Hiller Aviation Museum Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Hiller Aviation Museum
The front of the Hiller Aviation Museum. A Rutan Long-EZ is on the roof.
Established	June 1998
Location	San Carlos, California
Type	Aerospace museum
Collection size	50+ aircraft
Founder	Stanley Hiller Jr.

The Hiller Aviation Museum is an aircraft history museum located at the San Carlos Airport in San Carlos, California. It has over fifty aircraft on display, as well as flight simulators, plane cockpits and other exhibits tracing aviation history. The museum was founded by Stanley Hiller in June 1998 and is endowed by members of the Hiller family. It specializes in Northern California aircraft history and helicopter history. The museum is also an affiliate within the Smithsonian Affiliations program.

Visitors at a desktop flight simulator

Programs
Permanent exhibits
Annual airshow
See also

Programs

This museum offers two Scouts BSA Merit Badge programs, the Aviation Merit Badge and the Weather Merit Badge.

Permanent exhibits

This museum has more than 50 aerospace vehicles along with companion descriptive displays concerning the history of flight. Some of the exhibits include:

1869 Marriott Avitor airship (replica)
1883 John Montgomery's Gull glider (replica)
1903 Wright Flyer biplane (replica)
1905 John Montgomery's Santa Clara glider (replica)
1908 J.C. Irvine's Aerocycloid (replica)
1910 Maupin-Lanteri Black Diamond as flown by Weldon B. Cooke
1911 Eugene Ely’s Curtiss pusher model D biplane (replica)
1911 John Montgomery's Evergreen glider
1911 Wright brothers Vin Fiz Flyer pusher biplane (replica)
1914 “Little Looper” pusher biplane by Lincoln Beachey and Glenn Curtiss (replica)
1917 Fokker Dr.I “Red Baron” triplane (replica)
1928 Velie Monocoupe Model 70 monoplane
1929 Pietenpol Air Camper
1931 Buhl A-1 Autogiro
1935 Stearman-Hammond Y-1, a mid-1930s trainer also used as a remotely piloted aircraft
1944 The Hiller XH-44 (replica), first coaxial helicopter to fly in the US
1955 Hiller Flying Platform, an experimental aircraft from 1955 to give a single passenger low-altitude flight
1955 Grumman HU-16(RD) Albatross that was the first to circumnavigate the Earth.
1956 XROE-1 Rotorcycle helicopter
1957 Hiller VXT-8 Coleopter (replica)
1963 Fairchild Hiller FH-1100 helicopter
1968 Shrike Commander (Aero Commander 500 family)
1969 Lockheed YO-3 Quiet Star
1970 RotorWay Scorpion homebuilt helicopter
1971 Boeing 747 (The front 45 feet)
Fairchild 24
1973 Cessna 177 Cardinal
1978 The Rutan Defiant, Burt Rutan's personal homebuilt airplane.
1979 NASA AD-1 oblique wing research aircraft.
1983 Aero L-39 Albatros high-performance jet trainer
2001 General Atomics MQ-1 Predator
2004 SpaceShipOne (replica)
2017 Kitty Hawk Flyer eVTOL (prototype)
2017 Opener BlackFly eVTOL (test aircraft)
2017 Wisk Aero Cora Gen5 eVTOL (demo aircraft)
2018 Airbus Vahana (test aircraft)

Annual airshow

This museum sponsored Vertical Challenge, an annual all-helicopter airshow from 2000-2010, and a final one in 2012. In 2011 and 2016 an aviation festival event called Heli-Fest was held instead.