Like anything truly worthwhile, pilothood is a journey. It's a journey of challenge. Of excitement. Of self-discovery. It's a journey that ends with a monumental sense of achievement - your pilot's license! And then begins anew each time you climb into the cockpit and take to the sky. You cannot get there without solid instruction. Great Basin Aviation is proud to employ the best instructors in Northern Nevada that will aide you in becoming a safe, proficient pilot.
Flight Instruction
Great Basin Aviation is a full-service flight school and aviation resource center. We specialize in flight training from student pilot to Airline Transport Pilot; with special emphasis on Mountain Flying techniques and Safety priorities. Great Basin Aviation is Northern Nevada’s only flight school offering modern Cessna aircraft, manufactured in this century; sporting Garmin glass cockpits, and autopilot. Our business model provides professional, experienced full-time Flight Instructor- Pilots who are committed to the achievement of your aeronautical aspirations; rather than that of their own.
In addition to basic flight instruction, our instructors are also certified for certain endorsements, IFR instruction, Commercial, CFI/CFII, flight reviews, mountain flying skills, and more. Please call or email (goflying@greatbasinaviation.com) for rates and questions.
In addition to basic flight instruction, our instructors are also certified for certain endorsements, IFR instruction, Commercial, CFI/CFII, flight reviews, mountain flying skills, and more. Please call or email (goflying@greatbasinaviation.com) for rates and questions.
Ground Instruction
We offer ground school through the Cessna Sport/Private Pilot Course and Cessna Instrument Rating Course.
Have you dreamt of becoming a pilot or earning your instrument rating? Make it a reality! We offer Cessna's new scenario-based flight training course, developed exclusively for Cessna by the experts at King Schools. This web-based course provides everything you need to obtain your Sport, Private Pilot Certificate or Instrument Rating. It's been designed to provide you with the knowledge, skills and confidence to embrace your future in aviation.
This course is for the pilot who is training in either a technically-advanced full-glass cockpit airplane or in an airplane with analog gauges. The training includes flight preview videos and full-motion diagrams of the course material, plus a complete FAA knowledge exam review program—and it's available anywhere you have Internet access. Your personal login will maintain a record of which sessions you have completed and will allow you to continue where you left off if you are interrupted. The course never expires and it is always kept up-to-date, so you'll have access to all of the in-depth knowledge sessions and flight previews well after you have completed your training.
You can take your Cessna Sport/Private Pilot course on your iPad—even when offline! The Cessna Sport/Private Pilot and Instrument Rating course lessons can be downloaded onto an iPad/tablet and viewed later when online or offline, with the Cessna Companion App. Kits include flight bag and Garmin Pilot access. Other Cessna courses are available. Please give us a call to let us know if you are looking for a specific course.
We also have specialized ground instructors (Richard Brong and Alex Infantino) available for you to assist in ground school training (basic and advanced), FAA Knowledge Test preparation, and Checkride oral exam preparation. Check out their profiles below.
Have you dreamt of becoming a pilot or earning your instrument rating? Make it a reality! We offer Cessna's new scenario-based flight training course, developed exclusively for Cessna by the experts at King Schools. This web-based course provides everything you need to obtain your Sport, Private Pilot Certificate or Instrument Rating. It's been designed to provide you with the knowledge, skills and confidence to embrace your future in aviation.
This course is for the pilot who is training in either a technically-advanced full-glass cockpit airplane or in an airplane with analog gauges. The training includes flight preview videos and full-motion diagrams of the course material, plus a complete FAA knowledge exam review program—and it's available anywhere you have Internet access. Your personal login will maintain a record of which sessions you have completed and will allow you to continue where you left off if you are interrupted. The course never expires and it is always kept up-to-date, so you'll have access to all of the in-depth knowledge sessions and flight previews well after you have completed your training.
You can take your Cessna Sport/Private Pilot course on your iPad—even when offline! The Cessna Sport/Private Pilot and Instrument Rating course lessons can be downloaded onto an iPad/tablet and viewed later when online or offline, with the Cessna Companion App. Kits include flight bag and Garmin Pilot access. Other Cessna courses are available. Please give us a call to let us know if you are looking for a specific course.
We also have specialized ground instructors (Richard Brong and Alex Infantino) available for you to assist in ground school training (basic and advanced), FAA Knowledge Test preparation, and Checkride oral exam preparation. Check out their profiles below.
Cessna Pilot Center
Great Basin Aviation is proud and privileged to be affiliated with Cessna as a Cessna Pilot Center (CPC). A Cessna Pilot Center is a specially selected flight school that represents top-quality, professional flight training. Each CPC is hand picked by Cessna to ensure that they maintain Cessna’s high standards for flight training.
Talk to any certified pilot. They will likely tell you they learned to fly in a Cessna. More people have obtained their private pilot certificate in Cessna aircraft than all other aircraft types combined. There is a reason for that: Cessna's are easy to fly and safe.
A Cessna Pilot Center is where you go to take advantage of Cessna's years of experience in training most of the world's pilots to fly. At a CPC, you learn to fly in less time than other programs while following Cessna's computer-based curriculum that stresses safety (on a National average).
When you learn to fly from a Cessna Pilot Center, you are truly learning from the best. It’s not just that you’ll learn from the world’s best-trained instructors. Or that you’ll train with innovative computer-based instruction. What really matters is that you will be learning to fly in the world’s greatest aircraft, Cessna’s forgiving, reliable single engine airplanes. For more information on the advantages and benefits of training at a Cessna Pilot Center visit: cessnaflighttraining.kingschools.com/Index.aspx
Talk to any certified pilot. They will likely tell you they learned to fly in a Cessna. More people have obtained their private pilot certificate in Cessna aircraft than all other aircraft types combined. There is a reason for that: Cessna's are easy to fly and safe.
A Cessna Pilot Center is where you go to take advantage of Cessna's years of experience in training most of the world's pilots to fly. At a CPC, you learn to fly in less time than other programs while following Cessna's computer-based curriculum that stresses safety (on a National average).
When you learn to fly from a Cessna Pilot Center, you are truly learning from the best. It’s not just that you’ll learn from the world’s best-trained instructors. Or that you’ll train with innovative computer-based instruction. What really matters is that you will be learning to fly in the world’s greatest aircraft, Cessna’s forgiving, reliable single engine airplanes. For more information on the advantages and benefits of training at a Cessna Pilot Center visit: cessnaflighttraining.kingschools.com/Index.aspx
Our Instructors
Bob Bennett
Bob is a CFI/CFII who has instructed with Great Basin Aviation for the last several years. Bob has been a pilot since 1972 and a flight instructor since 1988, with over 8000 flight hours in general aviation aircraft. Bob is an advanced instructor with Great Basin Aviation and specializes in advanced instruction including CFI/CFII, flight reviews, endorsements, and discovery flights.
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Stephen Weaver
Stephen is a full time CFI/CFII, with a passion for teaching and having fun while doing it! Stephen is a member of National Association of Flight Instructors. An avid lover of the outdoors, when he's not exploring by air he can be found hiking, skiing, and cycling. He enjoys taking students from discovery flights all the way through commercial training, and into their own aviation careers!
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Eric Tallberg
A former US Air Force Firefighter, Eric learned to fly in New Hampshire in 2004 and has been continually adding to his aviation credentials. Eric holds a full-time software product manager job for a Boston-based company, but he can be available for those 9-5’ers wishing to learn to fly but have a limited scope of time in a typical workday. His experiences since he started flying in 2004 include flying his Piper Warrior across the country (NV – NH) and into Canada a few times. He is also working on his CFII, Glider rating, and Multi-engine while also participating in other pastimes: running, hiking, biking and skiing with his fiancé.
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Nik JoshiNikul (Nik) grew up in East Africa, Tanzania. He moved to USA when he was 11. He began his aviation career at Stead Airport. He then finished his Commercial single, multi-engine rating and CFI rating in Reno. Nikul earned a college degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, he received a degree in BA in Aeronautics from ERAU in 2009. Nikul is in the Nevada Air Guard, he enlisted in 2013, then commissioned in 2018. When he isn't working and flying, he likes to mountain bike, hike and camp.
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Ryan McMaster
Ryan is a licensed CFI and soon to be CFII. He has completed all of his training in the Reno-Tahoe area. He originally got into aviation to fly drones, but now he is a full-time professional pilot. He has experience in mountain flying, high performance, tail wheel and complex aircraft. Ryan takes advantage of the beautiful eastern sierras and spends his free time skiing, paddle boarding on Lake Tahoe and flying all over the western sea board. Ryan is also the chief pilot at a local start-up that works with UAVs and has been in the drone industry for over 15 years. He aspires to teach safety and proficiency in flying aircraft and drones as well as advocate for aviation in our community.
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Matt Bowers (Carson)
Matt is a CFI/CFII/MEI, has earned FAA Gold Seal Flight Instructor. Always after new accomplishments, he has instructed in tail-wheel, ultra-light, biplanes, twins and turbo-props. Hauling sky-divers in the T206 in Truckee and the Caravan in the Bay Area was fun too. He really enjoys flying into grass strips in the mountains of Idaho and Montana. Matt is an Accountant and a Computer Network Engineer. But, the most rewarding is helping students fulfill their dreams of becoming a pilot.
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Emmett Castellan Emmett is a full time CFI, MEI and CFII. Outside of flying, Emmett loves spending time with his family. He takes full advantage of our proximity to the Tahoe area and enjoys snowboarding, skiing, backpacking, mountain biking and traveling the globe. Emmett speaks fluent French and has a Masters degree in Business.
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Brandon Jones
Brandon is CFI, CFII, MEI, HI, AGI, IGI, CASEL, CASES, CAMEL, C-RH, IA, and IH. He is an extreme advocate for General Aviation (GA) and teaching. With 24 years under his belt as a certificated pilot and 17 years as a flight instructor, Brandon is committed to continual education and transferring his love and passion for aviation to all of those who he has the privilege of flying with. Having owned a large and successful flight school in San Diego many years ago, Brandon now teaches part-time for the sheer fun of sharing his passion as well as fulfilling his interest in keeping GA alive and growing.