Discovery Flight

Take the controls. Find out if this is yours.

Name: Superior Flying Services
Address: 4804 Hammond Ave, Superior, WI, 54880, US
Telephone: 715-394-6444
Price range: $$

A Discovery Flight at Superior Flying Services is a real introductory lesson, not a sightseeing ride — you sit at the controls of one of our Cessna 172s with an FAA-certified flight instructor beside you the whole way. There is a moment a few minutes after takeoff when the instructor takes their hands off the yoke and the airplane is genuinely yours. It costs $125, the time you log counts toward your pilot license, and nothing about it commits you to anything after you land.

Book a Discovery Flight — $125 Speak to an advisor

Buying it for someone? Ask about gifting a Discovery Flight →

Price: $125
It counts: Logged; first entry in your logbook
Requirements: None; no experience, no medical
Your instructor: Calvin Kramp

Everyone’s nervous.

The first-timer in the parking lot right now is nervous. The airline captain was nervous on her first lesson too.

Your instructor’s hands are on the controls with yours, and they never leave.

Nervous means you’re paying attention. Good — pilots pay attention.

Your first takeoff

On a screen it’s a scroll.
In the left seat it’s a throttle.

Hold short Your instructor runs the checklist out loud. Nothing is skipped.
Throttle Throttle forward — the runway blurs.
55 knots Around 55 knots, you pull back. Gently. That’s all it takes.
Liftoff The ground lets go of you.
500 feet Most people are grinning before 500 feet. You’ll see.

Book a Discovery Flight — $125

The left seat is the pilot’s seat. It’s yours.

Before you fly

The pre-takeoff checklist.

Every item self-checks. There is nothing to prepare and nothing to prove.

Discovery flight · all items checked

Experience None needed. That’s the point of this flight.
Medical Not required for a discovery flight.
Nerves Normal. Expected. Handled.
Weather Your instructor’s call — if it’s not right, you reschedule.
Camera Bring it. The view is yours to keep.

What to expect

Your Discovery Flight, step by step

Before you fly

You meet your instructor, walk around the airplane with them and see what a preflight inspection actually involves, then sit down for a few minutes to talk about where you’d like to go and what you’ll do once you’re up.
In the air

You’re in the left seat. Your instructor works the radio and handles the takeoff, then hands you the controls — turns, climbs, descents, and whatever the Twin Ports and Lake Superior look like out the window that day. The airplane has dual controls, so your instructor can take over instantly at any point.
Back on the ramp

We land, shut down and log the flight — that time counts toward your license. Then we answer whatever you want to ask about cost, timeline and what a realistic next step looks like. There is no sales pitch waiting for you at the end of it.
Book a Discovery Flight — $125 Speak to an advisor

A pilot in a headset flying from the left seat of a training aircraft, hands on the yoke, the instrument panel lit ahead of him.

Superior Flying Services · Discovery Flight

$125

No experience needed · you take the controls

Superior, Wisconsin (Twin Ports — 15 minutes from Duluth, MN)

Good to know

A real introduction — not a joyride

A Discovery Flight is designed to help you experience the aircraft, the instructor, and the training environment before committing to a larger plan. If you decide flying is for you, it's also how you judge us — the airplane, the instructor, and whether our approach fits how you want to learn.

Also on offer

Adventure Flights

Not sure you want to sign up for flight training yet? Discovery and Adventure Flights are a way of testing the water — and the time counts toward your flight hours.

A real flight over the Twin Ports and the Lake Superior shore
A certified instructor in the right seat the whole way
The time you log counts toward a pilot certificate

Ask us about an Adventure Flight

A deck of cumulus cloud seen from above from the cockpit of an aircraft in cruise, with clear blue sky over the top of it.

Discovery Flight questions

Do I need any previous experience to start?

No. Most people who walk in here have never touched an airplane, and nothing about a first lesson assumes you have. A Discovery Flight is built for exactly that: you take the controls with a certified flight instructor beside you the whole time.

What is a Discovery Flight?

A Discovery Flight is a real introductory lesson, not a scenic ride — you sit at the controls of one of our Cessna 172s with an FAA-certified flight instructor next to you. It is $125, and the time you log counts toward your pilot license.

Is it safe?

Training aircraft are built for exactly this. Our Cessna 172s and the Piper Seneca have dual controls, so your instructor can take over instantly at any moment, and every airplane is maintained in our own hangar here on the field rather than shipped out to a shop. We also cancel for weather without argument — a lesson is easy to move, and no instructor here will fly you into conditions they aren’t comfortable in.

How do I get started?

Call us at 715-394-6444, or send the form on this site and we will call you back. From there the first step is a Discovery Flight: $125, one flight, one instructor, and time that counts toward your license.

Can friends or family come and watch?

Yes — bring them. Family and friends are welcome to come along and wait inside, and most first-timers want somebody there for the landing. Let us know how many are coming, and check with us on arrival about where they can stand, since ramp access depends on what is happening on the field that day.