Channel Islands Aviation provides flight school courses such as Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot and Multi Engine flight instruction. If you’re looking for an experienced flight training provider you have come to the right place! We have a large staff of instructors, operate over a dozen airplanes, are open seven days a week and twelve hours a day. We will be able to meet nearly any training schedule whether you’re looking to fly early mornings before work or just on weekends. Our goal is to make flight training accessible to you, fun and tailor it to your schedule.
Flight School Courses
Private Pilot License
Whether you’re looking to learn to fly for fun or you want to become an airline pilot, flight training at Camarillo Airport begins with your Private Pilot’s Certificate! You’ll start your flight school course training by learning the basics: how to take off and land, communicate with Air Traffic Control and perform basic maneuvers. Once you’ve mastered those skills you will experience one of the most exciting and memorable days of your life, your first solo. Training will continue by teaching you to navigate to other airports and you will even experience night flying. Once training requirements are met you will focus on polishing your skills for graduation. While in training, you’ll complete online ground school with the Cessna Flight Training System which is designed to be fully integrated with your flight school course training.
With your Private Pilot’s Certificate you will be certified to fly a single engine airplane. You may continue renting airplanes in our rental fleet or you may opt to purchase your own airplane with the assistance of our Sales Department. You will be certified to fly friends and family for pleasure, day or night, in visual flight conditions (VFR).
To become a Private Pilot, you must be 16 years of age to solo and 17 to get a license. Training however may start at any age as we often have young people training years before they can solo! Once you hold a Private Pilot’s Certificate you will want to fly with CIA every sixty days to maintain currency and under FAA regulations, every two years you’ll need to complete a Flight Review with a flight instructor.
Instrument Rating
Having an Instrument Rating will make you a better pilot and is the next step in the process for those looking to become professional pilots. Your training will be a combination of Cessna’s Flight Training System for online ground school, in aircraft flight lessons and simulator time in our Redbird Flight Simulator. You will learn how to safely fly an airplane in Instrument Flight Conditions (IFR) and will be able to fly on most days when VFR pilots are grounded due to weather.
CIA offers a Part 141 Approved Instrument Rating Course which bypasses the requirement of having 50 hours Pilot in Command (PIC) cross country time under Part 61 regulations. This means if you just recently obtained your Private Pilot’s Certificate or perhaps you haven’t logged much cross country time, you will enjoy a financial savings by not having to complete this requirement.
Commercial Pilot
CIA offers Commercial training under both Part 141 and 61 regulations. We recommend that our clients meet with our Chief Flight Instructor prior to enrollment to determine which program is best based on individual flight experience. Graduates of our Part 141 program may obtain their certificate in as little as 190 hours of total flight time while graduates of the Part 61 program are required to have 250 hours total time.
If you’re looking to become a professional pilot, obtaining your Commercial Pilot’s Certificate is the natural next step after your Instrument Rating. You’ll build your flight experience, learn new flight maneuvers and will become qualified in a complex airplane. Training will continue as a combination of Cessna’s Flight Training System for online ground school, in aircraft training and use of the Redbird Flight Simulator.
To become a Commercial Pilot, you must be 18 years of age and once the certificate is achieved you’ll be able to fly for hire! Common positions for Commercial Single Engine pilots include: banner towing, traffic watch, skydive pilot and aerial survey flying.
Multi Engine
CIA Flight School offers Multi Engine Private Pilot and Commercial training. We recommend meeting with our Chief Flight Instructor to evaluate prior flight experience and to custom build a program that works for you in order to accomplish your goal.
Multi Engine flying is where all the fun begins! This rating is usually the most exciting and rewarding for career minded individuals and very valuable for recreational pilots looking to fly bigger and faster airplanes. You will learn how to manage the complexity of a second engine and how to deal with situations where you might be forced to operate with only one engine. Multi engine airplanes have more complex systems but offer greater rewards to the pilot.
Once you are rated to fly a twin, the sky’s the limit! For those flying recreationally, you’ll be able to fly more capable airplanes and if your goal is eventually to fly your own jet, you’ll be well on your way! For those looking to become a corporate or airline pilot you will have accomplished an important milestone in your training!
Certified Flight Instructor
Becoming a Flight Instructor is a demanding endeavor but is one of the most rewarding ratings a pilot can accomplish. It’s an important step for pilots pursuing aviation careers as being a flight instructor is the most respected, widely available entry level pilot job in the industry. You will learn to make lesson plans and how to teach someone who is just starting out. After training is complete, you are guaranteed an interview with CIA as we like to hire from within when possible.
CIA also offers training for the Certified Flight Instructor Instrument (CFII) and Multi Engine Instructor (MEI) ratings. These additional ratings will allow you to teach a wider variety of courses and will make you more marketable as an instructor.
At CIA, we pride ourselves in being Flight Instructor certification experts. We produce more CFI applicants than any other school in the area and have an excellent record of having first time pass CFI graduates. If you’re looking to complete instructor certificates, you’ve come to the right place!
Airline Transport Rating
Having an Airline Transport Rating will make you eligible for an airline pilot position as it is now a requirement to work for Part 121 carrier. A candidate must have 1,500 hours of total flight time and complete an FAA Approved Airline Transport Pilot Certification Training Program (ATP CTP) prior to taking the knowledge exam. Once pilots have completed this exam they are able to train in our Beechcraft Duchess and complete the checkride with a local Designated Pilot Examiner. CIA has years of experience training pilots for ATP ratings that goes well beyond the rule changes that came into place in 2014. In addition to multi engine ATP ratings, CIA Flight School has also certified pilots for single engine ATP certificates.
Ready to get started? The first step is to schedule an enrollment meeting with our Chief Flight Instructor or Flight School Manager. Please bring your driver’s license and valid US passport or birth certificate. If you’re pursuing an advanced rating, please bring your pilot’s certificate, medical and logbook. During the meeting you will be set up with access to the online schedule, will be paired with a flight instructor and scheduled for your first flight school courses lesson.
Whatever your aviation goals may be, learn how you can achieve them in the most efficient and cost effective way by meeting with one of our Flight School Managers.
Looking for an affordable way to take your first flight lesson? If you’ve always wanted to learn to fly and want to know what it’s like before you officially enroll in training, schedule a Deluxe Introductory Flight Lesson! This lesson is actually the first lesson in our syllabus and is two hours in duration. You will spend the first hour learning how to pre-flight a Cessna 172 Skyhawk and you will then spend about thirty to forty-five minutes in the air. A professional flight instructor will guide you through the process and you will actually get to take the controls of the Skyhawk!
Reservations are recommended for Deluxe Introductory Flight School Course Lesson a few days in advance although same-day reservations may be available. We are blessed with flyable weather year round in Camarillo but if there is a weather delay we will contact you the day of your flight to reschedule for another day when the weather will be more conducive to a first flight.
Looking to log this flight in your first logbook? No problem! We ask that for TSA purposes you bring in your valid US Passport so we can verify citizenship and provide you the proper TSA endorsement. We have logbooks available to purchase in our pilot supplies store and if you purchase training materials at the end of your lesson, a Cessna logbook is included.
To schedule your Deluxe Introductory Flight Lesson please contact our front desk at (805) 987-1301.
