Imagination Playground
Daily, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Included with Museum Admission
Exercise your imagination! Create and build large structures using safe and easy-to-maneuver foam blocks. Perfect for young children.
*Imagination Playground closes periodically for facilitated education events.
Flight Sim Zone
Take a virtual flight across the Bay and see the world from the unique perspective of a pilot.
Pass Required.
- $3 per Pass (in addition to museum admission).
- Pass is free for Members.
- Two people can fly on one Pass (pilot and co-pilot).
- Obtain Passes at museum Gift Shop.
- Each Pass good for up to 30 minutes of flight time.
- Seating is limited.
Also Open Monday-Tuesday July 3-4.
- 3-screen, 3,840 x 1,024 pixel display
- Saitek flight yoke and throttle quadrant
- Saitek or PFC rudder pedals
- Microsoft Flight Simulator (v9 and FSX)
How Sessions Operate
We follow a flight instruction model. Our instructors are real pilots and they will show you how to properly control a Cessna 172 airplane, including the all-important landing procedure. Once proficiency has been achieved in basic procedures, the instructor will help you implement a more advanced real-world flying scenario based on your interests including: cross-country flight, multi-engine and airline procedures, bad-weather flying, instrument procedures and flight plans, among many other possibilities.
The Flight Sim Zone is wheelchair accessible.
Invention Lab
Saturday and Sunday, 10:30 am to 4:00 pm
Special hours 11 am – 4 pm Monday, September 3
Included with Museum Admission
Use tools of science to explore aviation, aerodynamics, engineering, assembly and design. Perfect for older children and adults.
Current Invention Lab Activities
Through July, 2017
Build-a-Plane (Ages 3 -7)
Use kid-rated tools to build and disassemble an airplane model!
Wind Tunnel Challenge (Ages 5 and Up)
Design, construct and test a device able to fly in a vertically-oriented wind tunnel!
Program is included with museum admission and no advance registration is required. Facilitators will be available to help throughout the process. Recommended for ages as indicated for the activities above.
Imagination Playground
Daily, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Included with Museum Admission
Exercise your imagination! Create and build large structures using safe and easy-to-maneuver foam blocks. Perfect for young children.
*Imagination Playground closes periodically for facilitated education events.
Imagination Playground
Daily, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Included with Museum Admission
Exercise your imagination! Create and build large structures using safe and easy-to-maneuver foam blocks. Perfect for young children.
*Imagination Playground closes periodically for facilitated education events.
Open Cockpit Day
Upcoming dates:
Wednesday, February 20, 2019 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Saturday, May 11, 2019 10:00 am – 2:00 am
Wednesday, July 3, 2019 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Event included with Museum admission.
Join us for a unique opportunity to gain a pilot’s eye perspective on many of the Hiller Aviation Museum’s aircraft. The McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, Boeing 747 and Hiller H-12 cockpits are always open, but on Open Cockpit Days the doors and canopies of many additional aircraft in the Museum’s collection swing open to allow visitors a special chance to sit inside and explore the controls and instruments needed to fly these aircraft.
Sit in the cockpits of the following aircraft:
- Grumman HU-16 Albatross
- Aero Commander 500U
- Boeing 737-100
- Boeing 747
- Cessna 177 Cardinal
- Aero L-39 Albatross
- Bell 47D
Sponsored by
Food Trucks
Fly Me to the Food!
Every Wednesday
11 am – 2 pm
The parking lot of the museum turns into a food court every Wednesday. Several food trucks serve their fresh eats at this gourmet event. The trucks rotate weekly so come for your favorite truck or try something new!
The event is rain or shine. We have indoor seating when it’s a little cold or outdoor seating under our shaded porte-cochere when the weather is just right.
Schedule of Food Trucks
Food trucks are scheduled for the following dates. Schedule is subject to change due to trucks breaking, scheduling conflicts and yes even traffic.
Wednesday, May 11
Wednesday, May 18
Wednesday, May 25
Imagination Playground
Daily, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Included with Museum Admission
Exercise your imagination! Create and build large structures using safe and easy-to-maneuver foam blocks. Perfect for young children.
*Imagination Playground closes periodically for facilitated education events.
Aero Design Challenge
Grades 5-12
Friday-Saturday, February 22-23 (February 23 FULL)
9:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Additional dates available for school groups Grades 5-8 of 50 or more. Visit the field trip program page for more information.
Aero Design Challenge is an exploration into design and engineering. Each 3-hour program explores concepts in aeronautics that challenges participants to construct a working prototype.
Each student in the Aero Design Challenge participates in a series of discovery experiences in the Hiller Aviation Museum’s main gallery, including:
- Wind tunnel experiments
- Examination of full-scale aircraft
- Flight simulation
- Model helicopter flight tests
Following the exploration period, students join a small team to construct, test, improve and present a model helicopter able to satisfy the design requirements.
Now entering its sixth year, the Aero Design Challenge is part of the Bay Area Science Festival and celebrates the design thinking process in the world of flight. Offered at no cost to participants through the generous support of sponsors and the engagement of scores of volunteers from local technology businesses and universities, the Aero Design Challenge has engaged over 2,000 participants since its inception.
Aero Design Challenge generously sponsored by:
Helicopter Challenge
For this year’s Aero Design Challenge, participants investigate lift and aerodynamics while designing, building and flying a helicopter capable of remaining in flight the longest possible time!
Aero Design Challenge participants work in teams of up to 4 students, accompanied by a volunteer mentor, to investigate vertical flight. Discovery stations include the Invention Lab, Wind Tunnel and Flight Simulator Lab; the Drone Plex’s flight enclosure will be used for experimental helicopter flights.
How to Register
Aero Design Challenge programs are provided to participants at no charge, but space is limited and pre-registration is required. School groups may complete a field trip reservation request using the Museum’s convenient online request system. Individuals and small groups may enroll using the Aero Design Challenge registration portal.
All Aero Design Challenge participants will receive a confirmation email and additional information regarding the program approximately one week prior to program date. Make your plans now to join an exceptional hands-on aerospace engineering experience.
Exciting News!
The California Association of Museums and State Superintendent’s Office of Public Instruction have awarded the Hiller Aviation Museum the Excellence in Museum Education Award for its Aero Design Challenge.
Imagination Playground
Daily, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Included with Museum Admission
Exercise your imagination! Create and build large structures using safe and easy-to-maneuver foam blocks. Perfect for young children.
*Imagination Playground closes periodically for facilitated education events.
