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 Since 1947, the Santa Barbara Flying Club has made flying less expensive, more convenient, less hassle, and more fun for generations of pilots in the Santa Barbara, California area.

About Us

The Santa Barbara Flying Club currently has two aircraft based at SBA: a Cessna 172 Skyhawk and a Grumman AA-5B Tiger! 

Both planes are IFR certified, the Skyhawk has a GNS 430 and the Tiger has a GTN 650 touch screen (both are moving map combined GPS, ILS and COM1)!

As a club we effectively rent these airplanes to ourselves for cost, so our members are guaranteed the best value for their money.

We use tach time billing.  It's the most accurate way to account for expense and amounts to as much as a 30% discount, especially for students who typically have the power back much of the flight, doing maneuvers or "Touch and GOs”.

Both planes have 4 place intercoms and can be scheduled on-line by our members for trips as long as 10 days with no minimum flight time requirement.  That’s perfect for cross country flights!

Better yet, as a member you receive your own set of keys to each airplane.  This eliminates any last minute hassle from having to check in and out at a desk.  It’s as if you owned it, the airplane is waiting for you to arrive…24/7.

Rates/Dues as of January 2014

       Dues = $99/month

     Flight time is billed according to Tach hour as follows:


          C-172:   $106 / Tach hour

          AA-5B:  $145 / Tach hour


Good news for the membership:

If you choose to self-serve fuel, you are credited for the difference between the full-serve and self-serve fuel rate (a difference of $2.36/gallon at SBA at the time of this writing).  This yields effective rates approximately as follows:

            C-172:  $85.20 / Tach hour

            AA-5B:  $122.60 / Tach hour 

In addition, most FBOs offer aircraft billed according to Hobbs meter (and some also add a “fuel surcharge”) which is less favorable.  For example, consider the cost of using an FBO-provided C-172 at a rate of $130/Hobbs hour, with that of using the SBFC C-172 with self-serve fuel.  The cost for the following two applications would be approximately as follows:

                                                                     SBFC     FBO

    Case 1:  45 minute for touch & go in pattern    $40       $97

    Case 2:  2 hour rental cross-country flight       $156      $260

Want to find out more about the club? Click here.

Santa Barbara Flying Club

What's the Best About Our Club?

The best part about our club is the low member to airplane ratio which allows easy access to planes when you want to fly.  The club works well for students of all phases of instruction, sightseers and cross-country enthusiasts.

Announcements

  • Next Flying Club Meeting, January 13th, 7:00 PM Come one, come all, to the next club meeting held at the Airport Visitors Center. All Members and those interested in membership are welcome!
    Posted Dec 23, 2014, 10:02 PM by Saruhan Ozten
  • Next Flying Club Meeting, September 9th, 7:00 PM Come one, come all, to the next club meeting held at the Airport Visitors Center.All Members and those interested in membership are welcome!
    Posted Aug 24, 2014, 6:32 PM by SBFC President
  • Next Flying Club Meeting - Tuesday, September 9th. Come one, come all, to the next club meeting held at the Airport Visitors Center.All Members and those interested in membership are welcome (waiting list)!
    Posted Aug 24, 2014, 6:27 PM by SBFC President
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