Paper Airplanes
Upcoming dates:
Sunday, May 26, 11 AM (National Paper Airplane Day)
Wednesday, June 26, 11 AM & 1 PM
Saturday, July 6, 11 AM
Wednesday, August 14, 11 AM & 1 PM
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.
Fly for Fun Days
Paper Airplane Workshops
Recommended Ages 7 and Up
Future Dates:
Sunday, May 26 – Distance Flight
Join the excitement of the National Paper Airplane Contest at the Hiller Aviation Museum! Each Fly for Fun date investigates the science of flight with paper airplanes using curriculum content developed by author and record-setting paper airplane ace John Collins, frequent presenter at the Hiller Aviation Museum.
In the distance competition, participants explore the science of aerodynamics and techniques for constructing gliders with minimal drag to boost the chances of producing spectacular distance flights. In the assisted flight competition, high lift is the key as each glider is designed to have maximum loft.
Each Fly for Fun event is included with Museum admission.
Distance
Sunday, May 26, 2 PM – 4 PM
Go long with a power-assisted paper plane launch! Explore the role of drag in aircraft flight and construct a long-distance paper glider able to be launched with a blast of air, then launch it across the great indoors of the Museum’s Atrium!
Assisted Lift
Sunday, November 11, 1 PM – 4 PM
The wing’s the thing in a contest to construct a paper plane with minimum sink rate—and maximum flight time! Learn how the force forces of flight combine in a simple glider, and then build and test your own design under the guidance of Hiller Aviation Museum staff and volunteers!
Fly for Fun Days programs are included with admission to the Hiller Aviation Museum (no charge for Members).
All program participation is on a first-come, first-served basis. Check in at the Museum Gift Shop on the day of the program to register. Adults and children are welcome to join, but participants should be able to fold paper confidently.
Don’t miss this opportunity to discover the world of paper-light flight at the Hiller Aviation Museum!
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.
Biggest Little Air Show
Saturday, June 1, 2019
10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Flight demonstrations from 10:30 am – noon!
Big things come in small packages in an amazing aerial display at the Hiller Aviation Museum!
Beautifully detailed radio control model aircraft will be on display at the Museum from 10 AM to 1 PM, with air show flight demonstrations from 10:30 AM to 12 PM.
Event is included with Museum admission—no charge to Museum Members! Capacity is limited.
Avoid the line, get your tickets now!
Avoid the ticket purchase lines on the day of the event. Get your tickets now.
This is a video from a previous year’s event. This year’s Biggest Little Airshow is Saturday, June 1st, 2019
Pre-purchase online tickets available on Eventbrite
This year’s show will match a thrilling aerobatic performance by airshow pilot Vicky Benzing in her Stearman Bi-plane along with demonstrations of exceptional radio controlled models.
San Carlos Airport will close to regular traffic from 10:30 am to noon to allow realistic jet- and propeller-powered model aircraft to roll down the runway and into the sky to take their part in a unique aerial extravaganza including aerobatic helicopters, drones, quadrotors and more!!
Performers are scheduled to include:
- Vicky Benzing in her 1940 Stearman Bi-plane
- The RC Flyers model aircraft demonstrations
- Aerobatic gyroscopic routines
- 3D aerobatic helicopters
- DRONES
- Quads
- Jets and other RC aircraft
Presentation scheduled:
12:30 PM – Drone Safety presented by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
2:00 PM – Learn about careers in aviation and aeronautics from the California Aeronautical University
Flight Demonstration Schedule*
10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Opening ceremony
WWII Warbirds
“Things That Shouldn’t Fly”
Scale Flying – Sukhoi
“Twisted Hobby Crazy Twist”
Drone Race & Freestyle Demo
IMAC 3D AerobaticPrachute Jump
F-16 Turbine Jet
Turbine Pilatus
Combat Demo
Stearman Bi-plane flown by Vicky Benzing
12:00 – 1:00 pm
“Dancing Drone Show” and Drone Demos by “Drones by US” in the Atrium Room Cage
Nano and Mini Drones in the Atrium Room Cage
Museum Drone Demo’s in the Drone Plex in the Main Gallery
*Schedule subject to change without notice
It’s OK to bring a small, portable folding chair for your viewing comfort!
Avoid the line, get your tickets now!
Avoid the ticket purchase lines on the day of the event. Get your tickets now.
Vicky Benzing and her 1940 Stearman Bi-plane
Born and raised in California, Vicky Benzing is an accomplished pilot, skydiver, aerobatic performer and air racer. Vicky has over 8000 hours of flight time and over 1200 parachute jumps. Her flying career has spanned more than thirty years and she currently holds an Airline Transport Pilot Rating as well as Commercial Ratings in helicopters, seaplanes and gliders.
1940 Boeing Stearman Bi-plane
Vicky’s beautiful Stearman was manufactured in 1940 by the Boeing Aircraft Company for use as a Military Trainer in WWII. In February 1946 after the war ended, this aircraft was sold from the war assets administration for $770.
After many years serving as a crop duster it was restored in 1990 back to original. Vicky purchased the airplane in 1998. She only made modifications to the engine and added a smoke system, other than that it remains like it was originally built over 79 years ago.
It’s OK to bring a small, portable folding chair for your viewing comfort!
Avoid the line, get your tickets now!
Avoid the ticket purchase lines on the day of the event. Get your tickets now.
Dancing Drones will perform in the Atrium Drone Cage from 12-1pm
Drones By US demonstrations
12 PM – 1 PM
Drone Plex
Drones by US sources, markets and sells ultra-high-performance and fun small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Consumer friendly with easy-to-use apps and flight controllers, they are compact for travel most anywhere. We employ cutting-edge technologies such as visual-inertial odometry navigation for greater accuracy in “follow me” tracking and obstacle avoidance along a flight path.
Our technology partner, High Great Innovation Technology Development Company, is a leading manufacturer of advanced small UAS. We are members of the Unmanned Aircraft Safety Team, an industry-FAA partnership committed to ensuring the safe operation of unmanned aircraft in the national airspace system. We’re passionate about flight in all of its forms.
Drones will be demonstrating the following drones:
DBUS1 – FOLDABLE & LIGHTWEIGHT DRONE
- Dual GPS/GLONASS positioning and Optic Flow Ultrasonic positioning sensors
- Easy to operate with one-touch take-off, return home, and auto landing
- Use DbUS App on any mobile phone to fly
DBUS2 – PORTABLE & INTELLIGENT DRONE
- Compact & Light – Fits in your pocket. From pocket to air within 2 minutes
- Flys great indoors and outdoors
- Exempt from FAA registration
There will be hands-on demos for the public. The Drones will be also available for purchase in the museum gift shop.
Click Here for more info on Drones by US
Avoid the line, get your tickets now!
Avoid the ticket purchase lines on the day of the event. Get your tickets now.
Sponsors
Flight Simulator Rally
Sunday, May 5 – Grand Canyon Flight
Sunday, June 2 – Ultralight Flight
30-minute sessions begin every half hour between 2:00 PM and 3:30 PM. Event concludes at 4:00 PM.
May 5 only – Flight Simulator Rally 2:00 – 2:30 PM & 3:00 – 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 secure a timed ticket from the Admissions counter in the Museum Gift Shop on the day of each program.
Spaceflight Approach
Flown over 100 times between 1981 and 2011, NASA’s space shuttle launched like a traditional rocket but landed on a runway. Fly the exciting final approach phase of a space shuttle landing in the Flight Sim Zone using a realistic re-creation of this iconic aerospace plane.
Ultralight Flight
Take wing in a super-small ultralight aircraft. Master short field takeoffs and landings, then make an approach to one of the world’s smallest airfields on the island of Saba in the Caribbean. Experienced pilots attempt to repeat the feat in a Cessna 172 – precision in required to stay on the runway!
Grand Canyon Flight
Tour one of the world’s most remarkable natural features from the air. Advanced pilots must take on a fuel management challenge while completing a sightseeing mission before time expires.
Drone Meet
Event Schedule
Sunday, March 10, 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM
Relay Race
Sunday, April 7, 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM
Precision Landing
Sunday, June 9, 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM
Code & Fly
All competitors must be at least 8 years old to fly at the Drone Meet.
Fly a multi-rotor drone in one of several different skill-specific competitions held in the Hiller Aviation Museum Drone Plex.
Join a Drone Competition!
Fly with the best of the best in a thrilling series of multirotor competitions. Each Drone Meet event focuses on a different skill in quadcopter flight, and utilizes the Hiller Aviation Museum’s Drone Plex facility. Drone Meet events include:
- Preflight briefing
- Practice with a drone flight simulator
- Competition using a Museum-provided Drone appropriate for the event
Each Drone Meet features rounds at 1, 2 and 3 PM. Events are included with Museum admission, but space for each round is limited. Competitors must register at the Invention Lab (10 AM – 1 PM) or Drone Plex (1 PM – 4 PM) on the day of competition.
Event Descriptions
Precision Landing: Fly a small multirotor aircraft and land it as close to the target as possible before time expires!
Code & Fly: Use drag-and-drop programing to code a simple flight routine for a Parrot Mambo drone. Launch the aircraft and watch it complete its mission autonomously!
Relay Race: Fly like the air racers of old, completing a circuit around pylons spaced around the Drone Plex. Fly in teams to complete the race without crashing ahead of the competition!
Water Rocket Rally
Upcoming dates:
All Rallies 11 am – 12 pm
Wednesday, June 12
Wednesday, July 17
Wednesday, August 7
Event included with Museum admission.
Discover the world of rockets!
Bring along a recycled 1- or 2-liter soda bottle or purchase a new water rocket body in the Museums Gift Shop ($1/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.
Kids’ Carnival
Sunday, June 16, 10 AM – 12 PM
Additional Dates July 14 & August 25
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 Eventbrite
Kids’ Carnival Activities
Outdoor Kids’ Carnival
June 16, July 14, August 25
- Paint a Plane
- Penguin Airplane Assembly
- Build a Glider
- Airplane or Helicopter Cockpit Checkout
- Vertical Wind Tunnels
Sponsored by
Happy Birds
Upcoming dates:
All Shows Begin at 11 am
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Saturday, June 29, 2019
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Event included with Museum admission.
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!
Paper Airplanes
Upcoming dates:
Sunday, May 26, 11 AM (National Paper Airplane Day)
Wednesday, June 26, 11 AM & 1 PM
Saturday, July 6, 11 AM
Wednesday, August 14, 11 AM & 1 PM
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.
Happy Birds
Upcoming dates:
All Shows Begin at 11 am
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Saturday, June 29, 2019
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Event included with Museum admission.
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!
