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Long Beach · KLGB · Part 61

Flight training, run the way it always should have been.

A structured syllabus modeled on Part 141 training course outlines. Stage checks. Real-hour pricing with the examiner fee on the quote. One instructor, start to finish. And our numbers on the wall, from student number one.

See the paths Read the Standard
Instrument RatingPrivate PilotFlight ReviewsDiscovery Flights
Why we exist

Most student pilots quit. Almost none of them quit flying.

AOPA's landmark retention research found that the overwhelming majority of people who start flight training never finish, and that most of them still loved flying when they walked away. They didn't quit aviation. They quit surprise bills, revolving instructors, dead scheduling gaps, and training with no visible finish line.

8 in 10

student pilots never finish their certificate (AOPA flight training retention research). Every policy at LGB61 exists to delete one of the documented reasons why. That is the whole business model.

The LGB61 Standard

Eight commitments. In writing. On the wall.

Not values. Policies. Each one traces to a documented reason students quit at other schools.

  1. 01
    Quotes built on real hours, not FAA minimums.Itemized in writing, including the examiner's fee. Nobody finishes at the legal minimum, so we don't price like it.
  2. 02
    We never hold more than $2,500 of your money.Pay as you fly. Small refundable blocks if you want the discount. Schools that hold five figures of student money have a way of closing with it.
  3. 03
    One instructor, start to finish.And if the airlines call your CFI, a real handoff: shared syllabus position, current digital records, and an overlap flight with both instructors. A handoff never restarts your training.
  4. 04
    A cancellation never becomes a dead day.Weather or maintenance converts your slot to sim or ground work by default. Momentum is the training budget nobody itemizes.
  5. 05
    Fly your pace. Consistency earns the Momentum Rate.No mandates: fly as much or as little as you want. Fly twice in a week and your rate drops. And every quote shows the honest cost of your chosen pace, because slower takes more hours and we won't hide that.
  6. 06
    Your progress is visible every single day.Lesson grades posted same-day in your portal, a syllabus map showing exactly where you are, and a projected checkride window that updates as you fly.
  7. 07
    Every flight ends with a data debrief.Your actual ground track, altitudes, and speeds reviewed on the spot. The debrief is part of the lesson, not an upsell.
  8. 08
    Your checkride gets booked before you feel ready.Examiner wait times run weeks in Southern California. We book yours six to eight weeks ahead of projected readiness, based on your syllabus position.
The Paths

Every rating is a product, not an hourly meter.

Defined stages, published planned hours, and the price on the page, not on a phone call. Every number below is the number you are quoted in writing.

Flagship

The Instrument Path

3 stages · 20 lessons · 10 to 14 weeks at two lessons per week · flown behind a Garmin GNX 375 with GPS approaches to LPV minimums
Stage 1ControlAttitude instrument flying, sim-first. Scan discipline before expensive airplane hours.
Stage 2ProceduresEvery approach type the airplane flies, holds, partial panel, real LA-basin ATC. Written exam passed before this stage begins.
Stage 3CommandThe 250 nm IFR cross-country, single-pilot decision making, and a full mock checkride with an independent check instructor.
Planned at 45 instrument hours, not the 40-hour legal minimum. Your written quote itemizes aircraft, instructor, sim, course materials, knowledge test, and the DPE fee. Stage checks are flown with a check instructor who is not your primary CFI.
Written quote, planned hours$10,584
That is the whole number, examiner included, built on 45 instrument hours instead of the 40-hour legal minimum. If you arrive with logged instrument time, it comes down. If you need extra lessons, you will know the price of each one before you fly it.
N8366X wet, 27.0 hr$4,725
CFII flight, ground and briefs, 40.0 hr$3,800
Simulator, 9.0 hr$585
Sporty's instrument course$299
FAA knowledge test$175
DPE checkride fee, midpoint$1,000
The ComebackFlight review and rust removal for pilots who stepped away. A defined two-session scope, honest assessment, no endless "one more lesson." One fixed package price.
$9202 sessions · fixed
The N8366X CheckoutFor certificated pilots. Systems ground, a checkout flight, and app-based dispatch. Then the airplane is yours to rent, with every squawk and inspection visible before you book.
$595then $175/hr wet
Discovery FlightYou fly, from the left seat, with a full pre-brief and debrief like a real lesson, because it is one. Booked and paid online in two minutes.
$199Book online
The Private PathZero to private pilot in the most proven trainer ever built, on the same structure: stages, real-hour pricing, one instructor. Join the list and we'll publish the quote the day it opens.
Quote at openingJoin the list
The System

We publish our numbers. Starting with student number one.

Flight schools ask for your trust. We'd rather show receipts. These four numbers go live on this page with our first student and never come down.

LGB61 Ops Board · Live
—Average hours to instrument rating
—First-attempt checkride pass rate
—Aircraft dispatch rate
—Average days, ready to checkride
No numbers invented, no cherry-picking, no asterisks. Empty until they're real. If our numbers are ever bad, they stay up while we fix what caused them.
The student portal.Scheduling, dispatch, lesson records, squawk visibility, billing, and your syllabus map in one app. Built in-house, which is why it actually works.
Ground school with an AI copilot.Your course includes an aviation-tuned AI tutor and a simulated checkride oral, plus a study plan generated from your actual knowledge-test results. Your instructor sees your progress and shows up already knowing what to work on.
Plateau protocol.If any stage runs 30 percent over planned hours, we intervene with a documented plan: focused remediation, a fresh set of eyes, or a reset. Grinding without a plan is not a training strategy.
The Fleet

One airplane, kept like it's ours. Because it is.

N8366X is a Cessna 172 Skyhawk flying behind a Garmin GNX 375: GPS approaches to LPV minimums in the most proven training airframe ever built. A classic airplane with a modern panel, a visible maintenance record, and nothing to hide.

View from N8366X over the Southern California coastline
Shot from N8366X over the Southern California coast. Our airplane, our footage, no stock.
C172Skyhawk
N8366XBased KLGB
GNX 375GPS · LPV
100 hrInspection cycle

Open squawks are visible to every renter in the portal, and nothing flies with a grounding item. Ever. A small fleet's advantage is that nothing hides in it.

Straight Answers

The questions people are afraid to ask flight schools.

Are you a Part 141 school?
No, and on purpose. We are a Part 61 training provider running a syllabus modeled on Part 141 training course outlines, with stage checks and standardized records, by choice. The FAA certificate you earn is identical either way, and national data shows students finish on hours flown, not hours promised. What actually shortens training is scheduling density, instructor continuity, and structure. We give you all three without the rigidity.
What will it really cost?
It is printed above. The Instrument Path is $10,584 at planned hours with the examiner's fee included, and the line items are on the page so you can check our math. Every LGB61 quote is built on realistic planned hours, itemized line by line, never on the legal minimum. And we cap what we ever hold of your money at $2,500.
What happens when my instructor leaves for the airlines?
It can happen at any school; instructors build hours and move on. The difference is the handoff: your syllabus position and records are current daily, your new instructor flies an overlap lesson with your old one, and your training resumes exactly where it was. You will never re-fly lessons because a CFI changed.
Is a classic airplane safe to train in?
Age matters far less than maintenance, and maintenance is where we refuse to hide anything. N8366X runs a 100-hour inspection cycle on top of its annual, every squawk is visible in the portal before you book, and nothing flies with a grounding item. The panel is modern Garmin GPS. Ask any school you're comparing us to for their squawk list; we show ours to everyone.
Do I need to pass a background check?
TSA's Flight Training Security Program applies to every school in the country. For US citizens it's a simple citizenship verification before training starts. For non-US citizens there's a TSA security threat assessment we'll walk you through. We handle this crisply on day one, like everything else.
First Move

Fly the airplane. Then decide if we're full of it.

A discovery flight here runs like a real lesson: pre-brief, your hands on the controls, a data debrief after. If we're not what this page says we are, you'll know in one flight.

Book a discovery flight