Flight School at Redlands Municipal Airport (KREI)
1745 Sessums Drive, Unit 160, Redlands, CA 92374 951-468-9700
A non-towered general aviation field on the eastern edge of the Inland Empire. FAA Part 61 training only. Our specialty location for high-altitude endorsement and mountain flying.
30 minutes from Big Bear at 6,752 feet MSL. The edge of the San Bernardino National Forest.
Book a Discovery Flight from Redlands | See Training Programs
About the airport
Non-towered, 1,571 feet MSL, single 4,500-foot runway (08/26). CTAF 122.7 MHz. Pilots manage their own traffic separation by radio and visual scan. The airport experience most GA pilots will encounter throughout their careers.
Field facts:
- Non-towered · strong radio discipline and traffic-pattern awareness without a controller as backup
- 4,500-foot runway · sufficient for all single-engine training in our Cessna and Piper fleet
- GPS/RNAV approaches · full-featured instrument training
- Direct mountain access · Big Bear (KL35) is 25 minutes by air; Apple Valley (KAPV) is 20 minutes
- Diverse terrain · valley to mountain flying within a single training flight (rare in GA)
Why non-towered matters
A non-towered field changes how you learn to fly.
At a towered field, ATC tells you when to enter the pattern, what runway to use, when you’re cleared to land. At a non-towered field, you make those decisions. You announce your position, scan for traffic, make your own go/no-go calls.
The FAA expects every PPL holder to operate competently at both. Students who train primarily at towered airports often struggle their first time at a CTAF field. Redlands students don’t.
The high-altitude specialty
This is what we’re known for at Redlands. The reason students from other California flight schools come here for the endorsement.
Why it matters in California
Mount San Gorgonio rises to 11,503 feet, less than 30 miles from KREI.
Big Bear City Airport (KL35) sits at 6,752 feet MSL. On a hot summer afternoon, density altitude can exceed 10,000 feet. Pilots who haven’t trained for these conditions get into serious trouble. Pilots who have don’t.
What we train
- Density altitude operations · performance math, real takeoff and landing rolls at high-elevation fields, when to abort
- Mountain weather · rotors, mountain wave, valley winds, sudden cloud development, the practical reading of mountain weather products
- Canyon and ridge crossing · 45-degree angle approaches, escape routes, never trusting a downdraft
- High-elevation airport operations · pattern altitudes, lean for takeoff, performance-limited departures
- Pilot physiology · supplemental oxygen requirements, hypoxia recognition
Where we fly it
Big Bear City (KL35), Apple Valley (KAPV), and other density-altitude fields in the San Bernardino range. Real airplane, real airports, real conditions. Not a simulator exercise.
Who needs it
- Pilots flying west of the Rockies · California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana
- Career-track pilots · airline interview panels know high-altitude/mountain time when they see it
- Aircraft owners · anyone planning to fly the Sierras or Rockies
- FAR 61.31(g) · required for pressurized aircraft above 25,000 feet
High Altitude Endorsement details →
Programs at Redlands
Redlands runs Part 61 only:
- Private Pilot (Part 61)
- Instrument Rating (Part 61)
- Commercial Pilot (Part 61)
- CFI / CFII
- High Altitude Endorsement · our specialty
- High Performance & Complex · by scheduling
Not offered at Redlands (transition to Riverside for these):
- Multi-Engine Rating · KRAL
- MEI · KRAL
- Part 141 structured training · KRAL
- ATP checkride prep · KRAL
Fleet emphasis
Cessna 172 and Piper Warrior for primary and cross-country. Access to the broader fleet through coordination with Riverside as your training stage requires.
Who trains here
- Mountain and high-altitude students · flying in from elsewhere in California for the endorsement
- Inland Empire locals · Redlands, Yucaipa, Highland, Loma Linda, Beaumont, Banning
- Working adults with shorter commutes from the eastern Inland Empire
- Students who want non-towered training first · often because they intend to base out of a rural or uncontrolled field
Getting here
- San Bernardino: 15 minutes via the 210 or 10
- Riverside: 30 to 40 minutes via the 60 / 215 / 10
- Palm Springs: 45 to 60 minutes via the 10
- Orange County: 75 to 90 minutes via the 91 / 60 / 10
Discovery flights from KREI
Different experience than Riverside. San Bernardino Mountains up close, fly toward Big Bear Lake, feel the mountain flying that defines this campus.
Book a Discovery Flight from Redlands
Next steps
- Schedule a discovery flight
- Call us at 951-468-9700
- Stop by · 1745 Sessums Drive, Unit 160, Redlands, CA 92374
If high-altitude flying is why you’re here, ask for the endorsement program when you call. We’ll match you with a CFI who teaches it.
