Sunset Flight Over Los Angeles

A sunset flight over Los Angeles is the same discovery flight we fly all day, booked so that you are airborne for the last hour of light, and it costs the same: $229 for 60 minutes, $299 for two people. The whole trick is timing. Sunset here moves by more than three hours between December and June, so the booking that puts you over Point Dume with the sun on the water in January is a completely different time of day from the one that does it in July.

This page is the timing guide: sunset by month, how to work backwards to a booking slot, which route to fly and when a sunset flight becomes a night flight. For the full list of rides and routes, see airplane rides in Los Angeles. If you are buying this for someone else, our discovery flight gift page covers gift cards and open-dated bookings.

Why Sunset Is The Best Hour To Fly Here

Three separate things line up in the last hour of daylight over Los Angeles, and only one of them is the light.

The air settles. Daytime turbulence in the San Fernando Valley is thermal: the ground heats, air rises in columns, and a light aircraft crossing them gets a series of small shoves. As the sun drops, the heating stops and the columns collapse. By the last hour before sunset the air over the Valley is usually as smooth as it was at dawn, and over the water it is smoother still. For anyone nervous about small aircraft, this matters more than the view.

The light goes sideways. At midday the sun is overhead, the basin is flat and hazy, and everything reads gray. In the last hour the light comes in almost horizontally from over the Pacific, which lights the west face of every ridge, throws long shadows off the downtown towers, and turns the Santa Monica Mountains gold. The Hollywood Sign faces south and takes this light better than any other time of day.

The city starts to switch on. In the twenty minutes either side of sunset you get both at once: a lit landscape and a lit city. Street lights come on across the Valley floor while the sky is still orange over the ocean. That overlap is short, it is the best-looking part of the flight, and it is the reason to book so you are still airborne at sunset rather than landing at it.

Sunset Times In Los Angeles, Month By Month

These are approximate sunset times for the Los Angeles basin. They move by a few minutes across each month and the clock changes twice a year, so check the exact time for your date before you book. The pattern, not the precise minute, is what you need.

The practical consequence is worth stating plainly: from November through February a sunset flight is a late-afternoon booking you can do before dinner, and from May through July it is an evening booking that starts after most people finish work. Autumn and winter sunset flights are the easiest to fit into a working day in Los Angeles, which is the opposite of what most people assume.

How To Work Out Your Booking Time

Work backwards from sunset, not forwards from when you can leave the house.

A 60-minute booking is 60 minutes of aircraft time. Ahead of it sits a briefing of twenty to thirty minutes at the table and a preflight walkaround of about ten. Then taxi at Van Nuys, which is five to ten minutes at a field with two parallel runways and a great deal of traffic. Net of all that, a booking starting 60 minutes before sunset puts you airborne roughly 30 to 40 minutes before sunset and lands you shortly after it. That is the target.

So: find sunset for your date, subtract an hour for the booking slot, subtract another thirty minutes for arrival. If you want to be airborne through sunset with time either side, book 90 minutes and start ninety minutes before sunset instead.

Our last aircraft slot has to be back on the ground by 9:00 PM, because that is when we close. In June and July, when sunset is around 8:00 PM, the sunset slot is the last booking of the day and it fills first. Book those two or three weeks out. In December a 4:00 PM slot is rarely a problem a few days ahead.

Which Route To Fly At Sunset

The sun sets into the Pacific, so the coast is the answer more often than not.

The coast, for the sunset itself. West over the Santa Monica Mountains, then a turn down the coast so the sun sits ahead of you over the water and the light comes straight down the beaches. Point Dume, Zuma and the Santa Monica Bay all take this light well, and the ocean surface goes metallic. Full route detail is on our Malibu coast flight page.

The city, for the golden light on landmarks. East along the ridge to the Hollywood Sign and Griffith Observatory with the sun behind you lighting the south faces, then downtown as the towers start reflecting. The trade is that you are looking away from the sunset, so you get the light rather than the sun. See our Hollywood Sign flight page.

Both, on 90 minutes. This is the booking we would pick: coast outbound for the sun on the water, turn back east as it sets, and run the city on the way home as the lights come up. The extra $70 over the 60-minute flight buys the part of the evening most people came for.

Sunset Flight Or Night Flight

These are two different bookings and it is worth knowing which one you want.

A sunset flight is a daytime discovery flight timed to end around sunset. It is priced as a normal day flight: $229 for 60 minutes, $299 for two. You get golden light, a lit landscape, and the first of the city lights coming on underneath you.

A night flight departs after dark and is a different experience: no landscape at all, just a grid of light from the mountains to the ocean, lit runways, and a horizon made entirely of streets. Night flights run at about $100 more than the equivalent day flight, at $329 for 60 minutes single and $399 for two, which covers the extra aircraft and instructor time a night departure and lit-runway return take. The detail is on our night flight over Los Angeles page. If you are a licensed pilot looking for night currency or the night training in 14 CFR 61.109 rather than an experience, see night flying currency and training instead.

What A Sunset Flight Costs

There is no sunset surcharge. The evening slot costs what the same booking costs at eleven in the morning.

What Can Go Wrong With A Sunset Booking

Three things, and all are manageable if you know about them in advance.

The marine layer. Coastal stratus can push back in as the land cools, most often in May and June, so the coast can go under a deck exactly when you wanted to fly it. The city route is usually still open on those evenings.

Traffic on the ground. An evening slot in Los Angeles means driving to Van Nuys in rush hour. Give yourself more time than the map says, particularly coming from the Westside or downtown. If you miss the start of your slot in winter, the light does not wait.

Booking too late in the day. A booking that starts at sunset does not give you a sunset flight; by the time you have briefed, walked round the aircraft and taxied, it is dark. Use the table above and book the slot that starts an hour before.

If weather moves your flight we reschedule it at no charge, as set out in our weather and cancellation policy.

Related Reading

• Airplane rides in Los Angeles — every ride and route we fly, priced.
• Night flight over Los Angeles — what changes once it is fully dark.
• Malibu coast flight — the route most sunset flights use.
• Romantic flight date ideas in Los Angeles — proposals and anniversaries at golden hour.
• Discovery flight gifts — open-dated gift cards so the recipient picks the evening.
• Discovery flights in Los Angeles — how the flight itself works.

Sunset Flight FAQ

What Time Should I Book A Sunset Flight In Los Angeles?

Start the booking about one hour before sunset and arrive thirty minutes before that. In December that means a slot around 4:00 PM; in June it means around 7:15 PM. Check the exact sunset time for your date, because it moves by more than three hours across the year.

Does A Sunset Flight Cost More?

No. A sunset flight is a normal daytime discovery flight timed to the light, so it is $229 for 60 minutes with one person flying and $299 for two people. Night flights, which depart after dark, are about $100 more than the equivalent day flight.

Which Route Is Best For A Sunset Flight?

The coast, because the sun sets into the Pacific and the light comes straight down the beaches at Zuma, Point Dume and the Santa Monica Bay. On a 90-minute booking you can fly the coast for the sunset and then turn back over the city as the lights come on.

Is The Air Smoother At Sunset?

Usually, yes. Daytime turbulence over the San Fernando Valley is driven by ground heating, and that stops as the sun drops. The last hour before sunset is normally as smooth as the first hour after sunrise, which makes it a good slot for a nervous first-time passenger.

How Late Can You Fly From Van Nuys?

We operate from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, seven days a week, and the last aircraft slot has to be back on the ground by 9:00 PM. In June and July the sunset slot is the last booking of the day and fills first, so book two to three weeks ahead in summer.

Do I Fly The Plane On A Sunset Flight?

Yes. It is a discovery flight, so you fly from the left seat with a certificated instructor beside you who has a full second set of controls, and the time is logged as dual instruction toward a pilot certificate. Enroll in a course within 24 hours and we credit the full cost toward it.

Book Your Sunset Flight Over Los Angeles

Check sunset for the date you want, then book the 60-minute discovery flight at $229 or the 90-minute flight at $299 for the slot an hour before. For two people, the Malibu Coast flight for two is the sunset route. If you would rather have us pick the slot for a particular date, book a free consultation or call (818) 330-1318, any day from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM. We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406.