Our summer flight camp in Los Angeles is the Teens Pilot Course flown as a school-holiday intensive from Van Nuys Airport: 10 hours of flight time, 3 hours in the full-motion simulator and 7 hours of classroom ground school for $4,200, for ages 10 to 15. It is not a day camp with a plane visit at the end. Every flight hour is real dual instruction with a certificated flight instructor, logged in a logbook that stays with your child for the rest of their flying life.
Run in the summer, the course compresses into a small number of weeks instead of trailing across a school year, which is exactly the rhythm flight training likes. The wider picture of how teenagers train with us, including what happens after this course, is on our teen flight training page. This page is about the summer version: how the days are structured, what a 10-hour block actually teaches, and what to ask before you book any aviation camp.
What Is Included, Hour By Hour
| Component | Hours | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Flight time in the aircraft | 10 | Dual instruction with a CFI, hands on the controls from the first lesson |
| Full-motion simulator | 3 | Redbird MCX: procedures, radio work and emergencies without burning fuel |
| Classroom ground school | 7 | Aerodynamics, weather, navigation, aircraft systems, communications, emergencies |
| Total program | 20 | All instruction, books and materials included |
| Price | $4,200, payable $2,500 up front and $1,700 at the midpoint | |
Twenty hours of instruction is a serious block for a teenager. For comparison, the FAA minimum for a sport pilot certificate is 20 hours of flight time and for a private pilot certificate it is 40 hours under 14 CFR 61.109. A camp of this length does not produce a certificate — nobody's does — but it produces a young person who can fly the airplane straight and level, climb, descend, turn, talk on the radio and read a sectional chart, with the hours logged toward whatever comes next.
How A Summer Day Runs
Flight training is not a classroom subject you can sit through for eight hours. A typical camp day pairs one flight lesson with a ground or simulator session, because the cognitive load of an hour in the air is high and the learning consolidates in the debrief afterwards rather than in more flying.
- Preflight briefing. What today's lesson covers, what the weather is doing, what the airspace looks like. Twenty to thirty minutes.
- Walkaround. Your child inspects the aircraft with the instructor, using the checklist, every single time. This is where a lot of the safety culture is actually taught.
- The flight. Roughly an hour, including taxi, run-up, departure from a Class D airport under the Los Angeles Class B shelf, the lesson itself out over the Valley or the Santa Monica Mountains, and the return.
- Debrief. What went well, what to fix, what comes next, written in the logbook.
- Ground or simulator block. Either classroom theory or a simulator session drilling the thing that was hardest in the air.
Morning slots are better in a Los Angeles summer. The air is smoother before the heating of the day builds thermals and the afternoon sea breeze pushes in, and a smoother airplane is a better classroom for a nervous first-timer. We will schedule around that where we can.
What Ten Hours Of Flying Actually Teaches
Parents reasonably ask what a child can learn in ten hours. The honest answer is: more than you would expect, and less than a certificate.
Hours One To Three
The four fundamentals: straight and level, climbs, descents, turns. Controlling the aircraft in pitch, roll and yaw, and understanding that the airplane is trimmed rather than held. Most students are flying the aircraft themselves, with the instructor's hands off, within the first hour.
Hours Four To Six
Airspeed control, slow flight, the beginning of stall awareness and recovery, and the traffic pattern. Radio work starts in earnest here, which for a lot of teenagers is the hardest and most rewarding part of the course.
Hours Seven To Ten
Takeoffs and landings, repeated. Ground reference maneuvers. Simulated engine failure drills at altitude. By the end of the block a focused 14-year-old is flying a competent circuit and making a reasonable landing with the instructor guarding the controls.
The Seven Classroom Hours, Subject By Subject
The ground school is not filler between flights. It is the half of flying that happens on the ground, and it is where a teenager stops being a passenger with their hands on the yoke and starts being a pilot.
- Aerodynamics. Why a wing produces lift, what angle of attack is, why an aircraft stalls and why it has nothing to do with the engine. This is the lesson that changes how a student flies.
- Weather. Reading a METAR and a TAF, what a marine layer does to a Los Angeles morning, how thermals build over the Valley in the afternoon, and when the correct decision is not to fly.
- Navigation. Sectional charts, pilotage, the compass, and how a landmark-rich basin like ours makes navigation unusually visual.
- Aircraft systems. The engine, the fuel system, the electrical system and the flight instruments, to the level where a student can explain what each gauge is telling them.
- Communications. Phraseology, the Van Nuys tower and ground frequencies, and how to make a clear radio call under pressure. Most teenagers find this the hardest thing in the course and the most satisfying to master.
- Emergencies. Engine failure procedure, the best glide speed, choosing a field, and the habit of flying the aircraft first.
Why Van Nuys Suits A Summer Course
Southern California summer weather is the most reliable training weather in the country, which is precisely why a compressed course works here and would not work in a lot of places. Days lost to weather are rare, and a camp that has to reschedule half its flights stops being a camp.
Van Nuys is a Class D tower airport sitting under the Los Angeles Class B shelf, with two parallel runways and a great deal of traffic. That sounds intimidating and is actually an advantage: a student who learns to talk to a busy tower from lesson one becomes a confident radio operator far faster than one trained at a quiet field. What they fly over is not bad either — the Sepulveda Basin, the Santa Monica Mountains, Mulholland, and the coast within a short hop. Our page on flying out of Van Nuys Airport describes the airspace and the scenery in detail.
Age, Solo And What Comes Next
The FAA sets the ages, and no camp can move them. Under 14 CFR 61.83 a student pilot certificate for airplanes requires you to be at least 16, and a student pilot may not fly solo without one. Under 14 CFR 61.103 a private pilot certificate requires you to be at least 17. There is no minimum age to receive instruction or to log dual time, which is why a 10-year-old can start and why every hour they log now counts later.
The practical sequence for a family therefore looks like this.
| Age | What is possible | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Any age | Fly dual with an instructor and log the time | No FAA minimum for dual instruction |
| 10 to 15 | Teens Pilot Course, this summer camp | Our own age range |
| 16 | Student pilot certificate, and first solo | 14 CFR 61.83; solo requirements in 61.87 |
| 17 | Private pilot certificate | 14 CFR 61.103 |
A child who does this camp at 13 and keeps flying occasionally can realistically solo on their sixteenth birthday and hold a private pilot certificate at 17, before they can legally rent a car. Our page on how old you have to be to be a pilot covers every age threshold including the commercial and airline certificates.
Medicals, Weight And Practicalities
No medical certificate is needed to fly dual with an instructor, so nothing stands between your child and this course. A medical certificate under 14 CFR 61.23 becomes necessary before solo flight, which is a conversation for age 16, not now. If there is a known condition in the family, our page on FAA medical certificates in Los Angeles explains how to find out early rather than late.
On weight: our single-seat-flying discovery products carry a 180 lb limit per person, and for training aircraft the instructor will confirm weight and balance for each specific aircraft and student pairing. Teenagers who are tall for their age are usually fine; call the office and we will check against the aircraft rather than guessing. Bring a bottle of water, sunglasses, closed shoes and a hat. Headsets are provided.
What To Ask Any Aviation Summer Camp
There is a wide gap between programs that look similar from a website. Four questions separate them.
- How many hours of actual flight time, in an aircraft, with the child at the controls? Some camps advertise a week of aviation activities and include one 30-minute ride. Ours is 10 hours of dual instruction.
- Is the time logged, and does the child leave with a logbook? Logged dual time counts toward a certificate later. An unlogged sightseeing ride does not.
- Who teaches it? Ask whether the instruction is given by a certificated flight instructor throughout, or by camp counselors with a CFI only for the flying.
- What is the student-to-instructor ratio in the air? In our aircraft it is one to one. It cannot be anything else.
Ask what happens if the weather cancels a day, and whether the price includes books and materials. Ours does. Our weather and cancellation policy sets out how we reschedule.
Is Your Child Ready For This?
The honest indicators are attention span and interest, not age or maturity in general. A 10-year-old who can concentrate for a 40-minute briefing and wants to be there will do better than a bored 15-year-old whose parents booked it for them. Airsickness is uncommon on a smooth morning and manageable if it happens; tell the instructor beforehand rather than after.
The cheapest way to find out is to fly once first. A discovery flight is $229 for 60 minutes, and if the course is booked within 24 hours the full $229 comes off the $4,200. If your teenager comes back from that hour talking about nothing else, book the camp.
Dates And Booking
Summer camp dates for the coming year are set by the office rather than published on a fixed calendar, because we schedule around instructor and aircraft availability and around the school holidays our families actually have. Call (818) 330-1318 to be told the current dates and to hold a place. Places are limited by the number of instructors and aircraft available in any given week, and summer mornings fill first.
Related Reading
- Teen flight training in Los Angeles — the full picture of how teenagers train with us.
- A parent's guide to teen flight training — safety, supervision, cost and how to say no.
- How old do you have to be to be a pilot? — every FAA age threshold.
- Flight lessons for kids in Los Angeles — for younger children and one-off flights.
- The full-motion simulator — where three of the twenty hours are flown.
- Aviation scholarships — youth awards worth applying for.
Summer Flight Camp FAQ
What Ages Is The Summer Flight Camp For?
The Teens Pilot Course is for ages 10 to 15. There is no FAA minimum age for flying dual with an instructor, so younger children can fly with us on a discovery flight, and students aged 16 and over move onto the standard training packages.
How Much Does The Summer Flight Camp Cost?
$4,200 for the full program: 10 hours of flight time, 3 hours in the full-motion simulator and 7 hours of classroom ground school, with books and materials included. It is payable $2,500 up front and $1,700 at the midpoint.
Does My Child Actually Fly The Airplane?
Yes. Every flight hour is dual instruction with a certificated flight instructor in the right seat, and the student flies from the left seat with their hands on the controls. The instructor can take control instantly at any point.
Does My Child Need A Medical Certificate?
Not for this course. A medical certificate under 14 CFR 61.23 is required before solo flight, which cannot happen until age 16 in any case. Flying dual with an instructor needs no medical.
Do The Hours Count Toward A Pilot License Later?
Yes. Dual instruction logged now counts toward the 40 hours required for a private pilot certificate under 14 CFR 61.109, and toward the 20 hours for a sport pilot certificate under 61.313. Keep the logbook safe.
Can A Teenager Fly Solo At The End Of The Camp?
No. Solo flight requires a student pilot certificate, which under 14 CFR 61.83 requires the student to be at least 16, plus the pre-solo training, knowledge test and endorsement in 14 CFR 61.87.
When Are The Camp Dates?
Dates are set each year around instructor and aircraft availability and the school holidays. Call (818) 330-1318 for the current schedule and to hold a place.
What If My Child Gets Airsick?
It is uncommon on a smooth morning and it usually settles. Tell the instructor before the flight so they can fly gently, keep the horizon in view and keep the cabin cool. We schedule teenagers into morning slots where we can, because the air is smoother.
Book The First Hour And See
The right way to start is one flight, not a deposit. Book a discovery flight at $229 for 60 minutes, let your teenager fly it from the left seat, and decide afterwards — the full $229 comes off the $4,200 course if you enroll within 24 hours. If you would rather talk it through first, book a free consultation or call (818) 330-1318 any day from 9 AM to 9 PM. We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406.