Santa Barbara Municipal Airport Publisher: Sim720

Review Author: Tristan Ayton Suggested Price: $39.99

       

A cool fresh breeze blows over stucco houses and clear blue waters lap against a pristine coastline, mountains rise in the background as you settle into an approach to landing. No you are not coming into an idyllic Mediterranean holiday spot, welcome to Santa Barbara Municipal Airport in California, USA.

Now I have to admit I have never been to Santa Barbara myself, but when I was given a chance to go there virtually thanks to Sim720's Santa Barbara Airport add-on I jumped at the chance. Whilst awaiting the download (which at over 450 MB is one of the larger in the Sim720 inventory) I did a bit of research into the history of the airport and its region and made some curious discoveries.

Before we start though here is the product description from Sim720:

Santa Barbara Airport (KSBA) for flights to Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Portland or our sister airport Santa Catalina (KAVX).

This is a great airport - over 80 buildings modelled, interior perspective on the buildings (believed to be a world first), animated people, and 2 millimeter / pixel tiled texture on the taxiways and runways.

       

Commercial airline flights began in 1932 on Pacific Seaboard Airlines. United Airlines then inaugurated flights from Santa Barbara/Goleta in 1936 and the Spanish-style terminal building was commissioned by United Airlines, using the same architects as for the Arlington Theatre.

The USA Marine Corps was operating here 1942 to 1946 with a peak of 4,000 personnel, training 24 squadrons with 101 accidents - hopefully they learned from their mistakes. But can you name the John Wayne WWII film stationed at Goleta, the name for this airport until it was annexed to the city of Santa Barbara by a 7 miles (11 km) long, 300 feet (90 m) wide corridor, mostly under the Pacific Ocean.

Most popular flight destinations in recent history have been Los Angeles California, Phoenix Arizona, San Francisco California, Denver Colorado, Seattle Washington, and Portland Oregon. In 2013 the airport hosted flights by United, American, US Airways, Frontier and Alaska airlines.

       

Review System:

• DTG FSX: Steam Edition and Lockheed Martin Prepar3D v3.0 (each sim running on their own SSD)
• FTX Global, REX Texture Direct, Pilots FTX Global Mesh
• Windows 10
• 4790K O/C to 4.2
• 32 GB RAM
• 2x GeForce GTX 780Ti

       

History

• Two young brothers, Allan and Malcolm Loughead, in 1916 made a wooden launching platform for their seaplanes and would later go on to create the Lockheed Aircraft Company
• The original terminal building commissioned by United Airlines was designed with a Spanish theme by the same architects that designed the Arlington Theatre and it would shape the look and feel of the surrounding areas for generations to come
• The first scheduled passenger services began in 1932 on Pacific Seaboard Airlines (operated by Santa Barbara Airways)
• Served as MCAS Santa Barbara 1942-1946 training Marine Corps pilots for Close Air Support and Carrier operations
• Two of the earliest hangars built on the site for Santa Barbara Airways still stand to this day (and yes they have been modelled)
• The airport was originally part of the City of Goleta until it was annexed by the City of Santa Barbara on 14th November 1961 by 7-mile-long, 300 feet wide corridor almost completely under the Pacific Ocean