Glenn Beltz
@gb0n.bsky.social
Professor of Mechanical Engineering, & Associate Dean, at UC Santa Barbara - where we make engineers, not tech bros. I’m fascinated by airplanes and analog photography, and I’ve been known to take photos of aircraft at the Santa Barbara airport (SBA).
On Sept. 30, 2025, an Allegiant Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 showed up at Santa Barbara for some filming. Here's a photo of the arrival, and the link is to a video that I made later in the day while they did pattern work. #allegiantair #allegiantairlines #N820NV #Boeing737MAX #SBA
youtu.be/vFhJ3ffYoY0?...
youtu.be/vFhJ3ffYoY0?...
October 1, 2025 at 10:26 PM
On Sept. 30, 2025, an Allegiant Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 showed up at Santa Barbara for some filming. Here's a photo of the arrival, and the link is to a video that I made later in the day while they did pattern work. #allegiantair #allegiantairlines #N820NV #Boeing737MAX #SBA
youtu.be/vFhJ3ffYoY0?...
youtu.be/vFhJ3ffYoY0?...
So there I was, minding my own business, enjoying happy hour after work on Thursday...and I get a text from a friend to check what was inbound to the Santa Barbara Airport. I checked, and whoaa!! It's not every day we get a KC-135. This one's out of Macdill AFB. #kc135 #macdill #macdillafb #927thARW
May 16, 2025 at 3:32 PM
So there I was, minding my own business, enjoying happy hour after work on Thursday...and I get a text from a friend to check what was inbound to the Santa Barbara Airport. I checked, and whoaa!! It's not every day we get a KC-135. This one's out of Macdill AFB. #kc135 #macdill #macdillafb #927thARW
Latest launch as seen from Goleta Beach. I have the good fortune of working on the horizon. Oh, and there's that restaurant in foreground - the old Beachside, now The Ellwood, that they've been saying for months will "open soon" but never quite does. #spacex #starlink #falcon9 #launch #ucsb #rocket
February 11, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Neighborhood wake-up call, 3:34 am. 6 minute, 30 second exposure, long enough to capture the re-entry burn. A sonic boom rocked the house after I had packed up the gear and went back inside. #bandwagon2 #spacex #launch #falcon9
December 21, 2024 at 12:07 PM
Neighborhood wake-up call, 3:34 am. 6 minute, 30 second exposure, long enough to capture the re-entry burn. A sonic boom rocked the house after I had packed up the gear and went back inside. #bandwagon2 #spacex #launch #falcon9
A C-17 landed at Santa Barbara last night; very rare for SBA. It's based at March Air Reserve Base and originated in Hawaii. #C17 #Boeing #aviation #avgeek #SantaBarbara
November 22, 2024 at 4:54 PM
A C-17 landed at Santa Barbara last night; very rare for SBA. It's based at March Air Reserve Base and originated in Hawaii. #C17 #Boeing #aviation #avgeek #SantaBarbara
Another launch as viewed from my home last night.
November 18, 2024 at 5:36 PM
Another launch as viewed from my home last night.
Mercy sakes alive, looks like we got us a convoy. This C-40A overnighted in Santa Barbara and I was lucky to see it taxi out this morning as I drove to work. It used the callsign CONVOY and flew down to NAS Point Mugu at 3000 feet.
November 15, 2024 at 5:41 PM
Mercy sakes alive, looks like we got us a convoy. This C-40A overnighted in Santa Barbara and I was lucky to see it taxi out this morning as I drove to work. It used the callsign CONVOY and flew down to NAS Point Mugu at 3000 feet.
Phony Stark strikes again: the view from the front of my house. I attempted a long exposure with a film camera; stay tuned for that one.
November 14, 2024 at 5:44 AM
Phony Stark strikes again: the view from the front of my house. I attempted a long exposure with a film camera; stay tuned for that one.
NASA DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory approaches SBA in June 2016. I was at the beach with my kids and happened to look up; it was before I had tools like Flightradar24 or ADSB Had I known it was coming, I would have brought a longer lens that day! Taken with a Nikon F3 loaded with Ektar 100.
November 13, 2024 at 7:15 PM
NASA DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory approaches SBA in June 2016. I was at the beach with my kids and happened to look up; it was before I had tools like Flightradar24 or ADSB Had I known it was coming, I would have brought a longer lens that day! Taken with a Nikon F3 loaded with Ektar 100.
The Wrigley-Rusack DC-3 is an occasional visitor to Santa Barbara and made several stops here this past weekend. #dc3 #N64784 #santabarbara
November 13, 2024 at 7:10 PM
The Wrigley-Rusack DC-3 is an occasional visitor to Santa Barbara and made several stops here this past weekend. #dc3 #N64784 #santabarbara