Ace Basin Aviation is a specialty Part 61 flight school based at Lowcountry Regional Airport (KRBW) in Walterboro, South Carolina, operated by owner and CFI Todd Givens. The school's focus is deliberately and exclusively narrow: tailwheel flight instruction. Every aircraft in the Ace Basin hangar has the third wheel at the back, and Givens does not offer standard nosewheel primary training. His clientele falls into three categories — pilots seeking a tailwheel endorsement, licensed pilots considering the purchase of a tailwheel aircraft, and students who want to earn their Private Pilot certificate in a tailwheel airplane from the start.   Givens grew up in Walterboro, developed an early passion for aviation through radio-controlled models and his father's influence — Benjamin Givens learned to fly in the 1970s at the Charleston Aero Club and served in the Air Force Reserve — and earned his Private Pilot certificate in 2002 after a career as a welder and Air Force Reserve service as a C-17 crew chief. He became a CFI and built his reputation through more than two decades of tailwheel-specific instruction, logging over 100 tailwheel endorsements and 20 private pilot certificate completions. His approach to tailwheel endorsements goes well beyond the minimum: he intentionally exposes each student to multiple aircraft — both stick-and-rudder types with heel brakes and wheel-and-yoke types with toe brakes — and insists on genuine crosswind proficiency, not just pattern work in calm conditions. His rule of thumb is 10 hours across the fleet for a proper endorsement, though individual variation applies.   Beyond endorsements, the school offers spin training and basic aerobatics, biennial flight reviews (preferably in tailwheel aircraft), transition training for pilots buying specific tailwheel models, and aircraft ferry services throughout the continental United States. In-person instruction can also be conducted in a student's own tailwheel aircraft.

Home Airport(s)

Lowcountry Regional Airport ICAO: KRBW | IATA: RBW | FAA LID: RBW   Located approximately two nautical miles northeast of Walterboro in Colleton County, South Carolina, five miles east of Interstate 95. Owned jointly by the City of Walterboro and Colleton County. The airport covers 1,400 acres at an elevation of 100–101 ft MSL and is the largest general aviation airport in South Carolina by runway count. The airfield has a significant historical footprint: dedicated in 1933 as the C.C. Anderson Landing Field, it was commandeered by the Army Air Forces in 1942 and became Walterboro Army Air Field, used initially for B-25 Mitchell training and later, from 1944 to 1945, as an advanced combat training base for graduates of Tuskegee Army Air Field. Over 500 of the Tuskegee Airmen trained here in P-40 Warhawks and P-47 Thunderbolts before deploying overseas with the 332nd Fighter Group. A memorial on the grounds commemorates their service. Uncontrolled; CTAF for self-announce. Approach​/​departure service provided by Charleston Approach. No control tower. After-hours service available by calling airport management. Deer on and in the vicinity of the airport, with increased activity at night and dusk and dawn.   Runways: Runway 05​/​23 — 6,002 ft × 100 ft (primary; asphalt​/​concrete; ODALS Runway 23; REIL Runway 23; PAPI both ends; MIRL; instrument approaches available) Runway 17​/​35 — 5,705 ft × 100 ft (secondary; asphalt​/​concrete; RNAV​/​GPS approaches) Runway 09​/​27 — 5,408 ft × 100 ft (tertiary; asphalt​/​concrete; RNAV​/​GPS approaches)   For tailwheel training, KRBW offers an outstanding combination of infrastructure and environment. Three long runways give students extensive pattern work options in different crosswind configurations — a critical factor for tailwheel training, where crosswind competence is a core objective. The uncontrolled environment eliminates sequencing delays and allows continuous pattern work without ATC interruption. The low-elevation, flat coastal plain topography produces light and variable sea-breeze conditions punctuated by genuine Atlantic crosswind events, making the weather genuinely useful for building the crosswind currency that Givens emphasizes. The ACE Basin wilderness and coastal marshland surrounding Walterboro — from which the school takes its name — provides spectacular and unhurried VFR practice area airspace. Charleston International Airport (KCHS, Class C) is approximately 50 miles to the east, providing cross-country routing options for students wanting controlled airspace exposure.

Fleet and Facilities

Ace Basin Aviation operates a fleet of five tailwheel training aircraft, all vintage. Four are primarily based at KRBW; the Boeing Stearman and a second Luscombe are hangared at Todd Givens' private grass strip, Hannah Rhea Field (29SC), approximately nine miles west of Walterboro in rural Colleton County. Instruction in those aircraft is conducted at and from the private strip.   1947 Cessna 120 (N3085N, "The 120") — Two-seat, 85 hp Continental; fully restored; control wheel and toe brakes; a classic post-war two-seater widely used in early flight training. Dual instruction: $195​/​hr. Solo (Ace Basin students only): $110​/​hr. 1947 Luscombe 8E (N2282K) — Two-seat, 90 hp Continental; stick and heel brakes; VFR panel; Givens' personal favorite and the airplane in which he completed his CFI checkride. Described by Givens as having real character — a plane where you smile because you are flying, not managing systems. A second Luscombe (N2651K) is based at Hannah Rhea Field. Dual instruction: $195​/​hr. Solo: $110​/​hr. Cessna 170B (N3462C) — Four-seat, 145 hp Continental; control wheel and toe brakes; tailwheel version of the iconic Cessna 170 series, offering a step-up platform with greater useful load and range. Givens uses this as a progression aircraft after initial dual in the 120 or Luscombe. Dual instruction: $295​/​hr. Solo: $195​/​hr. Citabria 7ECA​/​7KCAB (N1672G) — Two-seat, tandem stick-and-rudder aerobat; certified for spins and limited aerobatics; the standard progression aircraft for students moving from wheels-and-yoke to stick-and-rudder configuration. Used for spin training and basic aerobatics. Dual instruction: $225​/​hr. Solo: $130​/​hr. 1942 Boeing Stearman PT-17 (N62105) — Biplane, open-cockpit, tandem seating, Continental R-670 radial engine; the iconic WWII primary trainer now used exclusively for dual instruction — no solo. At $425​/​hr dual, the Stearman represents a genuinely rare training experience: an open-cockpit radial-engine biplane operated by an instructor with deep familiarity with the type. Based at Hannah Rhea Field (29SC).   Ground instruction: $65​/​hr. Advanced training dual (in student's own aircraft or transition work): $95​/​hr. Instruction in a student's own tailwheel aircraft is available.

Hours of Operation

By appointment. Givens recommends contacting by text first as he is typically flying during the day. The school operates year-round, benefiting from South Carolina's temperate coastal climate that permits flying in most months with minimal weather shutdowns.

Additional Notes

Ace Basin Aviation occupies a genuinely distinctive position in U.S. flight training: an entire school, with a hangar full of restored vintage tailwheel aircraft, run by a single CFI who has spent more than two decades doing nothing but this. The depth of tailwheel-specific experience and the breadth of aircraft types — from a 1947 two-seat Luscombe to a 1942 open-cockpit radial-engine Stearman — make it one of the more compelling specialty training destinations in the Southeast.   The Tuskegee Airmen connection at KRBW adds a layer of historical significance that is unusual even among WWII-era airfields. Training at the same airport where some of the most accomplished combat pilots in American history completed their fighter readiness training — in aircraft that were parked on the same ramps students use today — is a context that most flight schools simply cannot offer.   Givens' private grass strip, Hannah Rhea Field (29SC), is where the Stearman and one of the Luscombes live, and operations there provide genuine short-field and turf strip experience alongside the paved runway work at KRBW. For students pursuing a thorough tailwheel endorsement or transitioning into vintage aircraft ownership, the combination of turf strip and paved runway training is notably valuable — most tailwheel aircraft were designed for exactly this mixed-surface environment, and proficiency on grass is a core component of competent taildragger flying.