Sling Pilot Academy

★☆☆☆☆ 1 out of 5 3 months ago

Terrible neighbor for the west side, their pilots choose to fly over the dense neighborhoods of the area instead of flying down the major road corridors

Daniel.Marsh117

★★★★★ 5 out of 5 6 months ago

Sling Pilot Academy is an outstanding flight school and a truly professional organization. Our high school students from Dunn School participated in a custom program with Sling, and the entire experience was incredibly well-run from start to finish. We traveled down from the Central Valley and spent three full days in Santa Monica. Sling set our students up with real flight lessons and flights, time in the flight simulator, and even helped coordinate an amazing control tower visit. The staff was knowledgeable, organized, patient, and clearly passionate about aviation, which made a huge difference for our students. Our group learned a ton about airplanes, flight training, and what it actually takes to become a pilot. If you’re looking for a high-quality flight school or a group aviation experience, I highly recommend Sling Pilot Academy.

Duarte Carreiro

★★★★★ 5 out of 5 6 months ago

I had a great time on my tour of the Sling Academy. Not only did I get to go up and fly, but everyone I talked to was comfortable and friendly and knowledgeable. However what impressed me the most was how approachable and encouraging the program is. Sling has built the school to focus on safety, efficiency, and community. Where advanced students are involved with teaching what they know to he new students, which not only builds camaraderie and teamwork, but gives those doing the teaching an extremely robust understanding of the information they learned. Sling is also dedicated to making sure everyone has the tools they need to learn, with unlimited on the ground one on one instruction, and free access to the basic simulator. To be honest, going into the tour, I wasn’t seriously considering enrolling in the program. But now I am. It feels like the type of opportunity straight out of a movie. Something that doesn’t happen to real people in real life. Least of all average every day people like me. But, they have gotten my attention in the best way possible, because that’s exactly what the Sling Pilot Academy is offering.

Lisa Benden

★☆☆☆☆ 1 out of 5 7 months ago

1 Star — Community Impact Review I live directly under the Santa Monica Airport traffic pattern, and since Sling Pilot Academy expanded operations in 2025, the number of low-altitude training loops over our neighborhood has increased dramatically. Dozens of repetitive overflights occur each day, creating significant noise, stress, and health impacts for residents — especially on Sunset Ave between Lincoln and 7th. This review isn’t about Sling’s training quality or customer experience. It’s about the community impact of concentrated flight-training activity over dense residential areas. I hope Sling works with the City of Santa Monica, the FAA, and local residents to reduce the frequency of these low-altitude loops or shift them away from homes. UPDATE / RESPONSE TO OWNER’S COMMENT: Just to clarify for anyone reading — I am not an “anti-aviation activist.” I am a local resident describing the very real increase in low-altitude training loops over our homes since 2025. This review is not about Sling’s training quality; it is about the community impact of concentrated flight-training over a dense residential neighborhood. Many of my neighbors are experiencing the same disruptions, which is why this issue matters to our community. I hope Sling will work with the FAA, the City of Santa Monica, and nearby residents to reduce the frequency of these repetitive low-altitude loops or distribute them more fairly.

Nicholas Johnson

★★★★★ 5 out of 5 a year ago

I was trying to find a pilot academy for my nephew as he was not loving his restaurant job and having trouble finding passion for something, I have another friend who's a pilot but overseas, so thought I'd do some searching. I loved the attention to detail and sense of community with Sling and also happy to hear they put safety first. My nephew is now on his way to becoming certified! Thank you Sling, I couldn't recommend this Academy more highly.

Jacqueline Chambers