Great Basin Aviation is excited to partner with the local Women In Aviation (WAI) Chapter, Sierra Battle Born, and Atlantic Aviation for the 2022 Girls in Aviation Day. This free event will be on Saturday, 9/24 from 10-2 at Atlantic Aviation. Details are on the flyer below. If you know a student interested, please have them register at: https://www.sierrabattleborn.com/girls-in-aviation-day.html

Jeff McDonald  is now an instrument rated pilot!! This morning Jeff showed up early to get into gear, get the conference room set, and make sure he was wheelie set for his 141 Instrument Checkride. This mountain biker extraordinaire was spoke-tacular today as he flew the required maneuvers, holding pattern, departure procedures, and approaches. It was hot and a busy pattern coming into RNO but it did not grind his gears. The outcome of the ride added to the suspension, but once on the ground and back on the Atlantic ramp, he heard the “congratulations!” Jeff is another hammering 141 advanced student who works full time (and then some) at UPS as a road driver, makes time for golf mountain biking, and some occasional fun. Rarely is he ever cranky, except when we nag him about his ground school.  We will give him the night to celebrate, then back to some cycle path commercial training. Awesome job to Jeff and his CFII Kurtis Hornung! Like biking, flying will transform anyone who is willing to let it happen. ​

What is better than seven C172s? How about eight! We love these planes!! Great Basin Aviation has a new (to us) C172SP on the line. It is here in Reno and on FSP but will not be available for rental until mid next week. Check out the details on this upgraded trainer aircraft:
 
N421RW
2004 Cessna 172SP Skyhawk SP 
Avionics: 
KMA-28 Audio Panel/Marker Beacon/Intercom
KX-155A NAV/COM
KI 208 VOR/LOC Indicator
KI 209A VOR/LOC/GS Indicator with GPS Interface
Garmin GNX-375 Transponder with WAAS and ADS-B In/Out Pointer 3000-11 Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) Remote Mounted Switch Avionics Cooling Fans 
Additional Equipment: 
Garmin G5 Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) Garmin G5 Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI)
Garmin GFC-500 Autopilot with Electric Stability & Protection Garmin GNC-255A NAV/COM 
Davtron Digital Clock 
Rosen Sunvisors 
 
With the upgrades, please study/watch tutorials for the G5’s as well as the GFC-500 Autopilot. These will be added to the GBA website soon. If you would like a cockpit checkout prior to flight, reach out to your CFI or Richard. Please chat with your CFI for student pilot booking restrictions as well. 
 
We hope you enjoy flying this gorgeous plane!

.​Normally these boots are made for walking, but today boots were made for rudder pedals. Our favorite boot wearing pilot (even though he drives a Subaru), Ryan Mill, steel-toed his commercial checkride in the derriere (its French) and is now a commercial certificated pilot. Ryan has been an incredible 141 advanced student. Hitting all the requirements and milestones needed to successfully move through the coursework. Even working ahead by already completing part of his CFI ground school. We don’t know where he gets the energy with work, life, his dog, and flying 4-5 times a week. Ryan successfully completed the concurrent instrument/commercial training in 6 months. He has a two month goal for CFI, which we know he will hit. Awesome job to Commercial Pilot Ryan Mill and his CFI Kurtis Hornung! Execution is the foundation for momentum. 


***Disclaimer*** We are only kidding about the Subaru drivers. If you have one, we do not mean to offend. You obviously did your homework and made a smart decision with your car purchase. At least it isn’t a Nissan Leaf ;) 

Today Chris Rentfrow did something a little different…Not only did this skydiver stay in the plane during the entire flight, but he also flew the plane by himself! Chris soloed this morning at KRTS, runway 08 in N495SP!! Having his take-offs match his landings is something new for Chris but he is loving every minute of it. He is usually falling from the sky faster than these planes even fly, but the slow down has been a nice change. Chris moved to Northern Nevada from Dallas and has been working non-stop for his family business as well as flight training, ground school, and living life. Chris’ schedule is a bit rough but he is super goal oriented and has proven he will persist until he succeeds. Awesome job to Chris and his CFI Troy Ware! A little progress each flight adds up to that big Private Pilot success! ​

Today is National Aviation Day! It was in 1939 that President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the first presidential proclamation designating Aug. 19 – Orville Wright’s birthday – as a day in which citizens are encouraged to participate in activities that promote interest in aviation. Orville who, together with his brother Wilbur, made significant contributions to powered flight.
Today we celebrate the history and development of the aviation. We hope you got your chance to “aviate” today.

 “The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who...looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space...on the infinite highway of the air.”
- Wilbur Wright

Blood, sweat, and tears...That’s what Sarah Burch has literally put into her training (inside joke) 🤣 Sarah soloed this morning at a calm and quiet KRTS runway 32 in N670CS! She has been hitting her flight training hard over the last month, flying several days a week, early mornings and late evenings. Sarah is a software demonstration specialist and business woman, but wants to work towards becoming a commercial pilot. She’s lived all over the US - Georgia, New York, and now lives in Incline Village. Her excitement was a bit stalled when she saw Cody coming after her with scissors, but went back to celebrating when her shirt tail was snipped in typical solo fashion. She’ll have her pilot license in no time at all making her the first certificated pilot in her family!! Huge congratulations to Sarah and Cody!!