Took lessons here. It was a very fun experience. What made it more fun was the fact that the owner was very much a good guy who's always around. They have an instructor assigned to you from the beginning. I liked my instructor. Except when he makes me dip the plane to the left when he knows that's what I'm scared to do :). Dipping right was never a problem for me. He was very good and patient that on my third week I could land the plane on my own. Reasonable private lessons. Their planes are clean and never a wait to start a lesson. Loved every minute of my time at this school. read more

Unfortunately I was late for my appointment so i dont know whether i got the full allotted time or not. Since I was late i got put into the flight simulator asap and before i knew it i was in the damn plane lol. Overall, I had a great experience. You get a lil nervous when you taxi the plane on the runway. More jitters when it starts to go faster and then bloop uve taken off and are suddenly airborne. It was totally cool and Jonathan my instructor (at least I hope its Jonathan) let me do most o the flying but always made sure we were safe. If you are worried you can always let the instructor take control (and sometimes he will) but theres no fun in that. The intro to flying lesson I got was from Amazon local deals. Like i said it was a great experience and I would definitely recommend you try flying vikings if ur in the area as its not too far and the instructors are definitely knowledgeable and friendly. read more

Took my flying lessons here . Tony was my instructor . The guy is great, very patient , thorough and he also served our country so I definitly suggest going to this guy. I highly respect this dude. We did the simulator but we mostly flew and went over things on the plane and procedures. I didn't really know much about planes but wow they're pretty cool an Tony really taught me alot. The way he teaches makes flying a plane seem easy This school has the cheapest prices I've seen around the bay area . The place seems to get alot of business too. The water an coffee ain't bad either. TOny was very professional, you can tell he had a passion for flying. Definitly the type of dude you want teaching you. They got some cool planes too. I didn't have any fear my instructor made me feel real comfortable an I am not a roller coaster type guy. I didn't have any stomach issues either , I heard sometimes thats an issue but nope none here. I am ready to be a pilot ha flying a plane is awesome. read more

My CFI and I went to Flying Vikings after the previous school we went too closed down. Flying Vikings is a family run business. Joe, Mats, Celine, the CFI's, students and mechanics are a great bunch of people. I live in the peninsula side of the bay and commuted to the east bay to save money during my PPL training. If you're looking to become a private pilot or add ratings you should not pass up Flying Vikings. I will say that they don't have any fancy 172SP's or G1000 glass cockpits here. If you're looking for those type of planes than spend your money at SQL or PAO. Like I said. If you wanna save money go to Flying Vikings. You can do the glass cockpit thing after your PPL training. Look out for their Living Social and other types of deals. Simulator and flight time for a great price! There's no other school in the Bay that can compare! read more

Total scam! I bought a special introductory flying lesson on Groupon for my son last July. When I called the next day to schedule a time the person I talked to told me that since COVID started they were closed. No refund saying it was Groupons fault and of course Groupon doesn't give refunds by saying it's up to the dealer. read more

Had a great time today flying with Mats..... so sorry that our nephew projectiled vomited everywhere! Making memories! Lol Thank you for honoring the flight package we bided on and won, even though the person who offered it up no longer works for you. My Husband and I will definitely fly again! Our nephew.... not so much. read more

Scheduled a test here a week in advance and they were uncertified to offer any exams when I showed up. No masks and insisted on talking to me at very close distance. Entirely unprofessional, unsafe and disappointing. Will avoid at all costs in the future. Not a positive look into their safety culture or attention to detail. read more

Unprofessional school with poor facilities and old aircraft, and the worst team and management , they are very rude , as an international student they ripped me off and kept charging me for new i-20s while they could just extended it, they threatened me with termination like if they own me ,and refused to transfer my record to another school (much better)which is my right according to SEVIS Student and Exchange Visitor Information System . My advice to you is to take your money somewhere else. worst place ever... read more

This review is for Mats, the chief pilot & instructor at Flying Vikings. Did about 1/2 of my flight training here with Mats, and glad I did. I've had 4 instructors over the years and 2 of them were just plain bad... which apparently is quite common. Those bad instructors were sour, rude, and demeaning to me as a student pilot. Mats was the opposite. He's patient, nice, and accommodating. When I don't get it the first time he'll help me learn at my own pace without making me stress about those failures or mistakes. Regarding Flying Vikings -- the planes are not the newest but are well maintained... and the booking system is paper, not online. read more

After speaking with nearly a dozen flight schools in the area, I chose to pursue my private pilot license at Flying Vikings. They had flexible schedules to accommodate my needs, reasonable prices, and knowledgeable instructors. I did most of my flying with Mats but also went out with Alex as well. Both are top notch instructors. I took a few lessons elsewhere and found the instructors were quick to jump on the controls. I'm all for being shown the technique but I'll never learn if I'm sitting next to the person flying instead of doing it myself. Mats, on the other hand, let me make mistakes & learn from them. He only jumped on the controls when needed to keep us safe. Back on the ground, Alex put me through the ringer to be sure I was ready for my oral exam. Joe & Celine truly make it feel like a family business and it shows in the way they treat their students. Flying Vikings doesn't have the fanciest (or most expensive) planes and I prefer it that way. I wanted to learn to fly on round dials and transition to glass panel avionics afterward to ensure I'm competent with both. I was able to log my hours & learn the fundamentals for a fair price. After 67 flight hours in 58 days I passed my check ride on the first attempt. Many thanks to Mats, Celine, Joe, and Alex! Time to go learn to fly on instruments! read more

Not that I wasn't already, but going here made me the BEST GF ever!! ( it was actually said). I found a deal for Flying Vikings on LS. I yelped them before purchasing the deal to get a feel. The reviews were great, so I thought I'd give them a try. This was a surprise b-day present for the BF. The experience was great from the first phone call. I called before purchasing the LS deal to ask some questions. When I called back to book, I spoke w/ Joe. He was so personal-able and accommodating. We booked and as long as the weather was good, we were off and running. At what I felt was the last min, the BF needed to change the appt, and so I called Joe. I was worried this was going to be an issue but Joe assured me he'd look at his schedule and call me right back. And he did. He had something for that very sat. I was relieved. The day of the flight arrived and the place was easy to find and the people on the office were very nice. I was able to meet Joe, who by the way entertained me while the BF did his thing. The BF sat with a pilot, who was very nice and thorough, at the simulator, then was taken to the plane and shown/ given a hands on course of the planes safety procedures. Then they got in the plane and took off. They allowed me to go out with them and take pictures through all of this. When the BF got back, he had a huge smile on his face. He explained how cool it was to be in the air and where they went, what they did, and what they saw. He was like a little kid. I'm so glad he had a great time...though I think I've created a monster. He's now looking into a pilot's license. read more

BOTTOM LINE: Very good intro to flying. Easy going, professional, and friendly staff. I would definitely recommend Flying Vikings to my friends. MY EXPERIENCE: I just got out of my first lesson and it was scary and fun. I took it to gauge whether I would want a private license in the future. Verdict: yes. James was my instructor and working toward his commercial pilot's license. He was super informative and answered all my questions--and I ask a lot of random questions. :) He was an excellent instructor (relaxed, patient, clear, informative, nothing superfluous--exactly what I asked, made me feel safe). Joe was gracious in arranging my lesson appointment which had to be changed a couple of times due to weather. Nice people! read more

Got recommended to this school by an old friend of mine. My first ever flight with the Chief Instructor Mats was just magical for me! It was like a dream came true! After getting all my TSA Clearances and everything else done, I started my initial flight training with Mats! The school has been very understanding and helpful and worked with me on my financial situation. I'm not an international student but live in the community in the nearby city and it's hard to afford taking care of your family and yourself and doing flight training on the side. But never ever have I received any type of excess pressure to "pay up". They worked with me and understood that it's not a cheap thing to do. The availability of the planes is just great! I hear always what difficulties student pilots run into especially about availability on planes. I've honestly, never had any issues with getting a plane! (My lovebird is N4902F). I only flew three planes with them but didn't had any major issues with the planes. All planes are well maintained and all records are available at any time to see. Mats, my instructor with over 18000 flight hours taught me how to fly! I just did my first solo today and it was surely a special day for him as well to see his students go solo in the air! Great training, very easy to learn with him and he will teach how to fly a plane! Exceptional availability especially when I short call him the night before and he still got room for me lol. Go get your wings girls and boys! They got'em at the Vikings! read more

I rarely write reviews but as I came across Flying Vikings' Facebook page the other day I feel like I owe them a review because of how much I enjoyed my experience with them. I took the flying lesson out of an Amazon offer which was an amazing deal. I love flying but I have to admit I was nervous piloting a plane myself. Thanks to our patient and knowledgeable instructor Steve who gave us a very practical simulator lesson in preparation. He answered all our questions with more information than we asked for. The actual flight lesson was a little frightening to begin with due to my own nerves but once we were in the air I was loving every second of it. And apparently Steve had everything under control. I even almost landed successfully by myself. Also we got to meet the owner and the staff Joe, Celine, Mats who are very friendly and Joe even showed us around the facility. This is such an awesome and life-changing experience. read more

My wife did a lot of homework to surprise me for my bday. She stumbled upon the Flying Vikings in her search and was able to book me a 2 hour flight lesson (which was spectacular). Firstly, Joe (the gentleman who my wife was coordinating everything with) was a joy to work with. He was very accommodating and helped her understand the entire process and set expectations marvelously. When I arrived, we waited for my instructor and then got to work. The first part was via a simulator. It was quite informative and Bob, my instructor, went through a variety of details that both excited me as well as taught me a bunch. Then we went from the classroom to the tarmac. Bob and I jumped into our Cessna and went through the safety checks. Then we got clearance and off we went. Pretty much everything from take off to mid air I was in control (of course, Bob was there correcting my errors (with the passenger side controls). When it came to landing I got the plane set for its approach and once we were ready to land Bob took the helm and brought us in smooth (while ensuring I learned the ways of a pro every step of the way). The only thing I regret about the experience was not tipping Bob for such a great lesson. It totally slipped my mind, but hoping I will return to get some more lessons in (and even perhaps a certification one day). Highly recommended. read more

Great Yelp reviews, and after my experience, they were completely on point. After reading those, I also redeemed my LS coupon, but completed my instructional with James. He was equally impressive with his breadth of knowledge and engaging personality. Everyone from the owners Joe and Mats, to James the CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) the operation was everything you'd expect when you where about to put your life in their hands. My only advise to Yelp readers is to not judge this operation by their building or their planes. Everything from my experience was functionally sound, from scheduling, confirmation, and the actual visit. I would love to continue with Flying Vikings to get my private flight license, especially since they rent planes for that quick overnight jaunt out to Tahoe, Reno, or as the owner did, single engine flights back to Sweden!, just to say he did it!! read more

I had an awesome time today with James the flight instructor. After an hour of pre-flight weather-checking, map-checking, and landing-simulating, we took off for a trip around the east bay. Actually flying the plane was amazing - I'd played with flight simulators as a kid, but they don't prepare you for the visceral experience of actually being in the air controlling the plane. James the flight instructor was awesome overall. Laid-back, patient in answering my hundreds of questions, and clearly knows his stuff. A truly exhilarating experience! read more

I love Flying Vikings. Mat's is GREAT!!!! My son love's flying. I trust Mat's so much that he now flies alone with my 9 year old son and he is teaching him the basic's of flying a plane. Mat's nor I push my son. We are very gentle with his lessons. My son wants to be a pilot. The owners are very nice. All the positive reviews are real!!! You cannot go wrong!!! I am very happy that my son found Flying Vikings on Yelp. read more

Flying Vikings - Flight Instruction Near Me - Hayward, California

I got my private pilot license from Flying Vikings. My flight instructor was Mats. He's extremely experienced and super helpful. He has ~30 years flying experience. What I like best about Mats is that he let your learn by hand-on practice not bullshitting/briefing, which makes you learn fast and saving your money. I told him that I need to get my license in two months. Mats was doing everything he can do to help me achieving my goal. He also help me scheduled 2 check rides in desired timeframe. I would probably waste 30% more time and money if Mats wasn't my flight instructor. I highly recommend him. The owners are Joe and Saline. They are both very friendly and honest people. If, by any chance, they were any mistakes on your statement, Saline will spend time and help you correct those. They got 3 working Cessna 152s and ~2-3 172s. They have good equipments and computers too. Check out the photos too. Good luck and have fun flyings fellows! read more

See all

I've been flying with Flying Vikings since 2006 and its always been great. They helped me get some of my pilot licenses and now I teach there on a part time basis. This isn't a place to come fly fancy new airplanes, there is no need for that. All of their planes are airworthy and well maintained. If your wanting to get your private pilots license for cheap, like most pilots are, then you'll find the cheapest and well maintained Cessna's 172s in the Bay Area. There rates may be somewhere around the $125 mark, and that about 25/hr cheaper than other rentals at HWD or SQL. read more

Long overdue update since my demo flight in 2015. So I went back to Flying Vikings about a year after demo flight to get my pilot license. And I'm happy to report I'm a private pilot now! Everybody at school is very friendly and helpful but won't hesitate to enforce safety. My instructor was Mats, who is the chief instructor. I think we were a great match. I still laugh when I think about our lessons. He has tens of thousands of hours teaching experience, flew a Cessna 150 (or 152) from US to Sweden, emphasizes teaching core concepts before anything else. He is also one of those plane whisperer guys, who can tell a lot about the plane. Needless to say, the other instructors are the same quality. Joe and Celine who run the office make every effort to run the school smoothly. Another benefit to learning at Flying Vikings is the Hayward Executive. This is a big airport, has two runways, but relatively quiet. You can practice as if you are SFO :) 99% of the time there is no waiting on the ground for sequencing. If you go early mornings, you can even get the whole airport to yourself. Controllers are very friend. Practice area is near by. It is easy to go to cross country flying without too much traffic. I live in Sunnyvale, and it was worth driving there so I have more practice hours. Without hesitation, I went back to Flying Vikings for my IFR training :) read more

The place to go if you want a solid foundation in basic flight skills and principles. I investigated several schools before I committed, and this is "the one" in my opinion. This is the "no BS" school. Mats, my instructor / chief instructor, is very direct, helpful, and seems to tailor his teaching style to the student. I have conducted and managed a considerable amount of training in my professional career, and based on my experience, Mats is top notch. The other instructors are also highly experienced skilled aviators. Mat, by the way, has flown a single engine aircraft to and from Sweden on four occasions. On the business end, Celine and Joe run a tight ship; but they are extremely friendly and helpful toward students and prospective students. There is no pressure, and they are successful enough that they keep things affordable for the student. The aircraft are very basic, and they have their own team of certified, experienced mechanics who maintain the planes. They take pride in their work and it shows. No frills, just a strong basic aviation education. And they get results. read more

Our Flying Vikings experience was fantastic. I purchased a 2 hour introductory class for my wife on her birthday and she had a great experience. When we called everything was arranged and when we got there everything just went smooth. The instructor, Ryan, was very friendly and energetic and my wife had great experience through the ground training and then the flying experience. We are planning on going back for more classed and I plan on taking my introductory class soon. I would highly recommend taking flying classes with FlyingVikings. read more

My fiancée bought me a flying lesson coupon from LivingSocial and after a couple failed attempts at scheduling (not their fault: high winds, suddenly sick child) we were able to get a flight lesson in. We paid an extra $50 for my fiancée to be a passenger while I was being instructed. My flight instructor was Mats, a chill and friendly fellow. It was obvious he had flown for a long time and was easy to work with, took great time and care in answering any questions I had had. We took a big circuit over the east bay, and he let me handle the stick and pedals for nearly the entire flight (he took care of all the more complicated stuff). It was completely awesome. I am so going for a pilots license now. read more

I got the Living Social coupon a month or so back for the 2-hour introductory flight lesson with 30 minutes in the air. (I think Flying Vikings had the best deal since other places were more expensive for less time.) BEST LS PURCHASE EVER! Joe is the owner of this family-run business. He's a nice guy and accommodating on times, but a bit abrupt on the phone. Might have to call after 10:30 to get an answer on the business line. I am an engineer planning to take an exam that has a component testing some plane mechanic knowledge (which I have little of) so Joe assigned me to Ben, who was AWESOME! Ben turned out to be a mechanic and and really good instructor! He has been flying a long time and patiently explained how the plane worked, which in itself was worth the $80 coupon. Even though I was only going for an introductory class, he went into a lot of detail about good and bad practices and the mechanics of the parts of the plane, which I truly appreciated. He even let me get a good look at how I did on the flight simulator, since I like to look at graphs and charts. The 30 minute flight was my first time in a small Cessna, so it was an INCREDIBLE experience, especially when we took a few Zero-G dives. I was also allowed to take as much or little control of the plane as I wanted, although I was a bit nervous and excited from the new experience so I probably didn't maximize this chance. Long story short, greatest thing ever! And ask for Ben. As soon as I have $5-6k lying around, I just might come back to get a pilot's license! read more

My girlfriend took me here with a Living Social deal (two hour introductory flying course). Our instructor was James and he is good at what he does. The highlight for me was the actual flying portion of the course. I got to fly the plane for a lot longer than what I had expected. I was able to control the plane's altitude by about 1000 feet, steer left and right, and even correct for bumps and turbulence. With zero flying experience, this is pretty exhilirating. I also enjoyed the informational part of the course, which focused on weather, air traffic, and how everything functions in the cockpit. read more

First Class facility,Ace Flight Instructors. Im currently taking the classes to become a single engine pilot and loving it. The entire staff is friendly and very knowlegeable. Safety is first and foremost here which suites me just fine. Highly recommended read more

I bought a Living Social deal for a Two Hour Introductory Lesson for my friend and myself almost 2 years ago, and we only just used them this summer and had a great time. Actually, the deal I bought expired about this time last year, but Joe, the owner, still let us redeem them as if they was still valid - props to him for taking that extra step to make sure we had a good experience and not focusing on only the money. Our instructor was Jonathan, who was very knowledgeable, patient, and clear when it came to teaching us. We started off on the simulator and did a pretty bad job in my opinion. Jonathan was encouraging the whole time, but I thought there was no way he would actually let us fly a real plane. But 20 minutes later, we were running a pre-flight inspection on our plane and, before we knew it, were on the run-way ready for take-off. Believe it or not, the flying was easier than the simulator. Jonathan let us do most of the flying as well and only really jumped in to control throttle during the flight and landing after the flight. Everything else, from take-off to turns, ascent and descent, we did ourselves following Jonathan's guidance. It was perfect that Jonathan was calm and always gave good directions, along with explanations for why we were doing certain maneuvers. Overall, we had a great time, and I think their introductory lesson is sure to be a fun time for anyone interested in trying their hand at flying. If their actual courses are anything like the lesson we had with Jonathan, I'm sure they are very valuable for serious learners. Thanks again Joe and Jonathan! read more

Got this as a surprise gift for my boyfriend and after many cancellations due to weather finally got to do it . Ryan was the instructor and he was fabulous and thoroughly informative. Flying Vikings is a small co. but gave a great gift at a reasonable price IF you use a Group on or social media deal.. .Now he's wants to get his pilots license!..Great experience and good communication both from owner and Ryan. read more

Joe was great in scheduling me despite being past the expiration date of my lesson. Very nice people.

Love these guys. Very down to earth on the ground and very professional in the air. Got a tour of ops in the hanger from Daniel while waiting for our instructor, Mats. My son actually got some flying time in on his first lesson and we got it officially logged in the his brand new book. We will be back for more lessons. read more

I had an INCREDIBLE flight over Hayward, across the hills and then back towards the Bay. The Flying Vikings makes the experience very informative and of course exhilirating. I liked understanding the weather considerations all pilots go through. I flew with James -- a very nice person to have your first flight experience with. He is calm, cool and collected. I highly recommend having this experience with The Flying Vikings. You will be so happy you tried it. read more

I learned to fly from Mats at Flying Vikings back in 1998. It was a great experience and I would recommend Flying Vikings to anyone interested in flying. I have the utmost confidence in their commitment to safety. After getting my license, I continued to rent planes from Flying Vikings and had many memorable Bay tours in Cessnas and Pipers with friends. It was just an awesome experience and a great way to see the incredible sights all around the Bay Area. read more

Great outfit! I took my son for a flight lesson last week as he has always wanted to get up in the air and fly. Steven was a great instructor and we had a blast. Looking forward to getting back out there as this is a top notch company. Marc read more

Great experience from friendly, knowledgeable people. Even if you do not want to persue a pilot license, the experience is worth every penny. clay read more

Had a great experience with the Flying Vikings! First off - Joe was very accommodating with scheduling, and hooked me up with Instructor Tony who was great. Tony took me through all of the pre-flight inspections and prep, and then it was off to the wild blue yonder! The setup is great with the Instructor right alongside with ability to coax and/or take over to ensure a safe and instructive experience. Take off was surreal and exhilarating. Fun to immediately use what you're learning to control the plane and make turns of various types - and what a view! Landing was really interesting - lining up the approach while decreasing speed ... this seemed like the tricky part to me (ensuring enough speed, touching down at the right spot, etc.). All went terrifically smoothly, and I definitely recommend to anyone interested in learning more and enjoying the freeing experience. read more

Flying Vikings is wonderful. Ryan, our instructor excited to teach and did so expertly. Joe, coordinating the details, also warm and instructive. Took my teenage daughter for an extravagant treat and worth every penny, as I sat in the back. They gave some tips and resources to further her interest in aviation and led by example showing how exciting the field is. Check them out!! read more

I just took a 2 hour introductory flight lesson today with James the CFI. The whole lesson was great! I was shown how pilots check for weather conditions, flight restrictions, etc. I was then placed in front of a flight simulator and actually got a chance to land the plane myself. I made it without crashing! We then got into a Cessna 2 seater and took off. James got us airborn and then let me take ove the controls for most of the flight until we were ready to land. I was allowed to keep my hands on the flight controls while James was manuvering so that I could get a sense of what he was doing. The experience was fantastic. James was very cool and relaxed with just the right touch of humor. I felt very comjfortable and confident with him guiding me through the air over the east bay hills and back to the Hayward airport If you ever want to experience flight in a small private airplane, give Flying Vikings a call. Joe the director of Operations and his wife Celine are the kind of people you would like to get to know. Everyone was very friendly. Don't wait, just go do it !. . read more

Like others, I had been giving a 2 hour flight lesson as a gift. Joe was very helpful in scheduling the flight and explaining everything. My instructor was Bob and it was a wonderful time. The simulator was fascinating and enough to get me going. The flight was smooth the whole experience was good. read more

Very happy with the whole experience. Went because my girlfriend bought me an experience flight. Joe was very pleasant when I arrived and chatted for a bit with him and other pilots. My instructor was Bob and I couldn't have been happier with his teaching. He has over 30 years military, commercial, and private hours under his belt and he's flown so many different aircraft and hearing his stories was just as exciting. Preflight he discussed weather patterns, flight rules, and general items that you would need to cover before filing a flight plan. We then went to the simulator and gave me great instruction there detailing the instruments, their role, and had me do some simulation take off, turns, and landings. Then went into the airplane and flew around for about 45 minutes letting me take control during turns and keeping our waypoint to the airport. When we landed he gave me some amazing tips to keep learning and to pursue my goal of my private license. Although Bob was super buy that day with 4 other lessons, I never felt rushed or that he lacked interest in me learning to fly. I would highly recommend Bob an an CFI and have Flying Vikings is on my short list in schools in case I continue my lessons. read more