How long does it take to get a private pilot license?

The FAA minimum is 40 flight hours, but the national average is 60 to 70. Flying two to three times a week, most students finish in around 7 to 12 months. Consistency is the biggest factor in both time and cost.

What are the requirements to start flight training?

You can start training at any age, solo at 16, and take the checkride at 17. You will need an FAA medical certificate (we walk you through it), and you must read, speak, and understand English. No college degree or prior experience is required.

Why train at Long Beach Airport?

KLGB is a towered field inside the LAX Class B structure, so you learn real radio work and busy-airspace discipline from lesson one, with year-round Southern California flying weather. Pilots trained at Long Beach are comfortable anywhere.

Book a $230 discovery flight, or take a free sit-down with Sam, the owner, to talk through costs, timelines, and scheduling before you spend a dollar.

Private Pilot License · KLGB · Part 61

Your license,
your pace.

Private pilot training at Long Beach Airport with a family-run school
that publishes real costs and real timelines, not marketing math.

The Private Pilot License is the foundation of everything in aviation, whether you fly for weekends or for a career. At Aces High you train one-on-one with your CFI in our Cessna 152s and 172s, pay as you go with no contracts, and learn at a towered airport inside the LAX Class B, which makes you sharp anywhere you fly afterward.

$140/hr

Cessna 152 · wet

$90/hr

CFI instruction

60–70

Realistic hours to finish

Minimum age for checkride

01 /

The Path

First lesson · solo · cross-country · checkride

Every private pilot follows the same four milestones. How fast you move through them is mostly about how consistently you fly.

LEG · 01

Start.

First Lessons

Basic aircraft control, traffic pattern work, and radio discipline at a towered field. Your very first hour, the discovery flight, already counts.

LEG · 02

Solo

First Solo

The day you fly the pattern alone. Typically somewhere between 15 and 30 hours depending on consistency.

LEG · 03

XC.

Cross-Country

Navigation, flight planning, and solo trips to other Southern California airports. This is where flying starts feeling like freedom.

LEG · 04

Ride

Written & Checkride

Pass the FAA written (our weekly ground school has you covered), then fly the practical test with an examiner. Walk away a private pilot.

02 /

Straight Answers

Cost · time · requirements

How much does a private pilot license cost in Long Beach?

A realistic budget starts around $22,035, based on national-average hours rather than FAA minimums. The full math, including every fee most schools leave out, is published in our 2026 cost guide. You pay per flight, and money on account is always yours.

How long will it take?

The FAA minimum is 40 hours; the national average is 60 to 70. Flying two to three times a week, plan on roughly 7 to 12 months. Details and honest timelines are on the training costs and timeframes page.

What do I need before I start?

Not much: you can begin at any age, solo at 16, and take the checkride at 17. You will need an FAA medical certificate, and English proficiency. Everything else, we teach.

Is there a waitlist?

Demand at Aces High is high and we cap student numbers to protect quality, so yes, there is often a queue. Join the waitlist early; you can knock out ground school, your written, and your medical while you wait so you start flying at full speed.

How do I actually begin?

Two ways: book a $230 discovery flight and feel the controls yourself, or sit down with Sam, the owner, for a free no-pressure meeting about your goals. Most people do both.

After the PPL, most pilots continue to the instrument rating, and career-track students carry on toward the commercial certificate and the airlines. Weekly group ground classes run year-round for the written exam.

Begin

Every pilot
started at zero.

One call gets you a discovery flight on the books and a straight answer on cost, timeline, and the waitlist. Rings straight to Sam's cell.

Call (562) 726-3719 → Book a Discovery Flight → Join the waitlist →

Doc. AHA · PPL · Rev. 26.07 · KLGB · MMX

Your license,your pace.

The Path

Straight Answers

Every pilotstarted at zero.

Your license,
your pace.

Every pilot
started at zero.