Socal Pilot CenterFAA-certificated Part 141 pilot school in Thermal, California
Socal Pilot Center is listed by the FAA as a certificated 14 CFR Part 141 pilot school at 56-850 Higgins Drive in Thermal, California 92274, under air agency certificate SPCS024M with location designator SPCS. The certificate covers this single location in the FAA list. The address falls in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metropolitan statistical area.
The nearest public-use airport in the FAA's NASR database (effective 6 August 2026) is Jacqueline Cochran Regional (KTRM) at Palm Springs, a non-towered field at -114 ft elevation, 11 miles from the school's listed address. The listed address is 11 miles from that field, so it may be an administrative or campus address rather than the ramp; ask the school where its training aircraft are actually based. The Census geocoder could not match the FAA street address to a rooftop, so this distance is measured from the 92274 ZIP-code centroid and is approximate. No public-use airport lies within 10 miles of the listed address.
Within 100 miles the FAA lists at least five other Part 141 locations; the closest is Executive Flight Institute in Murrieta, CA at 59 miles, followed by Fallbrook Flight Academy in Fallbrook at 64 miles. California has 64 FAA-listed Part 141 locations in this snapshot, ranking #3 of 51 states and territories, with the largest clusters in San Jose (6), Long Beach (4) and Riverside (4). 1 of the California entries has no dedicated page because the FAA record lacks a usable address.
The FAA record carries an agency phone number, (760) 989-4525, and an agency email, info@socalpilotcenter.com; it carries no website, so the contact details above are the only ones the FAA publishes for this location. Certification under Part 141 means the FAA has approved the school's training course outlines, facilities and chief-instructor arrangements and inspects them; it is not a quality ranking, and it does not by itself mean the school is VA-approved for GI Bill funding or accredited for federal student aid.
FAA record: Socal Pilot Center
- FAA designator
- SPCS
- Air agency certificate
- SPCS024M
- Locations on certificate
- 1 FAA-listed location
- City / state
- Thermal, California
- Listed address
- 56-850 Higgins Drive, Thermal, CA 92274Google MapsApple Mapsto the ZIP centroid
- Metro area
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
- Nearest public airport
- KTRM Jacqueline Cochran Regional, Palm Springs
- Distance to airport
- 11 mi (17.9 km), from ZIP centroid
- Public airports in 10 mi
- 0
- Agency phone (FAA)
- (760) 989-4525
- Agency email (FAA)
- info@socalpilotcenter.com
- Part 141 peers in 100 mi
- 5, nearest 59 mi
- California total
- 64 FAA-listed locations (#3 of 51 states)
- FAA data updated
- 24 Aug 2026
Registry fields as reported by the FAA on 24 Aug 2026. Airport and peer distances computed from the geocoded address (ZIP-centroid approximation). Individuals named in the FAA record (liaison, accountable manager) are not published.
Socal Pilot Center is the amber ring; the navy pins are the 5 nearest Part 141 locations. Position is the ZIP centroid, not the street address. The interactive chart adds KTRM as the amber circle.
Chart tiles: OpenFreeMap, OpenMapTiles, data from OpenStreetMap. Boundaries: US Census Bureau cartographic boundary files (public domain). School positions: US Census geocoder; airfields: FAA NASR.
Nearest other Part 141 schools
| School | City / state | Distance | Designator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Executive Flight Institute | Murrieta, CA | 59 mi | 2EIS |
| Fallbrook Flight Academy | Fallbrook, CA | 64 mi | 9FBS |
| California Flight Academy | El Cajon, CA | 67 mi | CLWS |
| Golden State Flying Club | El Cajon, CA | 67 mi | BL8S |
| Sling Pilot Academy | El Cajon, CA | 67 mi | 9AAS |
Straight-line distances between listed addresses. See all California schools on the California page or the national Part 141 directory.
What flight training costs in California
State-level ranges from the California flight school cost page; this school's own pricing is not in the FAA record. For the Part 141 versus Part 61 cost mechanics see Part 141 vs Part 61, and for the GI Bill's PPL gap see financing options.
Primary sources
- AV-Info Find a Facility: 14 CFR Part 141 Pilot Schools. Federal Aviation Administration, data updated 24 Aug 2026, captured 28 August 2026. https://www.faa.gov/av-info/facility-dashboard
- Part 141 pilot schools (regulatory overview). Federal Aviation Administration, accessed August 2026. https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airline_certification/pilotschools
- NASR 28-day subscription, airport data (APT_BASE), effective 6 August 2026. FAA Aeronautical Information Services, accessed August 2026. https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/aero_data/NASR_Subscription/
- Census Geocoder (batch, Public_AR_Current benchmark). US Census Bureau, run 28 August 2026. https://geocoding.geo.census.gov/geocoder/