About NextGen Flying Academy
NextGen Flying Academy is a Part 61 flight school operating at Riverside Municipal Airport (KRAL) and Redlands Municipal Airport (KREI). Part 141 structured training is available at Riverside. We train students for every FAA pilot certificate from Private through Airline Transport, plus the endorsements that matter for Southern California flying: high-performance, complex, and high-altitude.
What we do
We teach people how to fly. That’s the whole job, and we take it seriously.
Our students fall into three groups:
- Career-track pilots working toward the airlines or corporate aviation. Most are between 17 and 30, often coming straight from high school or a college aviation program, and they need hours, ratings, and a structured path to 1,500 hours.
- Working adults earning a Private Pilot Certificate for travel, business, or personal flying. They train evenings and weekends, take 6 to 12 months, and treat the cockpit as the reward at the end of a hard week.
- Aviation enthusiasts chasing an endorsement, a flight review, or the joy of flying over Southern California with a CFI in the right seat.
Our curriculum is the same regardless of which group you’re in. The pacing changes. The standards don’t.
How we’re set up
Two airports under one academy
Riverside Municipal (KRAL) is our primary location. It’s a towered Class D field with a 5,401-foot runway, full Part 141 syllabus availability, and the largest training fleet between Long Beach and Palm Springs. Multi-engine training happens here. Career-track students typically base their training out of Riverside.
Redlands Municipal (KREI) is our second campus. It’s a non-towered field on the eastern edge of the Inland Empire, 30 minutes from Big Bear, and the natural gateway to high-altitude and mountain flying. Redlands runs Part 61 training only.
Single curriculum, two airports, students can transition between locations during training if it suits their schedule or career goals.
FAA-approved training
We use a Gleim-based syllabus aligned to current FAA Airman Certification Standards (ACS). Ground school runs on a rolling schedule so written-test prep doesn’t bottleneck flying. Stage checks are conducted by our Chief Instructor.
The fleet, generally
We train in piston singles and twins typical of a serious flight school: Cessna 152 and Cessna 172 for primary and cross-country, Piper Warrior for primary alternates, Piper Cherokee Arrow (PA-28R) for complex and commercial requirements, Beechcraft Duchess (BE-76) for multi-engine, plus a Redbird simulator configured for instrument procedures and multi-engine emergencies. We don’t advertise tail numbers because fleet composition shifts with maintenance and demand. We schedule what your training stage requires.
Why train with NextGen Flying Academy
Weather that lets you actually fly
Southern California’s Inland Empire averages 280 to 320 VFR days per year, according to NOAA climatology data for Riverside and Redlands. That’s not marketing language. It’s the difference between a 6-month PPL and an 18-month PPL. Students who book consistently finish on schedule because the weather rarely cancels.
Airspace variety that prepares you for any cockpit
A 30-mile radius from KRAL includes:
- Class B airspace at Ontario (KONT), San Diego (KSAN), and Los Angeles (KLAX)
- Class C at March Air Reserve Base (KRIV)
- Class D at Riverside (KRAL), Redlands (KREI), Chino (KCNO), Corona (KAJO), and Long Beach (KLGB)
- Mountainous terrain rising past 11,000 feet in the San Bernardino and San Gabriel ranges
- Pacific coastline for Catalina, Avalon, and over-water training
- High-density altitude airports at Big Bear (KL35) and Apple Valley (KAPV)
Career-track students leave with airline-ready exposure to airspace they’ll encounter in any Part 121 operation.
Specialized in high-altitude operations
The high-altitude endorsement is required by FAR 61.31(g) for any aircraft with a service ceiling above 25,000 feet. More practically, mountain and density-altitude training is what separates pilots who can operate safely west of the Rockies from pilots who can’t. We train it as a discrete program with both ground and flight components, and we’re geographically positioned to do it for real. Our students fly density-altitude profiles at Big Bear City Airport (elevation 6,752 feet MSL) and Apple Valley as part of the syllabus, not as a one-off.
Instructors who teach for a living
Our CFI staff includes Certified Flight Instructors (CFI), Instrument Instructors (CFII), and Multi-Engine Instructors (MEI). Our Chief Pilot and Assistant Chief Pilot hold all three. We hire instructors who teach because they want to teach, not because they need the hours and they’ll be gone in three months. Instructor consistency is one of the largest predictors of training quality, and we protect it.
What we’re not
We’re not the largest flight school in California. We’re not a 200-student academy that hands you off to a different CFI every lesson. We’re also not a single-airplane part-time operation. We’re a focused training organization at two productive airports, with enough fleet and instructor capacity to keep your training moving, and enough size restraint to keep instruction personal.
How to start
The simplest path is a discovery flight. Thirty to sixty minutes in the left seat, a CFI in the right seat, and a Southern California landmark of your choice. You’ll know within an hour whether this is for you.
After that, contact us to discuss your goals, your timeline, and your budget. We’ll walk you through program selection, financing options through Stratus Financial and others, and ground school scheduling.
