Helicopter Adventure
Upcoming dates:
Sunday, July 3, 11 AM – 12 PM
Wednesday, August 3, 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.
Happy Birds
Upcoming dates:
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
Wednesday, July 6, 2022
Saturday, July 23, 2022
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
Event included with Museum admission.
Event dates and/or format subject to change if required by public health orders.
Online tickets available Click Here
Join a feathered frenzy with the Happy Birds! This elite team of parrots, macaws and cockatoos takes wing for a dazzling performance featuring wild and trained behaviors of all sorts. Arrive early for best seating and take flight on the wild side with these popular parrots and their friends.
These avian performers have been featured on The Tonight Show, Pet Star and The Ellen Show. Their repertoire includes: animal impersonations, singing opera, crying like a baby, and even a song called Clementine!
You will see fantastic birds showing incredible skills, including:
- RIDING A BIKE
- THE SHELL GAME
- RIDING A SCOOTER
- TALKING AND SINGING SONGS
- PLAYING BASKETBALL
- ANIMAL IMPERSONATIONS
- RAISING THE FLAG
- 360 DEGREE SWING
- SKATEBOARDING
- FLYING TRICKS
- OPENING DRINKS
- AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
- AND MUCH MORE!
Open Cockpit Day
Upcoming dates:
Saturday, January 29, 2022 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Saturday, May 21, 2022 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Wednesday, July 13, 2022 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Event included with Museum admission.
Online tickets available on VBO
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
- Fokker Dr.1 Red Baron
- Aero Commander 500U
- Boeing 737-100
- Boeing 747
- Cessna 177 Cardinal
- Aero L-39 Albatross
- Bell 47D
Water Rocket Rally
Upcoming dates:
Sunday, March 20, 11 am – 12 pm
Wednesday, April 27, 1:30-2:30 & 3:30-4:30 pm
Sunday, May 1, 11 am – 12 pm
Sunday, May 29, 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 rockets!
Bring along a recycled 1- or 2-liter soda bottle or purchase a new water rocket body in the Museum’s Gift Shop ($1.50/bottle) and join the rocket workshop! Use a variety of common craft materials to convert a bottle into a high performance rocket vehicle, then test fly it across the Museum’s Courtyard on a fountain of compressed air and water.
Event is included with Museum admission.
Participants must bring a clean, empty soda bottle (water bottles are not suitable for this activity), or may purchase one in the Museum’s Gift Shop on the day of the event.
Happy Birds
Upcoming dates:
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
Wednesday, July 6, 2022
Saturday, July 23, 2022
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
Event included with Museum admission.
Event dates and/or format subject to change if required by public health orders.
Online tickets available Click Here
Join a feathered frenzy with the Happy Birds! This elite team of parrots, macaws and cockatoos takes wing for a dazzling performance featuring wild and trained behaviors of all sorts. Arrive early for best seating and take flight on the wild side with these popular parrots and their friends.
These avian performers have been featured on The Tonight Show, Pet Star and The Ellen Show. Their repertoire includes: animal impersonations, singing opera, crying like a baby, and even a song called Clementine!
You will see fantastic birds showing incredible skills, including:
- RIDING A BIKE
- THE SHELL GAME
- RIDING A SCOOTER
- TALKING AND SINGING SONGS
- PLAYING BASKETBALL
- ANIMAL IMPERSONATIONS
- RAISING THE FLAG
- 360 DEGREE SWING
- SKATEBOARDING
- FLYING TRICKS
- OPENING DRINKS
- AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
- AND MUCH MORE!
Glider Discovery Day
Upcoming dates:
Sunday, May 15, 11 AM – 12 PM
Wednesday, June 29, 11 AM – 12 PM
Sunday, July 24, 11 AM – 12 PM
Wednesday, August 24, 1:30 PM – 2:30 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.
Kids’ Air Fair Participants
Join the fun at the Hiller Aviation Museum’s annual summer celebration of flight! Local aviation professionals bring their aircraft and aviation service vehicles to the Museum for a special show-and-tell session, while the museum opens the doors of many of its most popular aircraft! Kid-friendly activities abound, including balsa glider construction, paint-a-plane, paper helicopter construction and so much more!
Wednesday, July 27, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Event included with Museum admission.
Pre-purchase tickets available on VBO Tickets
Emergency Service Vehicles
- San Carlos Airport Rescue Truck
- San Carlos Fire Truck
- San Mateo Sheriff’s Patrol Car
- California Highway Patrol
* Emergency Service participation is subject to change
Kids’ Activities
- Paint-A-Plane
- Open Cockpits (737, 747, HU-16 Albatross, L-39 Jet)
- Exhibit Scavenger Hunt
- Glider Construction Station
- Whirly-Twirly Construction Station
- Penguin Build-a-plane
- Imagination Playground
- And More!
Aircraft
- Charger – Experimental Bi-Plane
- San Carlos Flight Center Cessna 172
- Cessna 177 Cardinal
- Aero Commander 500U
- BD-5 mini plane
- US Coast Guard Helicopter
Paper Airplanes
Upcoming dates:
Saturday, February 26, 2022, 11 AM
Wednesday, June 22, 2022, 11 AM & 1 PM
Saturday, July 30, 2022 11 AM
Wednesday, August 17, 2022, 11 AM & 1 PM
Event included with Museum admission. No charge to Hiller Aviation Museum Members.
Event dates and/or format subject to change if required by public health orders.
Online tickets available Click Here
Everyone loves paper airplanes. We turn into test pilots just by folding sheets of paper. We make them to see how fast they will go or how far they will fly, we even try to do aerobatics with them.
One of the top paper airplane makers in the country (and world record holder), John Collins, will join us for an expert demonstration of the wonder, delight and aeronautic capabilities of hand made paper gliders. John is world distance paper airplane record holder and a master paper airplane builder. John has written a number of books on building paper airplanes that will be available at the event and John will make sure he personalizes it just for you.
John’s discussions and demonstrations will last approximately 45 minutes. No reservations are required and the event is included with your museum admission.
John’s creative designs include planes so light that simply holding it above your hand and walking makes it fly. He has planes that perform unique aerobatics and even planes that become two when thrown in the air.
San Jose Giants Hiller Flight Night
Saturday, July 30, 2022 at 6 pm
San Jose Giants vs. Rancho Cucamonga Quakes at Excite Ballpark
Venue Address: 588 E. Alma, San Jose, CA 95112
Tickets now available! Purchase online or in the museum gift shop.
Super Sale: $10 tickets with promo code FLYHILLER
Get Your Tickets Now:
- Invite the whole family, go with a group friends, troop, or team!
- Skip the major league traffic, parking, and prices, and enjoy this accessible, affordable, and casual minor league experience.
- Limited tickets available for Hiller Flight Night. Discounted tickets expected to sellout.
Hiller Flight Night at Excite Ballpark will feature fireworks after the ballgame and a Marvel Defenders of the Diamond special giveaway!
Don’t miss the first-ever Hiller Flight Night with the San Jose Giants!
Hiller Aviation Museum will receive a portion of proceeds for tickets purchased using the FlyHiller promo code!
Thank you for supporting Hiller Aviation Museum!
Click Reserve Tickets & Use Promo Code FLYHILLER
Flight Simulator Rally
Sunday, May 22 – Space Shuttle Landing
Sunday, June 12 – Saba Approach
Sunday, July 31 – Instrument Landing
Sunday, August 28 – Aerobatic Flight
30-minute sessions begin every half hour between 2:30 PM and 3:30 PM. Event concludes at 4:00 PM.
Take up the challenge in the Flight Sim Zone!
The Flight Simulator Rally, held monthly in the Hiller Aviation Museum’s Flight Sim Zone, presents participants with a specific mission in simulated flight. Each 30-minute session provides ample time for participants to learn a particular flight, then ends with a challenge flight to achieve the best possible results!
The Flight Sim Zone features a full lab of high-fidelity flight simulators, each equipped with realistic flight controls, high speed graphics processors, and dramatic widescreen-format monitors. Using state of the art flight simulation software, the Flight Sim Zone provides an exceptional recreation of flight suitable for non-flying novices and veteran aviators alike.
Pilots ages 8 and up are welcome to join each month’s Flight Simulator Rally. The event is included with Museum admission, but space is limited. Participants must report to the Flight Sim Zone promptly at the start time of each session to ensure a spot.
Saba Approach
Attempt a landing on one of the world’s shortest runways to see commercial service on Saba in the Dutch East Indies!
Shuttle Landing
Pilot the historic US space shuttle to an unpowered landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida!
Aerobatic Flight
Master the controls of the Extra 300 aerobatic airplane and attempt a challenging loop around the Golden Gate Bridge!
Instrument Approach
Fly the Cessna 172 through severe weather to a safe landing at San Francisco International Airport!
