“Sled Driver” – Brian Shul
Friday, December 30, 11:00 am
Presentation and book signing by Brian Shul
Event included with Museum admission.
The Hiller Aviation Museum welcomes back Air Force SR-71 pilot Brian Shul. One of only 93 pilots who qualified to fly “The Sled,” Brian flew the SR-71 Blackbird for four years. His book, Sled Driver: Flying the World’s Fastest Jet, provides a unique aviator-eye view of this remarkable flying machine.
Join us on Friday, December 30 at 11 am as he shares his experiences in person in a special presentation at the Museum.
As an Air Force fighter pilot, Brian Shul was shot down in the Vietnam War and severely burned in the ensuing crash. Initially given up for dead, he was rescued and spent one year in hospitals and was told his flying days were over.
Amazingly, Brian returned to active duty flying and culminated his Air Force career by flying the Top Secret spy plane, the SR-71. Flying the world’s fastest and highest flying aircraft required an astronaut physical and Brian made Air Force history when he passed with no waivers.
Noon Year’s Eve Celebration!
SOLD OUT!
Saturday, December 31
10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Kids and parents, come celebrate the New Year with music, activities, face painting and a countdown to THREE GIANT balloon drops at noon!
This event begins at 10 am and ends at 1 pm. Museum will be open to the general public at 1 pm until 5 pm.
This event is SOLD OUT.
Tickets will NOT be sold at the door.
Members can sign up on a waiting list and will be contacted Saturday morning prior to the event if there is space available. If you are interested in becoming a member and entering this event and many others throughout the year for free Click Here.
Members, Email duran@hiller.org to sign up on the waiting list. Please include your name, membership number and how many members would like to attend.
No passes or other discount coupons accepted at this event.
The event will follow San Mateo County mandates for Covid-19 rules at the time of the event.
Museum opens at 1 pm for regular admissions.
Schedule of Activities:
10:00. Lori & RJ Welcome
Former Kids Club Hosts from KTVU Fox and WEB20 Kids will have you dancing and moving to the beat.
10:30 Sing with Bella
Popular 9-year-old YouTuber. Music for kids that is inspiring and fun.
11:00 Peninsula Ballet Theater
Peninsula Ballet Theatre strives to continue its long tradition as the artistic and cultural hub of San Mateo County. Ballet at its best.
11:15 Marionette Show
The Puppet Company and its imaginative shows will delight the whole family.
11:45 Get ready for Countdown to NOON YEAR’S with everyone on stage.
NOON BALLOON DROP
12:00 Germar the Magician
Award winning magician, author, and writer. Get ready to be mesmerized.
12:40 Broadway Babies & Kids – A musical revue you won’t want to miss.
Westlake School for the Performing Arts – Be inspired with these dancers.
1:00 END
*Schedule subject to change
Stage Entertainment
Lori & RJ – Cotton Candy Express Music
Broadway Babies & Kids
Dance Schools
Puppet Show
Event Activities
Face Painting
Obstacle Course (weather permitting)
Jump House (weather permiting)
Drone flying in the Drone Plex
Imagination Playground
Flight Sim Zone
Invention Lab
Exhibitors and Food
Verso Hair Braiding and Sand Bottle Artwork.
Food: Nob Hill Pizza & Hot Dogs
Sponsored by:
Straw Rocket Workshop
Upcoming dates:
All Launches 11 am – 12 pm
Sunday, January 8, 2023
Sunday, February 5, 2023
Sunday, March 19, 2023
Event included with Museum admission. No charge for Museum Members.
Advanced tickets available on VBO Tickets
Explore the world of rocketry!
Each Air Rocket Blastoff features an introduction to rocketry and Newton’s Third Law of Motion, including an exploration of a real JPL rocket on display at the Hiller Aviation Museum. Following a demonstration, participants construct a high-performance straw rocket, then launch it across the museum with a calibrated burst of air.
Event is included with Museum admission.
Kids’ Carnival
Sunday, April 23, 10 AM – 12 PM
Sunday, May 14, 10 AM – 12 PM
Sunday, June 25, 10 AM – 12 PM
Sunday, July 30, 10 AM – 12 PM
Sunday, August 27, 10 AM – 12 PM
Event included with Museum admission. No charge for Museum Members.
Join the excitement with special activities just for kids! Aircraft checkouts, cockpit exploration, glider and helicopter construction and more are just some of the activities available at each Kids’ Carnival.
Advance tickets available on VBO Tickets
Kids’ Carnival Activities
Outdoor Kids’ Carnival
March – November 2023 (February 2023 Weather Permitting)
- Paint-a-Plane Cessna Cardinal
- Scorpion Helicopter Checkout
- Paper Helicopter Construction
- Penguin Airplane Assembly
- Open Cockpit Aircraft
Indoor Kids’ Carnival
December 2022 – February 2023
- Vertical Wind Tunnels
- Paper Helicopters
- Scorpion Helicopter Checkout
- Glider Construction
- Penguin Airplane Assembly
- Rig-a-ma-Jig Construction
Sponsored by
Glider Discovery Day
Upcoming dates:
Sunday, January 22, 11 AM – 12 PM
Sunday, February 19, 11 AM – 12 PM
Sunday, March 26, 11 AM – 12 PM
Wednesday, January 18, 3 PM – 4 PM
Event included with Museum admission. Free for Museum Members.
Event dates and/or format subject to change if required by public health orders.
Advanced tickets available on VBO Tickets
Discover the world of flight in a special outdoor family event!
Learn the names of the different parts of the airplane, then join in the fun the help build a full-size Penguin airplane! Then, assemble a balsa wood glider and join a fun festival of flight outdoors in the museum’s Courtyard. Each child receives a glider to take home!
Event is included with Museum admission.
Glider Discovery Day
Upcoming dates:
Sunday, March 26, 11 AM – 12 PM
Sunday, May 28, 11 AM – 12 PM
Sunday, June 18, 11 AM – 12 PM
Wednesday, July 12, 11 AM – 12 PM
Event included with Museum admission. Free for Museum Members.
Event dates and/or format subject to change if required by public health orders.
Advanced tickets available on VBO Tickets
Discover the world of flight in a special outdoor family event!
Learn the names of the different parts of the airplane, then join in the fun the help build a full-size Penguin airplane! Then, assemble a balsa wood glider and join a fun festival of flight outdoors in the museum’s Courtyard. Each child receives a glider to take home!
Event is included with Museum admission.
Building the B-17 Flying Fortress
Saturday, January 28, 11:00 am
Presentation and Book Signing by Bill Yenne
Event included with Museum admission.
This is the book that the Abwehr would have paid a million dollars for in 1943!
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was one of the greatest aircraft in aviation history. It was the spearhead of the American bombing offensive in Europe from beginning to end, becoming the preeminent symbol of the doctrine of strategic airpower.
But this book is not about its combat career.
This book covers, in minute detail, the design and development of every variant from the XB-17 prototype to the B-17G. This is the story of the production of 12,731 B-17 Flying Fortresses, rolled out in 26 months. By 1944, Boeing had a achieved a monthly total in excess of 360 aircraft, with days when as many 16 came off the line.
This is the story not of one endless assembly line, but of three assembly lines, owned and operated by three rival companies — Boeing in Seattle, Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica, and the Vega Aircraft division of Lockheed in Burbank, California.
This complexity was multiplied, not just the coordination of the building variants of the airplanes themselves. There were components and subassemblies coming from countless subcontractors and suppliers throughout the country. Of course, all of the components and subassemblies, like the overall aircraft — never mind the Wright Cyclone engines — went through numerous changes, dozens of them at every block turn.
Just a few of the stories told are those of the Bendix Chin Turret, the Block Production System, the Cheyenne Tail Turret, the H2X (AN/APS-15) Radar, the Honeywell C‑1 Autopilot, the Modification Center Concept, the Norden Bombsight, the Seattle Plant 2, the Sperry Ball Turret, the Vega XB-38, the Wright Cyclone variants, and the XB-40/YB-40 Flying Fortress.
We’ll take you inside, deep inside, each variant and the program itself—with little known minutia and the big picture of a remarkable and unforgettable aircraft.
Author Bio:
A prolific author, Bill Yenne has written more than three dozen books on historical topics, as well as several novels. He has contributed to encyclopedias of both world wars, and has been featured in documentaries on the History Channel, the National Geographic Channel, the Smithsonian Channel and ARD German Television. The “Wall Street Journal” notes that Yenne writes “with a cinematic vividness,” and Gen. Wesley Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, called Yenne’s recent biography of Alexander the Great, the “best yet.” Yenne, whose books have been included in Amazon’s “100 Best Books of the Year,” currently lives in San Francisco, CA.
Helicopter Adventure
Upcoming dates:
Sunday, May 7, 11 AM – 12 PM
Sunday, June 11, 11 AM – 12 PM
Sunday, July 9, 11 AM – 12 PM
Wednesday, August 23, 11 AM – 12 PM
Event included with Museum admission. Free for Museum Members.
Advanced tickets available on VBO Tickets
Discover the world of vertical flight!
Each Helicopter Adventure starts with an introduction to the development of rotary-wing aircraft and explanation of the parts of the helicopter using a real Scorpion aircraft. Then, participants build and fly their own paper helicopters and climb aboard the cockpit of the Scorpion for themselves!
Event is included with Museum admission.
Straw Rocket Workshop
Upcoming dates:
All Launches 11 am – 12 pm
Sunday, January 8, 2023
Sunday, February 5, 2023
Sunday, March 19, 2023
Event included with Museum admission. No charge for Museum Members.
Advanced tickets available on VBO Tickets
Explore the world of rocketry!
Each Air Rocket Blastoff features an introduction to rocketry and Newton’s Third Law of Motion, including an exploration of a real JPL rocket on display at the Hiller Aviation Museum. Following a demonstration, participants construct a high-performance straw rocket, then launch it across the museum with a calibrated burst of air.
Event is included with Museum admission.
Super Bowl Sunday, February 12, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Event included with Museum admission.
Join the excitement of the big game as the Hiller Aviation Museum explores the combination of football and flight in a family-friendly extravaganza! Join the Robo Bowl and take a turn commanding programmable robots to run plays in the Hiller Aviation Museum’s own robotic stadium! Fly a drone through football uprights, and explore gridiron aerodynamics while folding, flicking and flying a paper football!
Outdoors the adventure continues with a fun bouncy obstacle course and football-inspired training parachutes. Then, at twelve noon, make a play to see a real helicopter drop hundreds of fun foam footballs!
Wear your favorite team jersey and get a prize!
Come “Tailgate” party in our newly renovated courtyard. Hot dogs and pizza will be available for purchase.
Schedule of Events:
Robo Bowl 10-12pm
Inflatable Obstacle Course 10 am – 11:45 am
Drone Plex 11 am – 3 pm
Helicopter Football Drop 12 pm
Invention Lab 10:30-3 pm
