​Trevor Shamblin soloed!!! He was sure to close the baggage door this time before heading out to KRTS and sharing the runway 14 pattern with other GBA airplanes! Trevor is a family man and engineer at the Tahoe-Truckee sanitation plant. He carefully balances his flight training with his work responsibilities and still manages to spend time with his wife and 7-month-old. Trevor arrived at GBA earlier this month with a few hours in his logbook and a ton of ambition, which drove him full steam ahead to achieve this awesome milestone in his piloting career! You will never forget that first taste of freedom. Congratulations to Trevor and his CFI Cody Lucero!!

​What is Beethoven’s favorite fruit? Ba-na-na-naaa…. Yes, terrible joke, but fitting for our newest soloed student Jackson Phillips. Jackson is the Drum major for Spanish Springs High School. Usually, you can find him stirring up treble, but today his flying skills did not skip a beat as Jackson soloed at KRTS, runway 08, in N670CS. He let his CFI Chazz out of the plane on the ramp and was Bach after a few laps. To say Jackson has his bands full is an understatement. He has a huge commitment to his school in leading the marching band, finishing up high school plus ground school and flying. Continue to B sharp and keep in step and private pilot will be here in now time. Amazing accomplishment Jackson!! Congratulations to Jackson and Chazz!

​Kevin Marshall… he is no longer going to be bossing you around the ramp, he will now be bossing you around in the air. That’s right, Great Basin Aviation’s line tech extraordinaire is now a CFI!! Kevin was his usual calm self heading into the checkride. Came out of the conference room in record time and moved onto the flight portion of the ride. Teaching a DPE how to fly and telling him he is doing things wrong is no easy task. But Kevin had it handled. He came back and was all smiles sporting his new temporary certificate. We let him have the afternoon off to celebrate and prepare for tomorrow, the interview.  Kevin has been an integral part of GBA since fall of 2018. He has earned all his ratings and certificates here. It has been so great watching Kevin progress to where he is now. We are so proud of him and excited as he starts the next part of his aviation journey! We hope you are all lucky enough to have a lesson with him. He is truly an amazing individual! Huge congratulations to line tech no more, Kevin Marshall and his CFI Danny Britson! 

​Our October pilot of the month is Enrique Calderon!  When he's not photographing area events or starring in local commercials, Enrique has been spending a lot of time in the Northern Nevada skies!  Always early and eager to learn, Enrique has completed his solo flight, solo cross-countries, and night flights all in the last month.  Now, the dedicated husband and father is tackling checkride preparations with the same enthusiasm he's shown throughout his training.  It won't be long before there's another GBA private pilot in the air - and that's just the beginning!  Congratulations!

​Two for Tuesday at Great Basin Aviation! One more amazing accomplishment to end the day. Alex Grant soloed at KRTS in N670CS. This aeronautical engineering student executed some perfectly calculated take offs and landings as his CFI Chazz Sandoval stood by on the ramp. Alex is a busy guy with difficult college classes, flying, ground school, plus sneaking in some rock climbing and visiting his favorite place, Trader Joe’s. Now that he has soloed, he can celebrate with some Two Buck Chuck and Orange Chicken! Then get his private pilot wrapped up. Awesome job to Alex!! Huge congratulations to Alex and Chazz! 

Miguel Renteria is a private pilot!! This persistent pilot and has been working on his PPL for a bit, definitely has some crazy stories to tell. He originally was learning in a Cub, and then made the decision to come to GBA to finish up. Now that Miguel is a Private Pilot, he is already looking at what’s next. He wants to get his tailwheel endorsement, high performance, and complex then start doing some off airport flying. Maybe buy a Kodiak if his lottery numbers ever come up. Really have some fun with his certificate flying with his aviation friends. To celebrate his huge accomplishment, he decided to take a victory lap over Lake Tahoe with his CFI Matt Helleckson onboard as his first official passenger! Awesome job to Miguel and his CFI Matt!

Great Basin Aviation is pleased to announce that we have another expert resource for you and your ground instruction needs! Josh Flatley joins our team with experience in aviation in everything from Sailplanes to Cessnas to C130s! His Ground Instructor certificates are Advanced Ground and Instrument Ground. Josh will be managing his sessions as he gets going so call the office today and we’ll help you with scheduling!

​Not the usual GBA announcement, but what is even more impressive than earning aviation certifications and ratings…how about earning US Citizenship! Student pilot Cole Atkinson is now an American Citizen!! Over the last several years, Cole has put a lot of time, energy, and heart into this tough process. A couple weeks ago his dream became a reality as he raised his right hand and took the Oath of Allegiance. Welcome to the land of liberty and honor Cole, and congratulations on your desired US citizenship! The opportunities are endless.