can walk you round, or book a free consultation, which includes exactly that.
A few things worth asking on the day, whether you are visiting us or any other school: how many aircraft are actually flying this week, how many instructors are full-time, who signs your stage checks, and what the total cost looks like if the course runs ten hours long. Our list of questions to ask a flight school has the rest of them, and we are happy to be asked all of them.
Related Reading
- About You Fly LA — how we work and what we will talk you out of.
- Van Nuys Airport — the runways, the airspace and the traffic.
- Full-motion flight simulator — the Redbird MCX in detail.
- The airplanes you will fly — the fleet, tail by tail.
- Our flight instructors — who will be in the other seat.
- Contact and directions — address, hours and phone.
- Where our students fly now — what we will put on a graduate page, and what we will not.
- Workshops, open houses and safety seminars — the four event formats we run in the hangar.
- Press and media — brand facts, imagery and filming requests.
Facilities: Frequently Asked Questions
Where Exactly Is You Fly LA?
7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406, on Van Nuys Airport. We are open 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, seven days a week, and the phone number is (818) 330-1318.
Can I Visit Before I Book Anything?
Yes. Call ahead so we can put you with someone who has time to show you the airplanes and the simulator rather than catching us between lessons. A free consultation includes a look around.
Do You Have A Classroom?
Yes, and every course includes ground instruction hours in it, from 3 hours in the Private Pilot Standard course to 50 in the Flight Instructor program. Ground instruction on its own is $110 per hour.
What Simulator Do You Have?
A Redbird MCX full-motion FAA-approved advanced aviation training device with single- and multi-engine profiles, plus a Redbird TD2 desktop trainer. The MCX is $120 per hour inside a package and $200 retail.
How Many Aircraft Do You Operate?
There are 20 airplanes in our fleet, including Cessna 162 Skycatchers, Piper Warriors, Diamond DA20-C1s, a Piper Arrow, a Piper Seminole twin and a Cirrus SR22 Turbo.
Are The Aircraft Kept In The Hangar?
Partly. The fleet is split between the hangar and the ramp outside it. Hangar space protects interiors, instrument faces and paint from Southern California sun, and it is where maintenance is carried out.
How Long Should I Allow For A Visit?
Thirty minutes for a look around. About two hours if you are flying: arrival and paperwork, briefing, preflight, the flight itself and the debrief.
Is There Anywhere To Watch The Airport?
Van Nuys is a busy general aviation field and there is plenty to see from the public side of it. Ask us when you visit and we will point you at the best vantage points.
Come And See The Place
The quickest way to judge a flight school is to stand in its hangar and ask awkward questions. Call (818) 330-1318 between 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM any day, or book a free consultation and we will walk you round. If you would rather start in the air, a 60-minute discovery flight is $229 and is credited in full toward training if you enroll within 24 hours. We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406.