Congratulations to Emmett Castellan on heading to the next level in his aviation journey! Today is his last full-time day with Great Basin Aviation as he prepares to head off to his new position at Skywest flying the CRJ’s. Very bittersweet but he promises he will be back part-time once he completes his initial training. Emmett has been such a huge part of Great Basin Aviation’s success. He has instructed over 1200 hours in the last year. Emmett has a million dollar work ethic and is such an inspiration. About 2 years ago Emmett decided to leave the corporate world and go after his dream of flying for the airlines. He set a goal, and almost 2 years to the date, he has all his licenses, ratings, and hours and is all set to go. Talk about refusing to be mediocre! He will be taking the next week and enjoying a vacation with his family then reporting at Skywest on November 25th. You will be missed Emmett!! Thank you for being such an incredible part of this team. We can’t wait to get you back in these planes once you finish your initial training. Best of luck and keep raising the bar! ​

Congratulations to Chris Simpson who passed his Commercial checkride today!! Chris passed his Instrument checkride earlier in the year and made the decision to keep pursuing advanced ratings. Chris works full time and also needs to squeeze in fun time to zip around in his fast little RV. But he put in the effort to get his Commercial License and today he successfully checked that off the list. He left the office asking about obtaining his CFI. Let’s do it Chris!! Congratulations as well to his instructor Al Hayes! People with goals like Chris succeed because they know where they are going and what it takes to get there. Enjoy the celebration Chris!! You earned it :) ​

Check out this awesome Air Force Veteran who passed his CFII on Veteran’s Day!! Eric Tallberg just passed his CFI in August and now can add CFII to his list of successes. Eric has been flight instructing with us for a couple months, assisted with ground school classes, and now can help instrument students reach their goal. He works full time but is available for your flight instruction needs after 3pm and on the weekends. Check out FSP for his availability and book him up! As you can see, Eric started his much deserved celebration right away :) Great job to his instructor Brenden Georg as well! ​

Another young aviator is licensed to fly the skies!! A huge congratulations to 17 year old Andy Xie who sailed through his Private Pilot checkride today in N670CS. Andy is a senior at McQueen and local plane spotter. He took his Discovery Flight just about four months ago and today, can now take that same plane out as a licensed pilot. Talk about focus; he took the TMCC private pilot ground school course last spring then started flying once the semester was over. He has not stopped since. His instructor Emmett Castellan did an incredible job training this remarkable young pilot even with Andy's sometimes hectic school schedule and other responsibilities. Andy will continue his training and earn his advanced rating as he progresses toward his goal of being a career pilot. Awesome job Andy!! We are so happy for you and your success! ​

​Congratulations to Reno’s newest Licensed Pilot, Tate Neubecker!! Tate took his first flight at 12 and then started flying with Bob Bennett in N2291C when he was just 14, soloed at 16, and now at 17, his instructor Matt Stubblefield signed him off for his Private Pilot checkride. Tate passed with ease in the plane he started in, N2291C. Tate has such a bright future and incredible support from his family. He is a senior at McQueen and has been accepted into the aviation program at Auburn and will be attending in the fall of 2020. We are so excited for this awesome young man and the progress he has made toward his dream of a life and career in aviation. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Congratulations again to Tate and his instructors Bob and Matt!