Visiting Pilots

Santa Barbara welcomes visiting pilots, and want you to enjoy our incredible flying! We also want to preserve our precious flying sites, and ask that you get a site introduction from a local pilot before you fly ANY of our sites.

There are a number of rules, restrictions and challenges for flying in Santa Barbara County, including:

• Round House Rules
• East Beach Landing Protocol
• Airport Control Area and "Opening the Windows"
• Power line crossings
• Landing out in the brush
• Gate access and closures
• Parking agreements near the LZ and launch
• Site Monitor (Elings Park)
• Powered flight
• Shotgun Field
• ...and much more!

Please get together with a local pilot to get a complete breifing before flying any of the Santa Barbara sites, we want to continue flying in this area, and value our Public Relations with the community.

We offer a Site Introduction Clinic for anyone wanting a complete overview of the local sites, or a Single Site Intro for any particular site in the county.

The Santa Barbara Soaring Association has local pilot contacts for both paragliders and hang gliders. The club meets the first Thursday of each month at Rusty's Pizza on Carrillo Street at 7:30 pm.

Where to Stay?
Pilots wanting an inexpensive hostel type accomodation can contact the Santa Barbara Tourist Hostel at 805-963-0154 or visit their website. They are located in Santa Barbara, just two blocks from the beach.

A slightly more private option is to stay at the Haley Cottages, with rooms starting at $45/night. Call them at 805-963-3586 or visit their website.

For those wanting their own hotel, we have made some arrangements for disounts with TravelNow.com for discounted rates.

At times, we have pilots that will make rooms in their home available for visiting pilots. Some also offer the possibility of camping in their yards. Please call us at (805) 965-3733 to inquire about these possibilities.