Currently working towards PPL and shopping around flight schools. Vista Air is probably one of the most recommended in the LA area and I can understand why. They keep of with their aircraft have a plentiful fleet and the facility is ran pretty smoothly. You combine the general accessibility of their team n planes it's hard to beat. Best part? Their rates are pretty great too. Most affordable in LA I've seen. CFI's seem plentiful too. Went on a discovery flight recently and have no complaints. Plus Whiteman airport is a good training ground. read more

Vista Air - Taxi way - Flight Instruction Near Me - Pacoima, California

Planes are very well maintained and some instructors are very thorough with their instruction. Decently priced rental.

Let me start off by saying, if you're looking for a flight school that has instructors that genuinely care about your education and safety, look no further. My journey started with a simple email that was responded to quickly by Justin. Walking into the flight school to get enrolled, I was greeted by Emily's warm smile and willingness to help. Within an hour I was enrolled and bought some materials. I also had the opportunity to meet Larry up front and again, just a flat out awesome person. Now, I have the absolute honor to train with Leo. As of this review, I have been working with Leo for three lessons (some ground and two in the air). Leo is extremely knowledgeable, passionate about aviation and is phenomenal instructor. He understands my goal of working towards and becoming an ATP. The best part is that he will not let me do a check ride unless he is 110% confident that I am ready. That makes me feel confident in my education and training. We hit it off the moment I shock his hand and introduced myself. Vista Air has their maintenance team and they take excellent care of the planes. Again, this flight school has been nothing more than a positive journey thus far. If you're looking for a part 61 flight school, put down the FAR/AIM for a moment and check Vista Air out! read more

I love getting checked out at different airports with different schools in different airplanes for rental purposes. Whiteman was airport #4, Vista was school #6 and their plane was #9 for me. I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth the check-out process was. From the traffic on my drive over there, the friendliness of the staff, the skills and teaching style of the CFI, the current state of the airplane, the detailedness of the paperwork, everything was wonderful. Oh, and nobody beats their pricing! I did not get any rating here, so cannot comment on the overall training but been back several times now and met various people and all I can say that it is a very solid flight school. Was it any closer to my house, would have had my initial training here. read more

Vista Air - Flight Instruction Near Me - Pacoima, California

I did all my training and succeeded in getting my private pilot certificate at Vista. My instructor was Robert Illian, and I can't imagine there being a better flight instructor on earth. He is patient, kind, extremely knowledgeable, cool as a cucumber. Facility is great, the prices are reasonable, and you can't beat Whiteman Airport as a location for learning to fly in Southern California. read more

Vista Air - Flight Instruction Near Me - Pacoima, California

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If you've ever even toyed with the idea of flying a plane, then this is the school for you. It's a lot easier to get started than you probably think. I think that the best thing for you to do is to start off with one of their discovery flights. It's $99 and I know that sounds like a lot but compared to other schools, it's a comparative bargain.This will give you a good idea what flying is all about. When I began my flight training, I looked around and I compared all of the flight schools at Van Nuys, Whiteman and Santa Monica airports. I also looked at how much the introductory flights were, the cost of renting and the cost of instruction. When I called I was immediately greet by the warm and friendly staff, who then gave me the details of how to get started. When I went into school, I was kinda expecting some low budget trailer park style operation, but they were in a brand new building. The facilities were well kept and very clean, and the staff is the best. Once I got there, I took the Discovery flight. This experience certainly made me understand what pilots go through and appreciate flight more. Flying a plane is truly an awesome experience, which not very many people get the chance to try. We took off to the north and flew over the Newhall pass and circled over Magic mountain. Once we leveled off, my flight instructor James Greziak let me take the controls and I flew the airplane. At this point, I was hooked on flying. 8 months later I earned my Private Pilot Certificate. I think Vista is a great option. It's economical because they have planes that fit every budget. They have the older trainers with the round gauges, all the way through the latest G1000 equipped Cessna. Another great thing is that you can pay as you go, which in my situation, since flight training isn't cheap, is a real plus.You'd really be hard pressed to find an operation that rents planes and keeps them in an airworthy condition for less that what Vista offers. Vista is also a Cessna Pilot Center and a FBO, which means they have their own mechanics, work on other planes and they also have a pilot shop, which offers great prices too. The instructors are great too. I've been flying with James Gresziak for almost two years and he's great. I found him to be resourceful and full of patience, especially when it comes to explaining holding pattern entries. Mohammed Elghobashy, Hiram Ireton and Robert Illian are also really good, talented instructors who have a sense of humor and are good helping make sense of complicated procedures and explaining what's going on while you're flying. The only minor bad thing is that they don't offer multi-engine training here. Anyways it is a great school, the instructors are amazing and it is a real helpful and friendly environment. Without a doubt I feel I made the right choice and I would choose this school again in a heartbeat. I'm continuing on for my commercial and flight instructor certificates here. ***The school address is 10000 Airpark Way, Pacoima, 91331*** To get there on Osbourne, you go past the Airport driveway, past the LA County Fire Dept facility and make a left on at the next driveway. Keep driving past the Dirt Depot and you'll see Vista on the left after about 3/4 mile. read more

I've been flying out of Vista since 2013, first beginning with my private pilot training, and more recently with my commercial. Most of my training has been with instructor Robert Illian. I really can't say enough about Robert. He's a great pilot and fantastic teacher! I've never felt unsafe flying with him. Some instructors only do the job for a year or two to build flight time for other pilot opportunities and really don't have their heart in instructing. That's not true with Rob. He's been instructing at Vista for 15 years and continues to do because he truly loves to teach. If you fly with Rob, you'll not only be able to ace your checkride, but he'll mold you into a safe and smart pilot for your entire flying career. I've also flown with Chuck Warnick, who is also another outstanding instructor at Vista. Chuck has decades of experience instructing, and actually trained my brother to be a private pilot over 20 years ago. I would highly recommend Chuck as well! read more

Both my husband & I have been very pleased with the service, instruction & accommodations we have rec'd from the owner Dusty & Staff at Vista. Allie, Cassie,Emily & CFI Robert Illian have always been friendly & welcoming. Robert is a highly qualified instructor with a aeronautical degree from Embry. His safety & instructions for his students are very empowering. An amazing place to learn how to fly! read more

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The reply from this company says it all. The wind speed was actually FIVE knots. They called my wife a couple of minutes before I pulled into their yard, refused to identify themselves and left no message. If the instructor did in fact show up it was well after the appointment time. The company demanded I sign a credit card agreement after they had asked me to pay cash and I asked what I was signing for. They literally refused to tell me (three different people) and said it was "policy". We were in fact told the only option to pay the instructor was cash. Very arrogant, zero customer service skills. read more

Horrible... if you're trying to learn how to fly go somewhere else. this place will just try to milk your money. read more

Getting your pilot's license is a great challenge and requires not only your commitment as a student, but support from an experienced flight instructor and also a reliable flight school with knowledgable staff. Vista Air and Robert Illian have provided me both of these necessities thus allowing me, a long time student, to receive my "Single Engine Land Airman Certificate". I have to be honest here. Although the process was challenging, the material is not that difficult. Flight Schools across the board are certified and honestly I believe that you would be able to go somewhere else and complete your training and merely pass your test and receive your license. However, being a pilot is not about "merely" passing your test and receiving your certificate. It is about the process and making sure that you're SAFE. I don't want to bash on other flight schools, but just check the news!!! Other flight schools are not landing at airports!! Their planes either end up on the 118 freeway or just flat out disappear. Vista Air keeps their planes extremely well maintained and uses top notch instructors like Robert, but honestly, I have flown with almost every instructor and they are all knowledgable and know exactly how to make you SAFE. Upon completion of receiving my certificate I felt so comfortable with flying the aircraft that I immediately was able to take my friends and family flying. I have flown with several other pilots and honesty although they have a license they have no idea what they're doing. Just be smart and start your training at Vista Air Best, Franklin read more

This is where I did all my flight training at and where I rent also. Great school and people. My Instructor Robert Illian taught me what I needed to know and passed checkride right away. Had no issues through out my training very legit training program. Very supporting group of people at vista through out my training. They was all rooting for my seriously even the mechanics. read more

Robert IIIian is as good as it gets when it comes to flight instructor, he does not cut corners and never complacent, knows Garmin and Foreflight inside out. I've had my private pilot certificate for six years now and I still use him once in a while just to keep things fresh :) read more

Cancelled my lesson at the last minute, even though it was booked over 24 hours in advance. They said the flight instructor never knew he had a lesson at the scheduled time because of a "problem with their scheduling software". I suspect they were just irresponsible - either the flight instructor didn't check it to see that I was booked, or they didn't bother to call the flight instructor and let him know he had a lesson at that time. At least they called me to let me know they had to cancel before I drove over there. :( read more

If you're looking for flight instruction, look no further great prices, professional staff and excellent instructors 5/5 would highly recommend! read more

This school is the worst....BE AWARE.. flight instructor Robert Illian...1.what he does is ,he flys with students as long as possible to milk the students dry...for example,he does not do touch and goes and tells the students its procedure at whiteman airport even tho its not ,and he as an instructor on board therefore taxing all the way back to the runway and thus collecting flight time with taxing instead of flying(he does not like to go to bur or vny because he likes taxing at whiteman....i collected at least 25 hours just taxing,whilst he is playing on his phone 2.after spending thousands of dollars at vista,Robert decided to badmouth me to the school and other instructors because i left him due to milking my money dry.....ive heard so many pilots and even instructors telling me that some of his pilots have more than 100 hours without having soloed...he is a sneaky guy with a arrogant slimy attitude who plays the nice guy 3.. the airplanes are poorly maintained ,that is why they are cheaper.....the throttle is always coming out and they dont fix it...you have to fly with your hand on the throttle the whole time... 4.i can just warn everybody from going there and ignore the fake good ratings..this flight school does not care about you and is only looking for your $$ there are so many more things wrong about this school,but i leave it at that.. Be Aware and go to a different school with professional instructors and good maintained planes where you pay less in the LONG RUN read more

I have been a renter at Vista Aviation since 2008. Though they have had some great flight instructors, as a consumer I am now chosing to rent airplanes mainly from other places due to their customer service policies. A senior policy for any well run business is that the customer is always right. Of course this will need to be applied with some judgement and prudence. Policies of businesses are not senior to the purpose of the business; maintaining great customer relations and provide excellent service. have been renting airplanes from different companies since 1986 and most businesses have a minimum usage of 3 hours per day if you rent the plane for the whole day. That is a fair policy, I agree. Yesterday I rented a Cessna 172 for half the day up until 2:00pm. I flew out to Mojave Airport on an event to promote general aviation and ended up flying for 1 1/2 hours. The plane was not booked by anyone for the rest of the day and there were other Cessna 172's available for rent at Vista, I checked the schedule on that and did not think it would be a problem with the minimum time. I was charged the full 3 hours, even though I brought up the above facts and ended up talking to the Customer Service person at the counter, their manager the next day and I also spoke to Dusty, the owner after that. None of them were not budging on this policy. During my 25 years of dealing with airplane rental companies, I have never been charged an overage - not one time. As a customer my value has been recognized and I have always been able to resolve any points of conflict but approaching the employees or managers of who I have been dealing with. From a policy standpoint, yes, as a customer I made a mistake and if lawyers were involved I would have no leg to stand on. You can argue and say that "we have to treat everyone the same way". Well, there is a point called judgement and maintain good customer relations in a business. My philosophy of running a business has always been "do more than what you get paid for and you will end up getting paid more", "the customer is always right" and policies can always be modified to better forward the purpose of the business and to handle occasional upsets from customers. Vista can maintain their rightness in this matter and probably will do if they respond to my comments, but as a customer, this is my sentiment and at this point I have found good alternate places to rent airplanes from, where the businesses are run more in accordance with my own preferences as a customer. I used to recommend Vista to others, but will no longer do so. So the question is, did Vista gain a better goodwill as a result of enforcing this policy or is it resulting in more profits for them? I leave that for you the reader to determine. read more

I've been coming here for flight leasson and can't complain about it!!!!! They have a great service and also dedicated instructors. I have recommended this place to all my firend to come and take flight lessons here. Their been occations in where my lesson have been cancelled due to maintnance or weather and I have been advice hours before my scheduled flight. Their are occations in which I tend to have expired navigational charts and I love the way that they can have it for you ready to pick them up!!!! I am definite am retunrnig here to get my Instrment Rating here!!!! read more

When I decided to take flight lessons I met with a lot of pilots. It was a fascinating experience - some male instructors would only talk to my husband, one told me he smelled good (which I guess is kind of important in a small space :-)) and others were just looking for flight time so they could move on. Then I met Robert Illian. He is professional, patient and best of all, a great pilot and teacher. It took me a while and Robert was there all along encouraging me, coaching me and supporting me. I don't think I would have gotten through this challenge without him. I will say though, Vista and it's pilots take flying seriously - so if you are someone who doesn't understand the risk - then first of all, please stay on the ground, but secondly find another school that doesn't care about your safety as much as they do. Plus Cassandra and Allie at the front desk and store are awesome! read more

Went to take my PP written there, and Alley the proctor (who looks like she crawled out of an alley) comes out with greasy hair, dirty shirt and double tongue piercings and had more of an appearance of a mechanic, then a test proctor. She had an attitude from the start. She refused to accept my endorsement and then after I did what she wanted she then refused to give me the test. Its actually kind of bizarre. It's as if she didn't want to do it and looked for a reason to shoo me out the door. Then as I walked out she further inflamed the situation by yelling out sarcastically "have a nice day" as if she enjoyed wasting my time. Flying an airplane is supposed to be a regal pursuit, do it where you are treated like they appreciate your business. read more

I did some training here after leaving the worst flight school in southern California (Encore Flight Academy). Vista is not perfect but my experience with the instructors was good and the airplanes are much nicer than the Encore junk that I was used to flying. The staff at Vista are honest, nice, and helpful. At Encore I got nothing but lies, deception, and fraud. If you're deciding between Vista and Encore, hands down, run away from Encore no matter how enticing their package deals are; they are a scam. Go to Vista!!!! read more

I had no idea my flight school had a Yelp page! With a few subpar experiences reviewed here I want to add my own experience. I'm not suggesting any one reviewers experience is invalid or untrue, but reading through these it seems to me that a few reviewer's personalities are perhaps getting in the way of their own education and some are even completely devoid of their experience; only writing a negative sentence without any justification. I passed my ASEL PPL check-ride at the end of January 2016. I started my training two years ago, I was a weekend flier and with the usual complications - Family troubles, work, weather, mechanical - all events any pilot needs to deal with, so that timetable was reasonable from my perspective. If you're looking for a school to get your license done sooner, it's totally possible here but I wasn't trying to accelerate my training and I wanted to make sure I was a capable pilot when I got my certificate. I went through two instructors, the first switched schools within a matter of months of me starting my training, and the second became Robert Illian. I cannot recommend his flight instruction more highly. Perhaps it's my style of learning, maybe he's just universally a phenomenal instructor I'm not entirely sure. What I am sure about is that his style of instructor is unique, its methodic, he's mellow and easy going and will make you feel totally at ease while allowing you to push your own boundaries as a pilot and as an aviator all while supplying a comfortable safety net for you to fall back on. Blow your approach and need to go around? No sweat, Rob's all about safety, comfortable, good flying. "Go around if you don't like your approach, you're the pilot and you still have a good plane. Keep flying!" - I've heard him say this more than once. He's a genuinely good guy and his only motivation is making sure you're safe, capable, and having a good time. Last I checked he has 15k hours, more than enough to become an ATP. I believe Rob's an instructor because he truly enjoys teaching. I could rave on about Robert Illian and Cassandra and Emily - you'll get to know them, they're the awesome gals scheduling your plane and making sure you have all of your medical and documents checked - all the way up to Dusty the owner. But, this isn't just a circle jerk. Here are some of the things you need to be aware of. If you're not ready to solo, if you're not ready for your cross country or any other milestone you won't get endorsed. I've been frustrated at times, both with myself and with Rob, that I wasn't as far along as I thought I was. I mean, it took me two years for goodness sake. When you don't get endorsed, or you're told "let's wait another week" or "do another couple of flights" before that milestone I wouldn't take it personally. Robert's an honest guy. Rob's prepared an incredible amount of pilots and instrument rated students for their check-rides so all he's doing, is making sure that when you are ready and do go for your check-ride, that you'll pass. Rob's busy. Like, booked weeks and months out potentially. It's a huge logistical hurdle and I think Vista has some work to do in getting more rockstar instructors like him but, just heads up. You'll want to make sure your availability is booked out with him in advance. I think there's work they can do in making sure planes are always kept in maintenance. There were only a couple of times when this prevented me from flying and there wasn't another plane available. But keep that in mind, like any school you decide to go with there's going to be a time when maintenance gets in the way. And it's a bummer but, better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than in the air wishing you were on the ground. All in all, with Rob and everyone there, my experience over 2 years and my continuing experience as a renter I'd review Vista Air 5/5 stars. I hope my review has been informative and helps you make your decision about where to fly and who to fly with. If there's anything I can clarify or if you have any questions, feel free to send me a message. Blue skies and tail winds Ben read more

Very poor customer service. The flight instructor will try to get as many billable hours as they can since they are contractors. Plane are poorly maintained. Very rude flight instructor Adam. read more

It's the instructors, and the instructors only that make Vista a good place to learn to fly. Good instructors are hard to find, and here you will find results and successful graduates. Robert is top notch, very experienced, professional, and very patient. Using a Cessna Flight Center with an organized curriculum, and an instructor that is full time, and not doing this as a "side job". That's the way to go if you want to learn to fly. read more

Stay far away from this place if you want to stay alive. I flew at vista as a student for 2 years and I have seen first hand how bad each and every plane is . Landing lights that don't work. breaks that don't work. bald tires. interior lights that don't work . communication radios that don't work. and many many other malfunction on these planes. but yet they will still rent you these planes at full price. plain and simple vista air does not care about the safety of their students nor the saftey of the people who rent their planes. they'r instructors are young , imature and inexperienced and don't know the first thing about teaching. with the exception of Robert. I won't be surprised to see the FAA do a full investigation and prosecute people for negligence. again stay far away from this place. read more

Horrible.....Don't be fooled by the bull s*** 5-star comments for this school. They are a joke. This is the second time I tried to fly out of the school and had problems. I scheduled an evaluation flight to complete getting my license 2 weeks ago. When i scheduled they told me i would fly for 1 hr and have 1.5 hrs with the instructor. I showed up to the school today I was told that I had to wait for the instructor which was 45mins late then I was told that I could only Fly for a half hour and the instructor said that's not enough time what he could do is give you a free pre-flight of the plane. I took off work and didn't get paid and then didn't even get a chance to fly for this evaluation flight. I was willing to give this school thousands upon thousands of dollars to complete my license and right before I was going to give it they treated me like this. This goes to show that they do not care about their students. I highly encourage anybody looking into the school to look elsewhere. read more

Their service is very strange. They don't allow touch-and-gos at Whiteman Airport, the airport they are based. They require that the engine idle at 1000 rpms on the ground, (who cares). Worst of all, I did what I needed to do to earn my complex endorsement. I even filled out the little paper they require to get the complex endorsement there. I called the instructor to tell him that I did everything. His name is Robert Illian, and he told me to come on over and he would fill in my logbook. So I drove the 30min one way and showed up. He was not there so I asked the lady behind the desk where he was. She told me he was on his break. The weird thing is the instructors there are independent contractors and don't punch a clock so they don't have to worry about overtime and that stuff. I told her to tell him that I was here for the complex endorsement. All he had to do was fill in a couple of lines and sign his name. She came back to tell me that he would not sign it until he was back from his break. I did not have the time to stick around. So I told them I will not come back under any circumstances if I was going to be treated this way. So I left, I was LIVID, and I drove back home another 30min and wasted my time and gas driving back and forth. This was back in September of 2014 but now I felt the desire to form a yelp account and tell my story after something reminded me of this repressed memory. Do yourself a favor and don't fly with Robert Illian and shop around before you go to Vista. read more