So Cal Flying Club

Customer service has changed dramatically from when this was LA Flight Center to now, as SoCal Flying Club. I had booked a flight around 8pm and the forecast was calling for a marine layer to come in around 10pm. I decided not to fly because I’m VFR rated and didn’t feel comfortable at night with the risk of a marine layer completely covering the San Gabriel Valley. The next day I get a call from the office and after explaining the situation, a CFI gets on the phone and says they’re going to charge me for the flight. I told them ‘that’s not right because I wasn’t comfortable with the weather and who else is renting the plane at 8pm when the other 2 DA40’s weren’t booked?’ His explanation was that the weather stayed perfect throughout the night… understandable, but I’m not going to bet against a forecast at 10pm when I’m flying back to El Monte. After a little back and forth, they ended up not charging me. They’re pretty scummy here.
I assume the Asian guy that pulls right up to the front door in the Mercedes is the owner because he never smiles/​never acknowledges customers, and the customer service among the CFI’s reflects his attitude. Tell me if I’m wrong.

I recently flew with two nonflying friends over to Catalina for the day. Due to what turned out to be a very minor mechanical issue with the spinner, I decided not to fly the aircraft back. Jeff, the manager of the flying club, went all out for us! My two nonflying passengers had decided to spend the night in Catalina and Jeff offered to fly to Catalina and drop them off at their Orange County destination the next day due to the problems. He also later flew my friend and me back to Catalina to help retrieve the other plane. He was extremely reliable and helpful with the entire ordeal of the plane being stranded on Catalina! The Diamond Stars appear clean and well-​maintained, I have nothing but positives to say about this club so far!

Great local rental and training resource. I have to especially mention instructor Benjamin Bundt. He’s a true professional. Calm, confident and puts you at ease. I’ve flown and done ground school with him. Highly recommended.

Heads up new pilots! The ex-​owner Jeff of the flight school (now he is one of the chief pilots) & some of unethical CFIs there are trying to rip students off by doing some unethical business practice. They are not trust worthy. Chief pilot Gil is a more reasonable person. This place is going south for sure. You will find out what I mean once you enrolled yourself in this school.
BTW, I noticed some of the reviews were done by their own CFIs. Go figured.
During the last days, I had to threaten Jeff that I would take So Cal Flying Club to court for flights my CFI Carl canceled due to weather. They wanted to charge me for those hours… Make sure you keep an close eye on those invoices. Get a copy whenever they billed.
One last thing, If you want to fly beat up «Ferraris», (they told me DA is Ferrari compare to Cessnas is Chevy), this would sure be the place for ya!

I’ve just did my solo through Socal Flying Club and I’m so happy I found this place.
Pros: Your charged when the engine is running, instruction is charged based on the above with exception of ground school or a before flight briefing/​not charged for pre-​flight inspection, Phew! Very reasonable plane rental costs especially for DA40s/​Online scheduling/​and the Instructors/​staff are nice.
Cons: Lots of people and it’s busy but online scheduling makes everything smooth and keeps me flying on my schedule.
Lovely place, highly recommended!

I visit LA from the Midwest annually and wanted to find a place to rent an aircraft to explore some of the general aviation gems in the area. I had never flown the DA-​40 before and wanted to give it a try (most of my time is in the Cessna 182). I found SoCals checkout procedures to be similar to other places I had rented. The instructors were very knowledgable about the area which was important to me due to the complexities of the airspace and my checkout included a fair amount of airspace familiarization. I really enjoyed the Catalina checkout as it was a very scenic flight and should be on most pilots list of airports to have landed at. Aircraft were in good mechanical condition. My transition to the DA-​40 took only a couple hours of dual and I have rented from SoCal on a number of occasions since then. Online scheduling tool makes planning a flight easy. Would definately recommend this operation to someone looking to obtain flight instruction. Ask for CFI Josh Spolar as he is a great DA-​40 instructor and pilot.

went on the sight seeing adventure and saw all of los angeles county! It was really fun and the pilot was awesome! Making the appointment was easy and the staff was nice. If i ever decide on taking flight lessons i would definitely come here.

I’ve had my private since 2006 and flown with a few different flight schools in that time. I can honestly say that Socal is by far the best. They the have the best fleet of planes equipped with the best equipment that will definitely enhance your flight experience at the lowest price for similarly equipped aircraft. The staff is always helpful and friendly and always accommodating. One of the few flight schools that I’ve felt like a participating member and not just another customer.
Great place to fly and highly recommend.

SoCal Flying Club has been my home for the past 200+ hours of flying. I earned my instrument and my commercial ratings here and am in the process of finishing up my CFI prep with them.
It’s such a great place to train and share your passion of aviation. Everyone truly cares about each student as individuals and they have top notch instructors. A few of them are ATP, a few of them have been chief pilots at other schools before with thousands and thousands of hours of experience. All in all, it’s a place where a lot of experience and talent has come together and where they truly love to take care of their customers as well as their fleet of airplanes. No matter who you get as an instructor, you’ll be sent to do «phase checks» with a senior instructor before your first solo and before you go do your final exam which adds an extra layer of confidence to your training.
I have yet to find any other flight school that has a G1000 DA40 for under $ 150/​hour and $ 115/​hr if you get the old steam gauge one (which still has a GNS530/​430 system). These rates are unbelievable.
They will walk a mile for you to make sure that you’re taken care of, which is a bit different from the usual mundane attitude experienced at many other flight schools.
If you get a chance, get on with one of their cheap demo flights, you might get hooked ;)
–Ruben

I’m a pilot that was in town on vacation. I talked with Jeff, the owner, and I scheduled a flight along with the instructor Carl Miller with So Cal Flying Club over the phone in a Cessna 182RG. The last question I asked was the price. He told me $ 167, but failed to mention the instructor cost was additional. How can they not say anything about it when I book the flight with an instructor because this was the first time landing on Catalina island’s short runway on a Mesa.
I knew the experience could get interesting because it’s a challenging place to land. As the pilot in command, the last thing I want is for the instructor to be taking the controls without the proper communication procedure between pilots, «my controls, your controls, I have the controls». To have the instructor from the beginning of taxi pushing on the rudder pedals, throttle, and then taking the yoke (steering wheel) in flight just before landing, fighting against his over-​controlling habits, where we then bounced off the runway, so I gave the plane full throttle to do a go-​around. This damn instructor just about got me killed. Pissed was an under statement. I kept my cool. How can you feel what your control inputs are doing if the instructor is doing something else? The instructor was a nice guy, but I was not comfortable flying with him after that 1^st landing experience. The second landing I felt like he was not being over-​controlling when I was flying, and the landing was smooth. Thank God.
The Cessna is an old plane with old school equipment. One of three radios– non operational.
Needless to say I was not happy about be surprised with the extra cost totaling nearly $ 100 extra. I brought up this issue to the instructor and the owner and nobody did anything about this error in their communication. I’m not new to flight schools and this experience left a sour taste in my mouth. The other reviews look fake. Who’s review practically sounds like an ad?
I had a much better with Universal Air Academy earlier in the week, but their plane was not available, so I called SoCal Flying Club. I wouldn’t go flying with SoCal again.

I always wanted to just try out flying just to make sure I enjoyed it before pursuing a pilot license. I booked their intro flight which is about an hour with an instructor at the Brackett Airport.
Ben was my flight instructor for the day. He was a great guy that answered all my questions regarding the flight for the day and getting a pilot license. He let me customize a flight for myself which included downtown la, hollywood sign, griffith observatory, rose bowl, santa anita race track and flying over my workplace as well as my wife’s.
The flight was a lot of fun. I was able to have the controls most of the time except when we went by the tourist attractions in which case he took over so I could take a few pictures.
I would highly recommend this place. I told my friends who were interested to check this place out. Definitely going to go back!

My first commercial flight was when I was in the 5^th grade to the Philippines — I knew. I knew, this is what I wanted to do with my life. To fly. But to do that, you need to find a place to learn to fly. With the cost involved and the dynamic experience you will need to have with an instructor flying right next to you hours on end — you don’t just choose any flight club/​school to learn.
SoCal gives you both. With some of the lowest rates for renting a DA-​40 (G1000 and Steam Gauge) and some of the most friendly and knowledgeable flight instructors out there — they have definitely brought back the fun with flying again. Trust me, I have looked far and wide for a «home» with DA40s, and I have been met with open arms from the crew at SoCal. Not only are they easy going and professional, but they actually care about their customers. Easy to schedule with online as well!
Aircraft: SoCal has a G1000 DA40 and steam gauge equipped DA40 (and more on the way!) — they are kept top notch and cleaned regularly and detailed. Each aircraft has its own toolbox with tools and oil may the event you need it. All prices are included with fuel, and if you need fuel at another destination, they will reimburse you to the amount at KPOC.
Instructors and staff: From my first tour with Jeff — who was nothing but professional and understanding to my needs; to my checkout with Rick their chief pilot who has loads of flight hours and professional experience. Rick is committed to a professional safe operation of each flight and a knowledgeable experience during training. And it shows; with my flight instructor Ben who is nothing but professional and courteous with my training for my IFR rating. But one thing that all the staff have in common is the fun they put into the process. Easy going, easy to talk to — no B.S. on the instruction hours or surprise billing.
TL;DR: One of the best places to train with DA40s, knowledgeable — easy going, instructors, top notch maintained planes, and KPOC is a great airport with two runways, towered with really chill+professional controllers. Not convinced? Go on a demo flight.

I’m glad that I found this flight school! Instructors here are all experienced and knowledgeable! Most of the CFIs here hold ATPL and so they are not like other typical flight school CFIs who just solely looking to build their flight time. They are here to share their passion, their love, and their knowledge of aviation to the students!
Besides that they differentiate themselves with other flight schools by offering modern aircrafts (Diamond Star DA-​40) at a offordable price. Students can also choose their flight training between a traditional dial instruments or with the modern G1000 glass cockpit aircraft.
You will not find a better flight school than socal flying club in the area!

So Cal Flying club is one of the best flight schools out there! The instructors are all friendly and knowledgeable. Their airplane rates are very reasonable and they sport modern aircraft, 2 Diamond Stars and a Remos. The staff is always willing to help you out which makes the learning experience very enjoyable and fun. I have been a student here since June and I love my experience here. This is definitely the place to come if you are looking to get licensed or if you just want to cruise the skys of LA!

So Cal Flying Club has newer Diamond DA-​40s, which are always very clean and very well maintained and are extremely affordable to rent. I’ve had a couple of different instructors and they’ve each been great. These guys love what they do and it shows. I’d recommend So Cal Flying Club to anyone that wants to fly out of El Monte.

So Cal Flying club has newer airplanes that are clean and well maintained. Their rates are affordable. It is easy to schedule with them. I have met several of the instructors and all are friendly and really knowledgeable. It is a real joy flying with them!