Island hopping
Northern Michigan
Trade the same old airport loop for blue water, wooded islands, shoreline strips, and the kind of flying you will still talk about years from now.
Explore this routeMade in Michigan • Built for the backcountry
Adventure flying•Michigan
Chase
Horizons.
Vintage airplanes. Pine-lined shorelines. Unforgettable hours in the logbook.
Great Lakes coastlines
Pine-country strips
Vintage aircraft
Unforgettable routes
Choose your trail
Flying should feel like an adventure.
Great Lakes Aviation Adventures turns time in the air into stories worth keeping—whether you are chasing hours, coastlines, or your next great landing.
Time building
Cross-Country
Build meaningful cross-country experience through purposeful routes, real planning, changing weather, and a vintage airplane that makes every leg count.
Explore this routeYour adventure
Custom Routes
Have a destination, rating goal, or bucket-list route in mind? We shape custom trips around the kind of experience you want in your logbook.
Explore this routeRemote strips • Real routes • Great Lakes
Time building, reimagined
Make the hours mean something.
There is a difference between filling a logbook and building experience. Our trips are designed around route planning, cross-country decision-making, new airports, and the kind of flying that keeps you sharp and curious.
- 01 Purposeful cross-country routes
- 02 Great Lakes destinations and remote strips
- 03 Custom plans built around your goals
Pilot eligibility, instruction needs, aircraft roles, and logging arrangements are confirmed before every trip.
Talk through your flying goalsSkills you build
More capability in every mile.
GLAA adventures combine practical aircraft skills, independent trip preparation, and real cross-border operating experience that cannot be learned by flying the same local loop.
Navigation & aircraft skills
- Low-Altitude Technical Navigation (LATN)
- Long-range flight planning
- ADF navigation using AM broadcast stations
- Real-world dead reckoning
- Tailwheel endorsement
- Spin training
- Ski flying
- Turbine transition training
International & cross-border operations
- FIR boundary crossings
- Border crossings into Canada
- Aircraft journey-log procedures
- Border-crossing and pre-trip checklists
- General declaration forms
Independent expedition operations
- Hand-propping procedures
- Self-dispatching
- Self-handling
- Navigational charts provided
Specific training and international operations depend on the route, aircraft, instructor availability, season, weather, and pilot qualifications.
Why fly with GLAA
Genuine flying. Honest pricing. Experience that transfers.
We built GLAA for pilots who want their time and money to create real capability—not just another number in the logbook.
A dry rate that works for the pilot
You pay for the airplane and purchase the fuel you actually use at the local pump price. We do not bundle fuel into a wet rate so we can add a margin. That keeps the pricing transparent and gives you more control over the total cost.
Real navigation when the easy tools disappear
Scenario-based training can prepare you for the loss of GPS or moving-map guidance, requiring a disciplined return to VOR navigation, pilotage, dead reckoning, outside references, and sound cockpit resource management.
Routes with a purpose
Instead of repeating the same local loop, you plan and fly meaningful cross-country routes involving unfamiliar airports, grass strips, changing weather, real fuel decisions, and—when the trip allows—cross-border procedures.
Stick-and-rudder flying
The Aeronca Champ rewards coordination, energy management, wind awareness, and thoughtful landings. It is honest tailwheel flying that strengthens the fundamentals behind every airplane you fly next.
Instruction built around you
Every flight block includes required instruction and is shaped around your experience, goals, and decision-making—not a one-size-fits-all hour-building script.
Adventure without the luxury markup
We focus on memorable aviation, practical learning, and accessible pricing. The value comes from better flying and better preparation—not unnecessary add-ons.
Simple, transparent rates
Fly more. Pay less per hour.
Choose the time-building block that fits your goals. Flight instruction is required for every flight block.
Aircraft dry rate
Aircraft dry rate
Aircraft dry rate
Required for every flight block
Dry-rate pricing: Fuel is not included. Pilots are responsible for the fuel used during their flight time.
Tailwheel endorsement: Included when you complete 25 or more flight hours. For programs under 25 hours, a tailwheel endorsement is available for an additional $500.
Meet the fleet
Meet the 1946 Aeronca Champ.
Our 1946 Aeronca Champ 7AC is the first airplane in a growing adventure fleet—and exactly the kind of airplane that makes you remember why you learned to fly.
1946
Vintage year
7AC
Aeronca Champ
2 seats
Tandem seating
85 HP
Classic simplicity
Low, slow, honest flying. Big windows. Tailwheel character. She is built for wandering Michigan shorelines, finding grass strips, and making every hour feel earned.
Fly the Champ01 First in the fleet
How it works
Your next adventure is three steps away.
Choose the adventure
Tell us whether you are chasing destinations, cross-country time, or a completely custom route.
Plan the route
We shape the trip around the airplane, weather, your experience, and what you want from the journey.
Chase horizons
Show up ready to fly, explore, learn, and leave with more than another number in the logbook.
Why we fly
Built by pilots who never stopped being adventurers.
Great Lakes Aviation Adventures was born from a simple belief: the best flying happens when the route itself becomes the story. We are building a home for pilots who want more than another lap in the pattern.
Michigan comes first—its coastlines, islands, grass strips, small towns, and endless horizon. From there, the adventure only gets bigger.
“Build experience. Find the places worth flying to. Chase horizons.”
Meet the team
Pilots who believe the route should be part of the story.
Meet the people who turn every flight into a memorable Great Lakes adventure.
Co-Founder • Pilot • Flight Instructor
Sam Kelly
ATP · CFII · Tailwheel Pilot
Sam brings deep knowledge of flying and a genuine passion for instruction to every adventure. He speaks Spanish and is also an experienced skydiver and skydive pilot.
Co-Founder • Adventure Planner
Katelyn Grajewski
Katelyn plans one-of-a-kind flying experiences built around your goals, the Great Lakes, and the places worth discovering along the way.
Your logbook is calling
Where do you want to fly next?
Tell us what kind of adventure you are chasing—Michigan sightseeing, cross-country time, the Champ, or a route we have not dreamed up yet.
Start a conversation Connect with us on Instagram @greatlakes_aviationadventures