PilotBound

Published rates, sourced · Updated September 13, 2026

What flight training costs at Van Nuys flight schools

15 schools train out of Van Nuys. 5 publish a full rate card, shown with the source and the date it was read, next to a PilotBound estimate for your Private pilot certificate. The other 10 are listed with what they do publish.

Across the 5 Van Nuys schools here with published rates, trainer rentals run $140 to $269 per hour and instruction $75 to $300, and PilotBound's private pilot estimate lands between $17,165 and $33,343, with a median of $19,185.

One field: Van Nuys Airport (VNY). Whole state instead? California flight schools

Flight school costs in Van Nuys, in numbers

Computed from the 5 Van Nuys schools that publish both an aircraft and an instructor rate, on the same method every card below uses. The 10 listings without a full rate card are left out of every figure.

$19,185
Median PilotBound Private estimate across the 5 schools with published rates
$140 to $269
Published trainer rental, per hour
$75 to $300
Published instruction, per hour
5 of 15
Schools publishing a full rate card (aircraft and instructor)

Lowest published trainer rates in Van Nuys

Part 141 flight schools in Van Nuys

Airports with Van Nuys flight schools

Estimate cost toflying
Showing 1–12 of 15 schools

Totals to reach your Private goal at this pace. Estimates use PilotBound's own completion-hours model, examiner-completion data where it exists and FAA minimums where it does not, applied to each school's published rates. They are PilotBound estimates, not the school's quote, and will differ from a school's own figures. How we estimate.

Private estimate range across Van Nuys

lowest $14.8Khighest $38K

  • Ascent Aviation Academy

    Part not stated
    Lowest in CA

    Van Nuys, CA·ascentaviationacademy.com

    Published rates

    $145/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)+$75/hr instructor

    Checked August 20, 2026·Source

    Ascent does not say whether its aircraft rate includes fuel. Both rates come from the school's own zero-to-career cost breakdown rather than a rate table: 260 aircraft hours at $145/hr, 120 instructor hours and 60 ground hours at $75/hr.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $17,165

    range $14.8K – $19.6K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planAscent cost breakdown →

  • Corsair Aviation

    Part 61 & 141

    Van Nuys, CA·corsairaviation.com

    Published rates

    $140/hr aircraft (wet)+$110/hr instructor

    Checked September 8, 2026·Source

    Rates are wet and billed on Hobbs time. Instruction is booked in a minimum block of two hours unless stated otherwise. The Turbo Stationair and the Aero Commander twin are published as "Call for Rate", so neither is priced here and the multi-engine rating is not costed.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $18,835

    range $16.2K – $21.5K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planCorsair cost breakdown →

  • Aviators Flight Academy

    Part not stated

    Van Nuys, CA·aviatorsinc.com

    Published rates

    $165/hr aircraft (wet)+$85/hr instructor

    Checked September 8, 2026·Source

    The $165/hr aircraft figure is Aviators' published block rate, which is the only aircraft rate on the site. A standard non-block rate is not published, so confirm what a single hour costs without buying a block.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $19,185

    range $16.5K – $21.9K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planAviators cost breakdown →

  • Vertical Aviation

    Part not stated

    Van Nuys, CA·verticalaviation.org

    Published rates

    $180/hr aircraft (wet)+$100/hr instructor

    Checked September 12, 2026·Source

    The Sling 2 rate includes fuel. Instruction is $100/hr for flight and ground; instruction in your own aircraft is $120/hr and is not used here. Single-type operation.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $21,135

    range $18.2K – $24.1K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planVertical Aviation cost breakdown →

  • Essence Flight Academy

    Part not stated
    Largest fleet

    Van Nuys, CA·essenceflight.com

    Published rates

    $269/hr aircraft (wet)+$200/hr instructor

    Checked August 20, 2026·Source

    Rates are wet (fuel included). Figures are the Regular pay-by-the-hour price; bundled Package pricing is much lower (e.g. Warrior $179, DA20 $229, Cirrus $449). Instruction is $200/hr private and sport, $150/hr advanced (instrument and multi-engine), and $300/hr in the Cirrus. Commercial and CFI are not separately priced on the sheet.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $33,343

    range $28.7K – $38K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planEssence Flight cost breakdown →
  • Below: schools without a full published rate card. They cannot be priced, so they sit at the end of a cost sort.

  • 30 DAY CFI Flight Training Academy

    Part not stated

    Van Nuys, CA·VNY·30daycfi.com

    Published rates

    aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published

    No PilotBound estimate

    30 Day CFI does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    Nothing to total without it.

    See what to ask themWhat they do publish →

  • ActivePILOT Flight Academy

    Part not stated

    Van Nuys, CA·VNY·activepilot.com

    Published rates

    $165/hr aircraft+instructor rate not published

    Checked August 20, 2026·Source·7 aircraft published

    These rates come from ActivePILOT's own fleet guide article rather than a rate page, where they are described as current listed rates. The article itself advises asking what the hourly rate includes and whether renter insurance, checkout, fuel or account terms apply, so the fuel basis is genuinely unsettled rather than merely unstated. A 10% CFI discount is advertised for enrolled students, without the CFI rate it discounts. The simulator is free for active students and $90/hr flown with an instructor, and that $90 bundles the two rather than pricing the instructor.

    No PilotBound estimate

    ActivePILOT does not publish an instructor rate

    Nothing to total without it.

    See what to ask themWhat they do publish →

  • AFI Flight Training

    Part not stated

    Van Nuys, CA·VNY·flyafi.com

    Published rates

    aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published

    No PilotBound estimate

    AFI Flight Training does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    Nothing to total without it.

    See what to ask themWhat they do publish →

  • American Aviation Sales & Services Inc

    Part not stated

    Van Nuys, CA·VNY·americanaviationvny.com

    Published rates

    aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published

    No PilotBound estimate

    American Aviation does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    Nothing to total without it.

    See what to ask themWhat they do publish →

  • California Flight School

    Part not stated

    Van Nuys, CA·VNY·californiaflightschool.com

    Published rates

    $120/hr aircraft+instructor rate not published

    Checked September 13, 2026·Source

    The only aircraft figure published is "rentals start as low as $120/hr". No airplane is named against it, no tail numbers or per-aircraft rates appear anywhere, and the fuel basis is not stated. Treat $120 as a floor for the cheapest airplane on the field rather than as the rate you will pay. The fleet is listed by type only: Cirrus SR20, Cessna 172 R/S and N/P, Piper PA-28, Cessna 150 and a Piper Seneca twin.

    No PilotBound estimate

    California Flight School does not publish an instructor rate

    Nothing to total without it.

    See what to ask themWhat they do publish →

  • Clipper Aviation

    Part not stated

    Van Nuys, CA·VNY·clipperaviation.com

    Published rates

    aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published

    No PilotBound estimate

    Clipper does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    Nothing to total without it.

    See what to ask themWhat they do publish →

  • Flying Academy Van Nuys

    Part not stated

    Van Nuys, CA·VNY·fakvny.com

    Published rates

    aircraft rate not published+$64/hr instructor

    Checked September 13, 2026·Source

    The CFI charge is $64 an hour. Aircraft are sold inside packages rather than by the hour, and renter insurance is added at $9/hr in the 152 and $12/hr in the 172, which is a surcharge and not a rental rate.

    No PilotBound estimate

    Flying Academy VNY does not publish an aircraft rate

    Nothing to total without it.

    See what to ask themWhat they do publish →

Flight schools in other California cities

All California flight schoolsFlight school costs by state

Common questions about Van Nuys flight schools

How much does flight school cost in Van Nuys?
Across the 5 Van Nuys flight schools here that publish full rates, trainer rentals run $140 to $269 per hour and instruction $75 to $300 per hour, checked as recently as September 13, 2026. On each school's own published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate between $17,165 and $33,343, with a median of $19,185. These are PilotBound estimates built on published rates, not quotes from the schools.
What is the cheapest flight school in Van Nuys?
Corsair Aviation in Van Nuys publishes the lowest trainer rental of the 5 Van Nuys schools listed here, $140 per hour for its Cessna 162 Skycatcher, a wet rate, so fuel is included in the hourly figure, checked September 8, 2026. The lowest hourly rate is not automatically the lowest total: instructor rates, fuel basis, and the hours you actually fly decide that, which is what the per-school estimates on this page hold constant.
How current are these Van Nuys flight school rates?
Every rate here is the school's own published figure, linked to its source and dated; the newest check in Van Nuys is September 13, 2026, and each card and school page shows the exact date its rates were read. The directory is re-checked on a monthly cycle, and 10 more schools in Van Nuys are listed without an estimate because they do not publish a full rate card. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime.
Which Van Nuys airports have flight schools?
One field carries the listed schools: Van Nuys Airport (VNY) with 15. A school that does not state its field on the pages we read is counted in Van Nuys without one.

Estimates use the same method as every California school page: PilotBound's own completion-hours model times each school's published rates, plus the one-time fees most quotes leave out. They are ours, not the schools' quotes, and we are not affiliated with the schools. How these estimates work·Disclaimer & removal policy