Discovery Flight

Take the controls on your very first flight.

A Discovery Flight at Blue Horizon Aviation is your first real flight lesson, flown out of Grand Strand Airport in North Myrtle Beach with a Certified Flight Instructor beside you. You take the controls and fly the airplane yourself — that is the entire point of it. The time is loggable toward your license, and it starts at $99 in a Cessna 172 or $199 in a Cirrus SR20, with nothing to commit to afterwards.

Book a first flight — $99–⁠$199 Get My Flight Plan

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

Price: $99–$199
Time: About an hour
It counts: Logged; first entry in your logbook
Requirements: None; no experience, no medical
Your instructor: Pat Talty

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 — 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 first flight — $99–⁠$199

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 at Grand Strand Airport and walk the airplane together — the preflight inspection every pilot does before every flight. You will hear what the flight is going to look like and get the chance to ask anything, including the questions people feel silly asking.
In the air

Once you are airborne, the controls are yours. Turns, climbs, descents — real flying, with a Certified Flight Instructor beside you and a second set of controls in front of them the whole time.
Back on the ramp

We shut down, log the flight time toward your license, and talk through what you did well. If you want to know what the rest of the certificate would cost and how long it would take, we will write the estimate out for you then and there — and if you would rather go home and think about it, that is a completely normal way to end the day.
Book a first flight — $99–⁠$199 Get My Flight Plan

Two people seated side by side in the cockpit of a red Cirrus, hands on the controls

Blue Horizon Aviation · Discovery Flight

$99–$199

No experience needed · you take the controls

North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (Grand Strand)

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.

Discovery Flight questions

Do I need any previous experience to start?

No — none at all. You need to be at least 17 to hold a Private Pilot certificate and able to speak, read and write English; that is the whole list. Most of our students start with a $99 Discovery Flight having never touched an airplane.

What is a Discovery Flight?

It is your first real flight lesson, and it costs $99 in a Cessna 172 or $199 in a Cirrus SR20. A Certified Flight Instructor flies with you and you take the controls yourself — this is not a sightseeing ride. The time is loggable toward your license, and there is nothing to commit to afterwards.

Is it safe?

Yes. Every training flight has a Certified Flight Instructor beside you with a full second set of controls, and our four Cirrus SR-series aircraft are fitted with CAPS — the whole-airframe parachute system that can bring the entire airplane down under canopy. We also fly the simulator hard so that weather and emergencies are things you have already handled before they ever happen in the air, and we do not launch into weather that is not right for the lesson.

How do I get started?

Send us your name and number, or call (843) 360-3690 — an instructor will get back to you, and five minutes on the phone is usually enough to know whether this is for you. The first thing almost everyone does is book a Discovery Flight.

Can friends or family come and watch?

Bring them — a first flight is worth having someone there for, and the photographs are better when someone else is taking them. Where exactly they can wait depends on the ramp rules that day, so mention it when you book and we will sort out the best spot for them to watch from.