Burbank · Media District · Magnolia Park
Burbank lives under the approach paths of a busy airline airport. A few miles west, Van Nuys Airport is where Burbank residents learn to fly with Essence Flight School: 20 airplanes we own, a full-motion simulator in every course, fixed prices, and lessons from 9 AM to 9 PM every day.
Hollywood Burbank Airport (KBUR) sits inside Class C airspace and is built around airline and business traffic. It is a great airport to fly into once you are a pilot, but its main job is moving passengers. Van Nuys Airport, a few miles west across the Valley, is a towered Class D general aviation airport with two parallel runways, and it is home to a much larger community of training airplanes.
The two fields are close enough that their airspace touches. That turns out to be a gift for students. From your earliest lessons at Van Nuys you learn how to plan around Burbank's Class C, when to talk to which controller, and how airline traffic flows into the eastern Valley. By the time you reach your checkride, the airspace over your own city will feel familiar instead of intimidating.
One Loop From Van Nuys · KVNY
There is nothing to pick. Every discovery flight flies the same loop: the Valley, the Hollywood Sign, Dodger Stadium and downtown, the coast from Marina del Rey to Malibu, then home over the mountains. Your instructor takes off and lands; you fly 50–80% of it.
Stop 01 Of 10Instructor Flying
Your instructor handles the takeoff from one of the busiest general aviation airports in the country, then the controls are yours.
Stop 02 Of 10You’re Flying
First turns, first climb: the Valley spreads out below as you learn how little pressure it takes to bank the airplane.
Stop 03 Of 10You’re Flying
The sign on Mount Lee looks closer and bigger than you expect, with Griffith Observatory on the next ridge.
Stop 04 Of 10You’re Flying
The stadium bowl opens up below, with downtown rising just beyond it.
Stop 05 Of 10You’re Flying
The skyline comes up level with the windshield as you fly a smooth turn so everyone on board gets the view.
Stop 06 Of 10You’re Flying
The city gives way to the marina, the breakwaters and the open Pacific, staying clear of LAX airspace to the south.
Stop 07 Of 10You’re Flying
The pier, the beach and the whole curve of Santa Monica Bay: the photo everyone wants.
Stop 08 Of 10You’re Flying
Up the coast, the Santa Monica Mountains drop straight into the ocean.
Stop 09 Of 10You’re Flying
Back across the mountains toward the Valley, with canyons and ridgelines below and Van Nuys ahead.
Stop 10 Of 10Instructor Flying
Your instructor flies the approach and landing, then a short debrief on the ground and your flight time is logged.
Every Flight Includes The Full Route
Pick who is flying and how long. The route stays the same.
Typical route. Weather and air traffic control set the final path on the day.
Courses Offered
Every program Burbank students can take at Van Nuys, with the price on our site. Filter by goal and tick up to three courses to compare them side by side.
$229 (For Two from $299)
About an hour; 60, 90 or 120 minutes
Your first hour at the controls, from $229. The route often swings past the Hollywood Sign and Griffith Observatory, the ridge that separates Burbank from Hollywood, so you see your own city from the pilot's seat.
$499 / $699 / $949
60, 90 or 120 minutes
A Cirrus SR22 Turbo flight with a premium cockpit and space for a guest. It is a favorite gift in Burbank's entertainment crowd for birthdays, wrap parties and anniversaries, in 60, 90 or 120 minute lengths.
$499 (covers two people)
60 minutes in the Piper Seminole
Two people share an hour of twin-engine flying in the Piper Seminole. A good fit for aerospace engineers and licensed pilots in Burbank curious about how a twin actually handles with one engine at idle.
From $189
1 hour in the Redbird MCX
An hour in our full-motion Redbird MCX. You can load Hollywood Burbank Airport and fly an approach to its runways, a fun way to see how simulator time fits into training.
From $4,200
10 flight hours, 3 simulator hours, 13 hours of dual instruction, 7 hours of ground
A structured head start for younger Burbank students who are serious about aviation. Solo flight requires age 16, but every hour logged before that birthday still counts toward a future certificate.
From $8,400
Fixed price: 25 flight hours plus 3 simulator hours
Our most affordable certificate, flown in the two-seat Cessna 162. Built for Burbank residents who want daytime recreational flying on their days off, taking one friend along to see the Valley from above.
$10,400 / $15,400 / $22,000
40, 60 or 80 total hours; most students finish in two to four months
The certificate most Burbank students choose. Three packages with 40, 60 or 80 hours; the larger packages give more flying time, which helps if production schedules stretch your training over months.
From $11,700
About 6 to 8 weeks
Teaches you to fly by instruments in cloud and low visibility. Learning procedures near Burbank's Class C is ideal practice, and the MCX can provide up to 20 creditable hours of it.
From $15,400
Career track; pace planned with your instructor
Lets you be paid to fly. Burbank students headed for charter, tour or airline work earn it after the instrument rating, with complex time in our Piper Arrow along the way.
From $5,100
Accelerated 7-day course, 10 logged hours
An accelerated week in the twin-engine Piper Seminole with simulator sessions built in. A natural fit for someone with a week between projects who wants a big step toward airline minimums.
From $15,400
30 logged hours covering all three instructor ratings
Earn the CFI, CFII and MEI ratings together. Instructors get paid to build the hours airlines want, and you can do it locally, teaching in a fleet you already know well.
From $1,799
5 hours of instruction, 3 of them flying the SR22 Turbo
Needed for any airplane above 200 horsepower. Earn it in our SR22 Turbo, then use it for fast trips to Palm Springs, Santa Barbara or Las Vegas without the airline lines at Burbank.
Cirrus upgrade +$300/hr
Built around your experience and goals
Already flying, or starting fresh with the SR22 Turbo in mind? This program is shaped around the airplane and your logbook, and the Cirrus upgrade is $300 an hour over the standard course rate, paid only for SR22 hours.
From $84,000
9 months, zero experience to flight instructor, 260 logged hours
For anyone in Burbank watching airliners overhead and wanting that seat: nine months, every rating up to instructor, and a guaranteed full-time teaching job paying $48,000 a year once you graduate.
| Course | Price | Duration |
|---|
Short-term financing is available, with plans from $2,500 down. Training in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo instead of a standard trainer is a +$300/hr upgrade.
Before Burbank was the Media City, it was an aircraft town. Lockheed built airplanes here for decades, and the airport itself was known as Lockheed Air Terminal for much of the twentieth century. Lockheed's famous Skunk Works design team started in Burbank before it moved north to Palmdale.
A lot of our Burbank students have a family connection to that history: a grandparent who riveted wings during the war, a parent who worked in aerospace, or an engineering job of their own. Learning to fly is often the moment they stop reading about airplanes and start flying one.
Interactive Hangar
Explore the airplanes you will fly. Essence Flight School owns all 20, keeps their cockpits set up to the same standard, and schedules them for training first, from the two-seat Cessna 162 to the twin-engine Piper Seminole.
Light Sport Trainer
Four-Seat Trainer
Two-Seat Trainer
New · Discovery Flight For One
A sports car with wings: bubble canopy, center stick and quick, nimble handling. Just you and your instructor.
$349All-In · 60 Min · For One
Complex Airplane
High-Performance Flagship
Twin-Engine Trainer
Tap an aircraft or use the arrow keys to switch. Rental rates are per hour, wet (fuel included), from our rate sheet.
The trip is a straight shot west across the San Fernando Valley. Many Burbank students skip the freeway entirely and follow Victory Boulevard or Sherman Way across the Valley, then turn north on Balboa. Others take the 134 and 101 west to the 405 north, or the 5 and 170 to Sherman Way. Our office is in Suite D3 on the west side of the airport, with parking close by.
Traffic across the Valley varies a lot by hour, so check a live map before you leave. With lessons from 9 AM to 9 PM on all seven days, you have plenty of ways to avoid the worst of it.
Redbird MCX Full-Motion Simulator
No program here treats the Redbird MCX as an optional extra; it is scheduled into every syllabus. It banks and pitches with you, so you can rehearse a lesson before flying it and polish weak spots between flights. For Burbank students with unpredictable work weeks, a simulator session keeps skills fresh when there is no time for a full flight. The Redbird TD2 desktop trainer adds procedure practice, and you can see the MCX when you visit for a consultation.
Because the FAA approves the device, MCX time is real logbook time. Its FAA Letter of Authorization allows up to 20 hours toward an instrument rating, up to 50 hours toward a commercial certificate, up to 25 hours toward the airline transport pilot certificate and up to 2.5 hours toward a private pilot certificate.
Hours That Count Toward
Up To 20 Hours 14 CFR 61.65
Under its FAA Letter of Authorization, up to 20 of the 40 instrument hours can be flown in the Redbird MCX.
You see the MCX up close at your free consultation. Book A Free Consultation
Burbank runs on studio schedules. Editors, crew members, animators and post-production staff often work long days for weeks, then get a stretch of free time. Flight training can fit that rhythm if the school is flexible.
We see this pattern often. A student flies three or four times a week during a hiatus, then switches to simulator sessions and home study during a heavy production block so skills do not fade. Because every course has a fixed price, a busy month does not cost you extra; you simply pick up where you left off.
Evening lessons that start late in the day are popular with people coming off a day shift on the lot. Night flying is also part of the private pilot syllabus, and the lights of the Valley are worth the wait.
The free Essence app keeps study guides and courses on your phone, with your place saved, so a long lunch break or a lighting setup can turn into ground study.
Your First Flight
Discovery flights start at $229 for about an hour of hands-on flying, and you choose 60, 90 or 120 minutes. Bring a friend with the For Two option from $299, or book the Cirrus SR22 Turbo for something special. Booking is online and instant, with no account needed. Enroll within 24 hours and the full value of the flight counts toward your course. Every flight flies the same full loop over Los Angeles, below; weather and air traffic control set the final path.
Every flight includes the full route. Enroll within 24 hours of your flight and its full cost is credited toward your training.
On a discovery flight you fly the airplane; it is not a sightseeing ride. You take the left seat and fly most of the flight; your instructor handles takeoff, landing and the radio. For Burbank residents, the eastern part of the route is the part to watch. The Hollywood Sign and Griffith Observatory sit on the ridge between Burbank and Hollywood, the Verdugo Mountains rise behind the city, and on a clear day the studio lots are easy to pick out.
Our students have flown more than 2,000 discovery flights. One recent review sums up what most people see: Griffith, downtown, Malibu and Dodger Stadium in a single flight.
Questions about the drive from Burbank, scheduling, prices or financing? A real person at Van Nuys answers, 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week.
Essence Flight School owns all 20 of its aircraft outright. No leasebacks, no private owners taking an airplane off the line for a weekend trip. That is why we can keep schedules steady for students whose own schedules are anything but.
The lineup covers every step: the Cessna 162 Skycatcher and Diamond DA20 for early training, the four-seat Warrior, then the retractable-gear Arrow, the turbocharged Cirrus and finally the Seminole twin. Because each cockpit is laid out to the same standard, moving up to a new airplane feels like a next step rather than a restart.
Free 2026 Course Brochure
Courses and exact pricing, the fleet, the full-motion simulator, financing options and how training works at Van Nuys, in a brochure you can read in five minutes and share with your family.
Every program has a fixed course price that includes the airplane, the simulator, your instructor, ground school and materials. A Sport Pilot License is $8,400. A Private Pilot License comes in three packages at $10,400, $15,400 and $22,000, with 40, 60 or 80 total hours built in. Professional ratings and the Airline Pilot Program are listed below with their prices.
Short-term financing is available, and we back our prices with a lowest price guarantee. Want the full breakdown on paper? Download the 2026 brochure, which lists every course and what it includes.
When you are certificated, rent the same airplanes you trained in. One checkout flight with an instructor and the fleet is yours to book, at rates from $179 an hour including fuel. Burbank pilots often use the Warrior for weekend trips and the Cirrus for longer runs.
| Aircraft | Seats | Package | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cessna 162 Skycatcher | 2 | $179 | $269 |
| Piper Warrior | 4 | $179 | $269 |
| Diamond DA20 | 2 | $229 | $329 |
| Piper Arrow | 4 | $229 | $349 |
| Cirrus SR22 Turbo | 4 | $449 | $649 |
| Piper Seminole | 4 | $449 | $649 |
Also In Your Pocket: The free Essence app for iPhone and iPad books discovery flights without an account, shows every program and price, and saves your hours and signed lesson tickets automatically after each flight. Download On The App Store
Burbank residents watch airliners climb out over their rooftops every day, and some of them want to be in the front seat. The Airline Pilot Program takes you from zero experience to a professional pilot in about nine months, with private, instrument, commercial, multi-engine and all three instructor ratings packed into one fixed $84,000 price.
Each graduate leaves with a guaranteed job teaching for us, full time, at $48,000 a year. You build toward the 1,500 hours the airlines require while teaching in the same airplanes you trained in, a few miles from home.
Free Consultation
A free in-person consultation takes about 30 minutes. You meet an instructor, walk out to the airplanes, see our Redbird MCX full-motion simulator, and talk through the right course for your goals and your schedule. Pick a slot in the booking planner on this page and you are on our calendar.
Prefer to talk first? Call (818) 960-1285 any day between 9 AM and 9 PM.
Parents are welcome on the visit. If a teenager in your house is the one asking about flying, bring them along; seeing the airplanes up close and hearing how the Teens Pilot Course works usually answers most family questions in one conversation.
Prefer to talk first? Call (818) 960-1285, 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week.
Nineteen years of training at Van Nuys, starting in 2007, have produced a 4.9-star average across more than 600 Google and Yelp reviews. Ninety-eight percent of our students pass the checkride on the first attempt, and our safety record stands at 100%, with zero accidents.
Start Pilot Training
Ready to work toward a pilot certificate? Lesson One is a two-hour training lesson at Van Nuys: ground school, your own preflight, about 70 minutes of flying and a debrief, logged as dual instruction.
See Private Pilot LessonsTwo hours each, paid at booking.
FAQ
Hollywood Burbank Airport is mainly an airline and business aviation airport inside Class C airspace. Our school operates from Van Nuys Airport only, a few miles to the west, and that is where Burbank students fly our 20 school-owned aircraft.
Head west across the Valley. Victory Boulevard and Sherman Way both cross from Burbank toward the airport, or take the 134 and 101 to the 405 north. Our office is at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite D3.
Yes, in the sense that you learn to work with its airspace. Van Nuys sits beside Burbank's Class C, so planning around it and talking with controllers is part of normal training from day one.
A discovery flight is from $229, the Sport Pilot License is $8,400, and the Private Pilot License is $10,400 to $22,000 depending on the package. Every course has a fixed price and short-term financing is available.
Yes. We are open 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week, and many Burbank students fly more during breaks between projects and lean on the simulator and app study during busy weeks.
Yes. Fly a checkout with one of our instructors and you can book the airplanes you learned in. Wet rates, meaning fuel is included, start at $179 an hour.
Yes. The 9-month Airline Pilot Program costs a fixed $84,000 and takes you from zero experience through flight instructor. Graduates are guaranteed a paid instructor position at $48,000 a year full time.
Take the controls on a discovery flight from $229. Grab a free consultation slot and tour the ramp. Get the 2026 brochure with every price. Or just phone (818) 960-1285; someone answers from 9 AM to 9 PM, all week.
The moment every Discovery Flight is built around — you fly the airplane, with an FAA-certified instructor beside you and Los Angeles below.
Keep Exploring
Check your inbox in the next few minutes. Questions in the meantime? Call (818) 960-1285
Questions about programs, pricing, or financing? Send a note and an Essence Flight advisor will reach out — usually the same day.
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