Santa Barbara

[BiscoeT 0]

Santa Barbara

has anyone been to skydive santa barbra, and has anyone done the AFF there... Its the cheapest in my area but i was wondering if there is a reason for that.

Thanks

[davelepka 4]

Take a drive and have a look. Do it on a weekend, when the weather is nice, so you can see the place when they're up and running. Ask for ten minutes with an instructor or DZO (drop zone owner) or DZ manager, tell them you want to start AFF, and have them tell you about their program.

Then drive to two other DZ's near you and do the same. Compare the results, and your impressions, and make your choice based on that.

A few hundred bucks isn't a whole lot in this game. Put the money out of our mind, and see where you feel the most comfortable, and you get the best vibe.

Also, the one with most chicks is always a good choice.

[SLOfreefall 0]

Monterey (from your profile) to Lompoc is a bit of a haul, 2-1/2-3 hours. The savings on the AFF program will be burned up is petro. Hollister, and SMB are in your backyard.

I've jumped at all three, and I wouldn't steer a person away from any of them.

[kelpdiver 2]

Quote

Monterey (from your profile) to Lompoc is a bit of a haul, 2-1/2-3 hours. The savings on the AFF program will be burned up is petro. Hollister, and SMB are in your backyard.

I trained at SMB, driving 2 hours from San Francisco. Not a good approach, with the constant weather issues. You leave hoping the forecast will hold up. I'd expect Santa Barbara to have some of this as well.

But if you live in Monterey, you can look up at the sky, feel the winds, and get to the airport in a hurry. Or if it goes bad, at least it's a short drive home. Not 4 hours of driving for 1-2 jumps. (Or on 2 occasions, 0 jumps)

The OP should definitely choose between SMB and Hollister.

[plutoniumsalmon 0]

I did aff 1 there. It is cheaper because they only use one instrutor from the start of the program not the regular two. At least thats how it was when I was there. You also have to do a tandem prior to that and demonstrate altitude awarness. I like my current dropzone more because I feel there is less of a money hungry attitude then SB (I did not have to put a deposit down over the phone each time I wanted to jump AFF) and there is more supervision of AFF where I am at right now. Other then that its a pretty cool dz that is more tandem oriented. Also make sure you can hear your radio before your first aff so you know what the hell to do. They only give you one at sb and the three landings I saw the students did not hear them and crashed a little bit.

Pointy birds
Oh pointy pointy
Anoint my head
Anointy nointy

[UntamedDOG 0]

Quote

has anyone been to skydive santa barbra, and has anyone done the AFF there

Don’t do it. It is only a good dropzone for Tandems and experienced canopy pilots w/ over 100 jumps.

The big reason I say this is because the landing area is very small with lots of wind gusts coming in from the ocean. The larger landing area is a dried up river bed that is surrounded by trees. If you land off, you are screwed.

Wait till you have some jumps under your belt and visit Santa Barbara as a licensed skydiver. It is a great view in freefall!

Taft,CA maybe the best choice. It is the next closest dropzone. It has a pretty large landing area that is a bit more student friendly.

UntamedDOG

[uponone 0]

Quote

Quote

has anyone been to skydive santa barbra, and has anyone done the AFF there

Don’t do it. It is only a good dropzone for Tandems and experienced canopy pilots w/ over 100 jumps.

The big reason I say this is because the landing area is very small with lots of wind gusts coming in from the ocean. The larger landing area is a dried up river bed that is surrounded by trees. If you land off, you are screwed.

Wait till you have some jumps under your belt and visit Santa Barbara as a licensed skydiver. It is a great view in freefall!

Taft,CA maybe the best choice. It is the next closest dropzone. It has a pretty large landing area that is a bit more student friendly.

UntamedDOG

Agreed. I live in between both and go to Taft because there's no weather hold and it's not so much a tandem factory. It's also a more fun because people actually hang out after dark and party rather than just load up and go home. You'll learn a ton if you hang out after hours and talk to all the experienced folk.

[SLOfreefall 0]

For what it's worth, my personal choice would be Taft as well, if travel time didn't matter. If I lived in Monterey, I would take my AFF in Hollister because it is a very friendly dz, and less like a tandem factory than others. I think you will have more opportunity to soak up information.

I did AFF my at AAW in Taft.

[brianfry713 0]

Forget about Taft or Santa Barbara for AFF, just becase they're further away and you've got good DZ's closer. Go visit other DZ's after you finish AFF. I did AFF in Monterey and learned a lot, Hollister seems like a good place to learn as well. Your choice, but it'd be nice to not have to drive as far.

I had LOTS of weather holds in Monterey as a student, usually clouds in the morning and then by the time they cleared the winds would be up over 14 mph and I couldn't jump. I eventually got through it, but it took me about 4 months of constantly going to the DZ, and I was driving from San Jose. I wouldn't steer you away from Marina because you're closer, and the weather recently has been better than last year for jumping.

BASE 1224, Senior Parachute Rigger, CPL ASEL IA, AGI, IGI
USPA Coach & UPT Tandem Instructor, PRO, Altimaster Field Support Representative

[UntamedDOG 0]

Quote

Hollister seems like a good place to learn as well.

Hollister is a fun dropzone, but lately the vibe has been very female dominant. Normally this would be an interesting anomaly in our male dominated sport. However, I’m not very partial to short haired women who can’t land their Katana’s and just got their instructor ratings telling the whole load that they are “unsafe”. There are 2 girls that should really consider growing their hair back. Long hair makes dominant females act more like chicks.

Chicks are a lot more fun to jump with.

I would still impress upon our newbie friend to think about Taft.

UntamedDOG

[riggerrob 558]

Also make sure you can hear your radio before your first aff so you know what the hell to do. They only give you one at sb and the three landings I saw the students did not hear them and crashed a little bit.

[kelpdiver 2]

Quote

Dead radios are not a DZ-specific problem, rather they are a student-specific problem.
Bascially, some students go deaf when they get scared. I have heard dozens of students complain that their radios quit at 100 feet, but majically they work fine after landing.

well, after landing there is no wind noise! Ears have finished equalizing too.

I do suspect that there is some tunnel vision issues. I remember on my first jump on final approach - the radio started talking and I decided it was more important to focus on the matter in front of me than to listen for the flare now command. I was having to really focus to hear the commands earlier in the air.

On several jumps when I and my buddy were students, I found it problematic that they would say "Jason (or Eric), turn left." I'd miss the first word often, so I didn't know which one of us they meant that for.