Discovery Flight Terms And Conditions
These terms apply to every Discovery Flight, introductory flight lesson and dual flight lesson booked with Airline Pilot Flight School at Van Nuys Airport. Four of them cost people money, so they are stated at the top rather than buried.
Who These Terms Are With
These terms apply to every Discovery Flight, introductory flight lesson and dual flight lesson booked with Airline Pilot Flight School, at Van Nuys Airport (KVNY), 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108, Van Nuys, CA 91406.
They sit alongside our Terms of Service and our Return and Refund Policy. Where those documents and this one differ on a Discovery Flight, this one governs the Discovery Flight.
Last updated: 4 September 2026.
Read These Four Before You Pay
Full training credit: enroll within 24 hours and your flight's full value counts toward training. Weight limits: every aircraft has FAA limits, and they are published on the booking page. Non-refundable but transferable: give your flight to someone else, free, with 48 hours notice. Arrive 15 minutes early: more than 30 minutes late counts as a no-show.
None of those four is unusual for a flight school and none of them is buried anywhere on this site. They are up here because they are the four that decide whether a booking goes well or goes wrong, and all four are easier to deal with before you pay than on the ramp.
If you are anywhere near a published weight limit, call or text (747) 688-9988 before you book. We would much rather have that conversation than turn you away at the door.
What A Discovery Flight Is, And What You Are Buying
1. What A Discovery Flight Is
A Discovery Flight is an introductory flight lesson. It is flight instruction, given by an FAA-certificated flight instructor, in a training aircraft. You sit in the pilot's seat and you fly the airplane under instruction.
It is not a sightseeing tour, an air tour, or a charter flight, and we do not hold it out as one. You are a student receiving instruction, not a passenger being carried for hire. Your flight time is loggable toward a pilot certificate, and if you enroll in training within 24 hours, the full value of your Discovery Flight is credited toward that training.
Any accompanying person who does not receive instruction rides along as an observer, subject to the same eligibility and weight requirements below.
2. Our Flights, Capacity And Pricing
Each flight includes a preflight briefing, the flight time you booked, and a debrief. Plan on roughly thirty minutes on the ground in addition to your booked flight time. Flight time may vary with weather, traffic and air traffic control.
Prices, durations, capacity and aircraft assignments are shown on each booking page and are subject to availability. They may change without notice. The price shown at the time you book is the price you pay.
- Discovery Flight For One — a single-engine trainer from the fleet — from $229.
- Discovery Flight For Two — a four-seat single from the fleet — from $299.
- Luxury Discovery Flight — Cirrus SR22 Turbo, glass flight deck, CAPS whole-airframe parachute — from $399.
- Multi-Engine Discovery Flight — Piper Seminole, counter-rotating propellers, retractable gear — from $499.
- Camarillo Lunch Flight For Two — a cross-country to a second airport — $699.
- A Redbird MCX Session — an advanced aviation training device, priced by the session — $189.
Weight And Balance — Please Read Before You Book
Every aircraft has a certificated weight limit set by the manufacturer and enforced by the FAA. We cannot fly outside it, for any reason, for anyone. Please check these limits before you pay.
The Published Limits
Weight may be verified on arrival.
- Discovery Flight For One — 180 lb.
- Discovery Flight For Two — 180 lb per person, 360 lb combined.
- Luxury Discovery Flight (Cirrus SR22 Turbo) — 200 lb per person, 400 lb combined.
- Multi-Engine Discovery Flight (Piper Seminole) — 600 lb combined.
- Camarillo Lunch Flight For Two — 180 lb per person, 360 lb combined.
- A Redbird MCX Session — no aircraft weight limit applies, because the device does not fly.
If You Exceed A Published Limit
If you exceed the published limit for the flight you booked, we cannot fly you. In that case the booking is treated as a cancellation inside 24 hours and the full amount is charged and forfeited.
We will always try to move you to an aircraft that can carry you if one is available, and you may pay the difference in price. If you are close to a limit, call or text us on (747) 688-9988 before you book and we will help you choose the right flight. We would much rather have that conversation than turn you away at the door.
Who Can Fly, And When To Arrive
4. Who Can Fly
If you cannot meet these requirements on the day, the flight is forfeited under Section 6.
- Participants under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, who must sign the liability release on their behalf.
- Children under 5 cannot be carried. We cannot accommodate child safety seats.
- U.S. participants aged 18 and over must present a valid federal or state-issued photo ID. Non-U.S. participants must present a valid passport.
- Every participant must sign our Release of Liability before boarding.
- Participants may be subject to a safety search before boarding.
5. Arrival, Late Arrival And No-Shows
- Please arrive 15 minutes early.
- Arriving more than 30 minutes late is treated as a no-show. The flight is marked complete and charged in full.
- No-shows are charged in full.
Refunds, Transfers, Weather And Safety
6. Non-Refundable — But Transferable
All Discovery Flights, introductory flight lessons, dual flight lessons and gift certificates are non-refundable.
Instead of a refund, you may give your flight to someone else, free of charge, with at least 48 hours written notice by text to (747) 688-9988 or through the contact form. The person receiving it must meet every requirement in Sections 3 and 4.
If you purchased through a third-party reseller, please contact that reseller directly.
- Reschedule: free with 48 or more hours notice. A $50 rebooking fee applies inside 48 hours.
- Cancel: cancellations inside 48 hours, and no-shows, are charged the full price.
- Gift certificates never expire and are freely transferable.
7. Weather, Maintenance And Safety Cancellations
Your safety comes before your schedule. If weather, aircraft maintenance, airspace restrictions or any other safety consideration requires it, we may reschedule your flight or adjust the route. The pilot in command has final authority over the conduct of the flight.
If we cancel, we will reschedule you at no cost and your purchase stays valid indefinitely. No refund is issued — a safety cancellation is not a failure to deliver.
Refusal, Chargebacks, Property And Agreement
8. Right To Refuse Service
We may refuse service to anyone for any lawful reason, including intoxication, impairment, unsafe or abusive conduct, or a determination by the pilot in command that a person is unfit to fly. In those cases the person will not board and the flight is charged in full.
9. Chargebacks
You accept these terms before you pay, and we record that acceptance. If you have a concern about a charge, contact us first and give us 15 days to resolve it. A chargeback filed for an authorized charge, for a service offered in accordance with these terms, is a breach of this agreement — see Section 12 of our Return and Refund Policy for what that means.
10. Personal Property And Liability
We are not responsible for personal property brought to the airport or carried on the aircraft. Flight training involves inherent risks, which are set out in full in the Release of Liability you will sign before you fly.
11. Agreement
By booking, purchasing or participating in a flight with Airline Pilot Flight School, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to these Terms and Conditions, our Return and Refund Policy and our Terms of Service.
Questions Before You Book? Call Us.
A real person answers, 9am to 9pm, seven days. Call or text (747) 688-9988, or write through the contact form.
The two questions worth asking before you pay are the weight limit for the aircraft you want and which of you is going to do the flying. Both are much easier to sort out on the phone than at the door.
Contact Us
Airline Pilot Flight School.
7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108, Van Nuys, CA 91406.
Telephone and text: (747) 688-9988. A real person answers, 9am to 9pm, seven days.
Written notice under any of these policies may be given by text message to (747) 688-9988 or through the form at flightschool.la/pages/contact. No support email address is published for this school; the two channels above are the written channels, and a message through either is a written notice.
The Status Of This Document
This document is published by Airline Pilot Flight School at Van Nuys Airport (KVNY), 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108, Van Nuys, CA 91406. The registered legal entity that operates the school, and its state of formation, are still to be added to this document; until they are, the trading name above is the party these terms refer to. It was last updated on 4 September 2026.
Airline Pilot Flight School trains under part 61 of 14 CFR. It is not an airline, it is not owned by one, and no carrier holds a cadet program, pathway agreement or hiring arrangement with us. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions is a guarantee of a training outcome, a certificate, a checkride result, a job or a salary.
No pass rate, no graduate count, no review and no rating of any kind is published anywhere on this site, and none is claimed in this document.
Common Questions About Discovery Flights
A lesson. It is flight instruction given by an FAA-certificated flight instructor in a training aircraft, you fly the airplane from the left seat under instruction, and the time is loggable in your name toward a pilot certificate. It is not a sightseeing tour, an air tour or a charter flight.
You get the full value of the flight credited toward your training if you enroll within 24 hours. It is a credit against training, not a refund, and the 24-hour window is what the credit is conditioned on.
180 lb for the Discovery Flight for One; 180 lb per person and 360 lb combined for the Discovery Flight for Two and the Camarillo lunch flight; 200 lb per person and 400 lb combined in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo; 600 lb combined in the Piper Seminole. Weight may be verified on arrival.
We cannot fly you, and the booking is treated as a cancellation inside 24 hours and charged in full. We will try to move you to an aircraft that can carry you if one is free, and you may pay the difference. Call (747) 688-9988 before you book if you are close to a limit.
On the flights sold for two or more, yes. The right seat belongs to the instructor, so your companion sits behind you. They can see, hear the radio on a headset and talk to you both, and they cannot fly. Decide before you arrive which of you is the student.
Plan on roughly thirty minutes on the ground in addition to the flight time you booked. There is a preflight walkaround and a briefing before you go and a debrief when you get back, and the actual flight time varies with weather, traffic and air traffic control.
Yes, free of charge, with at least 48 hours written notice by text or through the contact form. The person receiving it must meet every eligibility and weight requirement and must sign the liability release. Gift certificates never expire and are freely transferable.
We reschedule you at no cost and your purchase stays valid indefinitely. No refund is issued, because a safety cancellation is not a failure to deliver. The pilot in command has final authority over whether the flight goes, and that decision is not negotiable.
Arrive 15 minutes early. More than 30 minutes late is treated as a no-show: the flight is marked complete and charged in full. The airplane and the instructor are booked behind you and cannot be held past that point.
Yes. A guided session in the Redbird MCX advanced aviation training device costs $189, an instructor sits next to you throughout, and weather has never cancelled one. It is not an aircraft, so no weight limit applies to it.
Book The Flight, Or Ask The Two Questions First
The weight limit for the aircraft you want, and which of you is doing the flying. Call or text (747) 688-9988 and both take about a minute. If they are already settled, an hour in an airplane starts at $229 and the full value comes back as training credit if you enroll within 24 hours.
The Rest Of The Agreement
Fly The Aeroplane Once, Then Decide
The assessment flight is the first hour of the syllabus and a two-way evaluation. You fly it from the left seat with an instructor beside you, they write down what they saw, and you get an honest read on whether the plan is realistic. It is loggable, and it is credited in full against enrolment if you enroll within 24 hours.
What happens on an assessment flight →