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.
Invention Lab
Saturday and Sunday, 10:30 am - 4:00 pm Included with Museum Admission
Also open 11 am - 4 pm Monday, January 20
Use tools of science to explore aviation, aerodynamics, engineering, assembly and design. Perfect for older children and adults.
Current Invention Lab Activities
January 4-26, 2020
Bee-Bot Robotics
Use push-button coding to program a robot to navigate a course across the Invention Lab!
Starlab Planetarium
Special 30-Minute Star Shows
For Adults and Children Ages 5 and Up
Ages 3-5 welcome at 10:30 AM
Upcoming Dates
Sunday, December 15
10:30 AM, 11:30 AM, 12:30 PM
Sunday, January 19
10:30 AM, 11:30 AM, 12:30 PM
Sunday, February 16
10:30 AM, 11:30 AM, 12:30 PM
Each show runs 30 minutes.
Explore the Stars and Planets
Enter the amazing dome of a Starlab planetarium and see the glittering stars of the night sky projected overhead. Discover the brightest constellations visible each night and the stars used by pilots, sailors and others to navigate across vast and featureless oceans.
Age Restrictions
Children ages 5 and up are welcome with an accompanying adult at any presentation time. Children ages 3-5 may attend the first scheduled presentation each day, with one accompanying adult required for each child. Children age 2 and under are not recommended. Participants must craw through a short tunnel with reduced lighting to access the inside of the Starlab dome and remain seated throughout the 30-minute presentation.
Starlab Ticketing
Starlab is included with Museum admission. Space for each presentation is limited, and a separate Starlab ticket is required for each participant in addition to Museum admission. Tickets are available at the Admissions counter in the Gift Shop on the day of each program.
Drone Plex
Every Saturday & Sunday
Current Schedule
11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Drone Demonstrations (11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm, 2 pm)
Flight Simulation (11 am – 3 pm)
Hands-on Code & Fly (11 am – 3 pm, except during demonstrations)
Also open December 30-31
All Drone Plex activities included with Museum admission.
Demonstrations suitable for all ages. Flight simulation recommended for ages 5 and up, drone flight recommended for ages 7 and up. All children must be accompanied by an adult.
Drones are one of the most significant advances in aviation of the 21st century. Get a “taste” of flying them in a safe arena with an instructor who will show you techniques for safe drone piloting, including rules, regulations and “do’s and dont’s” practices for responsible drone flight.
Try Flying a Drone!
Discover the fun and challenge of drone flight!. Observe drone demonstrations, take the controls of a realistic drone simulator and pilot an actual drone in the Drone Plex flight center during Try and Fly.. Expand the experience and take an aircraft home at Buy and Fly sessions!
FAA Drone Safety Video
Flight Sim Zone
Saturday and Sunday, 11 am to 2 pm
Also Open
Monday, November 11, 11 am – 2 pm
Take a virtual flight across the Bay and see the world from the unique perspective of a pilot.
Pass Required.
- $4 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.
Flight Sim Zone workstations consist of the following:
- large 4K screen, 3,840 x 2,160 pixel display
- Saitek flight yoke and throttle quadrant
- Saitek rudder pedals
- X-Plane 11 and Prepar3D v.4 simulation software
How Sessions Operate
We follow a flight instruction model. Our instructors are real pilots and they will show you how to properly control a small aircraft like or Cessna 172 or Mooney Bravo, 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.
FMX Flight Simulator
Saturday and Sunday, 11 am to 2 pm
Purchase your flight ticket at our gift shop.
$10 for 10-minute flight.
$8 for museum Members.
Fly with a pilot instructor in an FAA approved full-motion flight simulator, the kind typically seen only in flight schools and training academies used in real world flight training. The cockpit is fully functional and the sensations of flight are amazing. This is the most realistic experience possible short of flying a real airplane!
Try Flying!
This is a 10-minute flight that gets you into the fun and challenge of aviation. Put your feet into the rudder pedals, take the controls and get ready to fly! Accelerate down the runway at San Carlos Airport and lift off in your Cessna 172. Climb out over the Bay, maneuver in the traffic pattern and then land at San Francisco International Airport.
The FMX flight simulator’s fully functional cockpit features the latest in “glass cockpit” avionics technology, the Garmin G1000, including a Primary Flight Display (PFD) and Multi-Function Display (MFD) with integrated autopilot.
- 6 screen “wraparound” windshield display.
- Full simulator movement in yaw, pitch and roll.
- Force feedback flight yoke and throttle quadrant.
- Rudder pedals.
- Simulation software: Lockheed Martin Prepar3D.
For Museum Members Only
Museum members can reserve 30-minute blocks of FMX time in advance.
Contact the simulator reservationist via email (jeff@hiller.org) requesting reservation privileges. Provide your name, Museum Member number, contact phone number and email and we will get back to you with instructions including a personal login and password.
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.
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.
