Train at Long Beach Airport, 25 miles south of downtown LA. Skip the congested airports. Fly more, wait less.
If you live or work in Los Angeles and want to learn to fly, you do not need to fight for ramp space at Van Nuys or Santa Monica. Long Beach Airport sits just off the 405 and 710, roughly 30 to 40 minutes from most LA neighborhoods. You get a towered Class D field with commercial traffic exposure, SoCal Bravo airspace right overhead, and a fleet of 13 aircraft ready to go without the scheduling headaches that plague busier LA-area airports.
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Why Los Angeles Students Choose KLGB
Location · airspace · availability
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A Straight Shot from LA405 South or 710 South · 30-40 min
From West LA, take the 405 south and exit at Lakewood Blvd. From East LA or downtown, the 710 south drops you right onto the airport. Most Los Angeles neighborhoods put you at the school in under 40 minutes, often less on weekends or early mornings when most students schedule their lessons.
From DTLA
~25 miles / 35 min
From West LA
~28 miles / 40 min
From Hollywood
~30 miles / 40 min
02.
Less Congestion, More FlyingSkip Van Nuys and Santa Monica queues
Van Nuys (VNY) is one of the busiest general aviation airports in the world. Santa Monica closed its runway to GA. Hawthorne and Compton have limited infrastructure. Long Beach Airport offers a professional towered environment with far less taxi delay, meaning your lesson time is spent flying, not idling behind a queue of jets.
Airport
KLGB, Class D towered
Runways
3 (incl. 12,000 ft 30/12)
Fleet
13 aircraft, 15+ CFIs
03.
Real SoCal Airspace ExperienceBravo, Charlie, Class D, practice areas
Training at KLGB means you learn to communicate with Long Beach Tower, request Bravo transitions through LAX airspace, and navigate the complex Southern California corridor system from day one. Los Angeles students who train here graduate with airspace confidence that pilots from quieter fields simply do not get. When you pass your checkride, you will be comfortable flying anywhere in the country.
Airspace
Class D, under LAX Bravo
Practice areas
Catalina, Palos Verdes, inland
Weather
300+ VFR days/year
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Training Programs
PPL through CFI
How we quote · Every cost estimate below assumes the realistic US national average of ~70 flight hours for the Private Pilot License, not the FAA minimum of 40 hours. Almost no one finishes at the minimum. We quote what students actually fly so the numbers reflect real-world cost.
Private Pilot LicenseFAA Part 61 · your first certificate
The foundation. Covers flight maneuvers, navigation, radio work, weather theory and FAA regulations. Train in a Cessna 152 or 172. Most Los Angeles area students fly two to four times per week and finish within three to six months.
C152 estimate
$22,035 - $22,455
C172 estimate
$25,535 - $25,955
Full-time
~3 months
Instrument RatingFly in clouds, on instruments, in IMC
Fly in any weather using cockpit instruments alone. LA's marine layer and June Gloom make this rating especially practical for pilots based in Southern California. Simulator-blended curriculum with our Redbird MCX ($90/hr) saves you money on instrument scan development.
C152 estimate
$15,750 - $15,950
C172 estimate
$16,975 - $17,175
Full-time
~2 months
Commercial Pilot LicenseThe licence to be paid to fly
Authorizes carrying passengers for hire. 250 hours total time required. Time-building runs happen in four-to-eight-hour blocks, five to seven days a week. Many of our Los Angeles students time-build along the California coast, logging gorgeous cross-country hours.
A 60–75 minute meeting with the owner. We will discuss your goals, schedule, and budget. LA students get an honest read on traffic-friendly schedule blocks, total cost, and how to finish without burning out.
A ~1 hr 45 min introductory flight with a CFI. You will take the controls over the Long Beach coastline. It is the best way to confirm this is the right school before committing time and money.
We run lessons seven days a week from early morning through sunset. LA commuters often book dawn or late-afternoon slots to avoid peak traffic on the 405. Pay-as-you-go, no packages, no monthly fees.
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Financing Available
Third-party financing through Stratus Financial and AOPA. We also accept money-on-account deposits that draw down as you fly, so you never pay for lessons you have not taken yet.
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What It Costs
Published prices · pay-as-you-go
Unlike most Los Angeles area schools, our prices are published. A Private Pilot certificate runs $22,035 to $22,455 in the Cessna 152 ($25,535 to $25,955 in the 172), an Instrument Rating from $15,750, and the full zero-to-Commercial path from $52,270. Aircraft rent from $140 per hour wet, instruction is $90 per hour, and everything is pay-as-you-go: no contracts, no enrollment fee, no monthly dues.
Those totals routinely undercut Van Nuys and Santa Monica pricing, where rental premiums and fuel surcharges stack onto every hour. Over a 60-hour Private certificate, even a $30-per-hour difference is $1,800, more than your fuel cost driving to Long Beach for every single lesson. The complete breakdown lives in our 2026 California cost guide and on the rates page.
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Common Questions
Drive time · airspace · scheduling
How far is Aces High from central Los Angeles?
We are at Long Beach Airport, 3501 N Lakewood Blvd, about 25 miles south of downtown LA. Typical drives: 30 to 40 minutes from downtown or USC, 35 to 45 from the Westside via the 405, and 25 to 35 from South LA and the Gateway Cities. Many LA students schedule lessons at 7am or on weekends and beat the traffic both ways.
Why train at Long Beach instead of Van Nuys or Santa Monica?
Three reasons: cost (our published rates and pay-as-you-go model consistently come in under Van Nuys and Westside pricing), fleet depth (13 aircraft means a maintenance issue never stalls your training), and the training environment: a full-time tower with airline traffic that produces confident radio skills, without Van Nuys-level congestion in the runup and pattern.
Is training under the LAX Bravo airspace a problem?
The opposite: it is an advantage. You learn real airspace discipline from lesson one, flying beneath and around the LAX Class B shelf, and you graduate comfortable in the busiest airspace in America. Pilots trained at sleepy fields have to learn that later, usually the hard way.
How much does flight school cost for LA students?
The same published prices as everyone else: Private Pilot from $22,035 all-in, Instrument from $15,750, zero to Commercial from $52,270. See the full 2026 California cost guide on this site for line-by-line numbers, including checkride and written exam fees.
Can I do my first lesson before committing?
Yes. Book a $230 discovery flight: one hour, you at the controls with an instructor, loggable toward your certificate. There is no enrollment fee and no commitment afterward. Most students know within that hour whether flying is for them.
Is there parking at the school?
Yes, free parking right at our building at 3501 N Lakewood Blvd, a two-minute walk to the flight line. No airport parking fees, no terminal, no TSA.
Los Angeles Pilots
Your runway is 25 miles south.
The next step is a free consultation to scope your training plan. Then a demo flight to confirm the school fits. Then your first lesson on the books. Los Angeles to Long Beach, thirty minutes, and you are flying.
