It Takes a Village

There’s a lot happening at Sheridan County Airport (KSHR) in Wyoming.

To accommodate growing general aviation traffic, the airport is in the midst of a $9.5 million taxiway realignment and ramp expansion that will increase space for transient aircraft. The 75,000-square-foot expansion is expected to be completed by the summer of 2026.

Meanwhile, work is just beginning on a separate $2 million project to expand the airport’s long-term parking lot for airline passengers, adding close to 150 more spaces.

And that growth has led to Sheridan Pilots 307, a flight school, to expand as well. The flight school recently completed a 16,500-square-foot hangar to consolidate its operations, as well as offer much-needed hangar space to not only based aircraft, but also transient aircraft, according to J.T. Grainger, Founder and Owner.

But the changes at the airport are more than just new buildings and new ramp space. There’s a budding youth aviation program, an active pilots association, and a real desire to improve access to aviation for all, according to J.T.

Originally from Wyoming, he left the area for school and to start his career. When he returned to Sheridan he started working at Bighorn Airways, the FBO at the airport.

While working there, he realized there was a need for another flight school at the airport. That was bolstered by a survey he sent out to about 100 local people to determine what was actually needed at the airport.

“The three biggest things that came back from that survey were dependable flight instruction, consistent access to aircraft, and affordable flight training,” he reports.

To get the ball rolling, he donated a Redbird simulator to the Sheridan Pilots Association.

“There was a lot of interest from local pilots in maintaining their proficiency,” he says.

Next came a separate sim for kids running Microsoft Flight Simulator and X-Plane.

Once she saw what was happening, an official with the pilots association told J.T. she’d “love to support” his dream of opening a flight school. Not needing her Cessna 172 as much since her daughter graduated from college, she worked out an “extraordinary” deal with J.T. to start the flight school, he says.

That was in May 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, but that didn’t stop J.T. — or the flight school.

“We are coming up on 100 students with pilots licenses and ratings,” he says.

He acknowledges that the school is not “huge, by any means,” but “we get calls weekly from people wanting to learn to fly or do a scenic flight or discovery flight.”

About 95% of the school’s training is for people who want to fly recreationally — “people who want to fly family and friends from Point A to Point B,” he explains.

As the school has grown, so have its offerings. Besides standard flight training, it also offers tailwheel training, spin, and upset and recovery training. It also is an FAA-approved PSI testing center, with access to more than 80 exams and three testing stations. There’s also a local Designated Pilot Examiner.

The school’s fleet includes two Cessna 172s, a Baron, and a Bellanca 8KCAB Decathlon.

As the school grew, it found itself operating out of three different hangars at the airport. That led to the construction of the new hangar, which consolidated operations.

It also provided room for a new location for Gardner-Lowe Aviation Services, a Georgia-based company that offers avionics and maintenance services.

Lastly, the hangar provides space for transient parking, which was a “big need” at the airport, according to J.T., who notes they offer both nightly and monthly rentals.

“We’ve had everything from a King Air to an Eclipse Jet to a Cessna 170,” he says.

He sees that need growing as the airport continues its improvement plans.

“The airport is increasing its infrastructure to keep up with the pace of Sheridan as a destination,” he says. “It’s a great place to visit, but it’s also a great cross-country stop. We get a lot of people going east to west along the northern US and then also Alaska to Florida. We also see a lot of float planes come down through Canada and Alaska working their way to the south for the winter.”

Turning an eye to the future, J.T.’s fiancee, Mariah Busch, a seventh grade English teacher and private pilot, has started an afterschool aviation program. She teaches introduction to flying to middle school students.

He reports that although there wasn’t any advertising of the program, it filled up quickly. He adds that efforts are underway to get a simulator in the schools to bolster the program.

That will help feed into the new program at the high school, which will soon takeoff using the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s free high school aviation curriculum for the ninth grade. Each year that will be re-evaluated, with hopes that it will expand into the other grades in the high school.

“We also have a two-year college in Sheridan,” J.T. says. “If we could get an aviation curriculum at the college, that would be tremendous.”

J.T.’s experience building his business proves the adage “it takes a village.”

“Without all these people this wouldn’t be possible,” he says.

From the retired 777 captain and DPE who served as J.T.’s mentor, to the members of the pilots association, to the schools’ CFIs, to high school interns, all are working to make aviation in Sheridan more accessible.

Through it all, J.T. continues to share his love of flying.

“One of my greatest joys is taking a kid or an adult flying for their first time and seeing the pure joy they experience in the air,” he says.

For more information: SheridanPilots307.com