Discovery Flight Experience At Riverside Flight School

The human obsession with flight stems from a refusal to accept limitations and an intense desire to finally move out of gravity's basement. Claim your own airspace with this Groupon.

$69 for a Discovery Flight Experience ($139 Value)

The aerial adventure begins with a 15-minute stint in the Redbird FMX flight simulator, which replicates a cockpit's controls, instruments, panoramic visuals, and motion feedback. Then, instructors lead students into the aircraft hangar for 10–15 minutes of ground training that introduces the aircraft’s parts and the basic tenets of flying. Upon takeoff, pilots fly south and enjoy views of Lake Mathews before heading east to fly over Lake Elsinore and Canyon Lake. During the 30-minute flight, student copilots are allowed to take the controls and practice steering and navigation before the instructor glides into a smooth landing back at Riverside Airport.

Riverside Flight School

Adopting the low-traffic skies above Riverside Municipal Airport as their classroom, the instructors at Riverside Flight School produce nearly every kind of civilian aviator. The academy is able to quickly determine whether recreational pilot hopefuls have what it takes to fly using simulators and fuel-efficient Cessna C162 training aircraft. Student aviators who show stellar piloting chops can matriculate into one of several career programs for commercial, sport, and airline transport pilots. The curriculum is overseen by chief pilot Johan Backlund, whose long career has totaled upwards of 4,000 hours of flight time as an instructor, more than 6,000 as a commercial and cargo pilot, and 100 hours of scratching 747s behind their ears.