Aircraft Carrier

Experience being aboard a modern carrier at sea in the new giant-screen film Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas. This film is screening in California only at the Fleet Science Center, in the incredible Eugene Heikoff and Marilyn Jacobs Heikoff Giant IMAX^® Dome Theater.

Aircraft Carrier is an immersive film packed with adrenaline-laced visuals and human stories. It pays stirring tribute to the crucial role modern aircraft carriers play in maintaining the freedom of the seas and keeping the sea lanes open for commerce.

• Come aboard and experience a city at sea!
• Aircraft Carrier takes audiences to RIMPAC—the Rim of the Pacific maritime exercises.
• More than 22 nations and 55 ships participate in RIMPAC, along with 92 aircraft and helicopters on the carrier itself.
• Featured in Aircraft Carrier are USS Ronald Reagan, a carrier based in San Diego from 2006 to 2015, now based in Japan, and USS Theodore Roosevelt, which moved to San Diego in 2015.
• Take a fascinating look back at the role of ships and aircraft carriers throughout history.

Aircraft Carrier brings audiences not only aboard the carrier, but also inside the Navy’s newest submarines and into the cockpit of the Navy’s next-generation aircraft, the F-35. You’ll get a unique perspective on these new stealth fighters and experience what it’s like to be in the cockpit as the jet catapults off the carrier and into flight.

The film provides an engaging learning experience focusing on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) subjects. Throughout Aircraft Carrier, crew members are shown successfully applying science, technology, engineering and math in their careers.

“The RIMPAC exercise recognizes the international cooperation necessary to maintain peace in a complex world,” said Stephen Low, the film’s award-winning director of 16 IMAX documentary classics, including Fighter Pilot and Rocky Mountain Express. “It is certainly a film that should engage all viewers—from military history enthusiasts and engineering buffs to fans of futuristic technology … and, of course, giant-screen movie audiences who love being transported to a place they are unlikely to ever go themselves.”

"San Diego has a long military history, and this film gives civilians the unique opportunity to climb aboard an aircraft carrier and see STEM in action," said Steve Snyder, CEO of the Fleet Science Center.

Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas is available for public screenings, school field trip shows, group reservations and private screenings. For school or group reservations, please contact the Client Services Department at (619) 238-1233 ext. 806 or ClientServices@rhfleet.org.

Teachers! The Educator Guide for this film is available for download here. 

If you would like to arrange a private screening of the film, please contact the Special Events Department at (619) 685-5729 or SpecialEvents@rhfleet.org. 

Tickets for public screenings are on sale at the Fleet Science Center ticket counter and at www.fleetscience.org. Discounted tickets are available to the military and their family members at local military ticket offices. Military can show ID at the Fleet Science Center ticket counter for 10% off ticket sales.