Only a few hundred miles south of where Ohio bicycle builders Wilbur and Orville Wright first launched their canvas and wood Flyer a little over a century ago this December, a living history of where the American know-how of those two brothers has taken us in 100-plus years awaits at four unique museums.

Located along, or within a few miles of Interstate 4, Florida’s entertainment X-way from Tampa through Orlando to Daytona, these air museums are literally the “Wright” place to with the right stuff for “wing nuts” to celebrate the birth of flight.

From the beginnings of flight and experimental craft to today’s super jets, the museums take you back to the days of aces and escadrilles, sacrifices that an earlier generation made in World War, with even a nod to the other guy’s aircraft thrown in. And at one, you and the kids can even put tools to aluminum and help re-assemble a bit of history.

Fantasy of Flight

Many have called this air museum, visible from the freeway in Polk City, half way between Tampa and Orlando, Disney World with Wings Since 1985, Kermit Weeks, a champion aerobatics pilot and aeronautical engineer, built his collection into the world’s largest privately held vintage aircraft collection. It is stunning both inside, and out . Originally at Homestead Air Force base, After Hurricane Andrew paid a visit to owner Weeks’ original museum in Miami, he moved the priceless squadron of vintage aircraft farther inland.

Step into the huge main display hangar, and you’ll know why it earned the Disney comparison. Enter the Showcase Hangar and you’ll fly back in time. Walk past dioramas of the history of flight, complete with step into a scene straight out of the history books.

Then inside, it’s the 1940s again, and you’re in World War II England. Before you is the “Picadilly Princess,” a B-17 Flying Fortress, sitting at “night” on a sandbagged tarmac. As loudspeakers crackle with simulated orders, the plane looks as if its mechanics had just taken a break, with engines exposed and repairs being made to ready it for another bombing run over war-pocked Europe. Step inside it, through an aft hatch. You’ve become a crewman, flying on a bombing mission, immersed in the actual sounds and vibrations of a real B-17 in flight. You’ll be amazed at how the crow was jammed into its tiny fuselage. Head forward to peer through the open bomb bay doors and see a video of 1940s Germany below you. Continue to the totally restored cockpit, with its steering wheel-like yokes. Some veterans say it’s so realistic it’s like being there all over again, while other visitors swear they’ve seen ghosts inside.

In other hangars and outside is the rest of more than 40 aircraft on display from World War I through the early years of jets, many also movie veterans. They include a Navy Panther, a French Newport , Curtiss Jenny, Ford Tri-motor, a B-24 like those built at Michigan’s own Willow Run, a Japanese Zero, a German Focke-Wulf trainer.

Watch in another where aircraft are being restored, or take in the Aircraft of the Day presentation outside, as a featured flyer buzzes the airport. Hop in one of the flight simulators in Fightertown to experience all the sights, sounds pitches, rolls and maneuvers in your own air battle over the Pacific. You can even sign up for a biplane or hot air balloon ride. Afterwards, fuel up your body at the Compass Rose diner.

Florida Air Museum at Sun’ Fun

Located in nearby Lakeland, the Florida Air Museum at is on a 40-acre site adjacent to the Sun ‘ Fun and Aviation Center, which hosts a huge annual Experimental Aircraft fly-in. The next landing is April 13-19.On display at the museum are close to 100 home-builts, ultra-lights, military and other craft, including some of Kermit Weeks’ aircraft that didn’t fit at Fantasy of Flight. Special exhibits you might see include an air show favorite, a modern twin-engine Shrike Commander flown by Bob Hoover, who piloted the chase plane for Chuck Yeager when he first broke the sound barrier. Other more unconventional planes include the Ercoupe, an airplane with an accelerator and brake pedals because its inventor envisioned it would take the place of the family car.

Flying Tigers Warbird Museum

While owner Tom Reilly describes Fantasy of Flight as a spotless museum, you’re encouraged to touch, and even work a bit, at his.Named for the nickname given the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk when Americans under Gen. Claire Cheneault flew against the Japanese in China, Reilly’s Flying Tigers museum is a working facility where planes are being restored. Flying Tigers has 35 aircraft displayed from oldies through the Vietnam era.

Step in the workshop on a guided tour and if you’re not afraid to get some “bomber blood” on your hands—slang for hydraulic oil— you can tighten a few bolts in the fuselage of a P-40 or a P-38 Lightning, two of several being restored. “You’re encouraged to touch, and even kids can help,” Reilly says. In the museum “PX,” see memorabilia including an autographed photo of the B-17 that actor Jimmy Stewart flew, and book a flight in a T6/SNJ trainer at Warbird Adventures, Inc., adjacent to the museum. The gift shop includes authentic uniforms.

Valiant Air Command

Nearly within site of America’s space center, the Valiant Air Command’s Warbird Air Museum in Titusville is home to 30 aircraft from around the world. See one of America’s premier military aircraft, an F-14 Tomcat, along with planes from other eras that include an F-86 Sabre, an F-9 Panther, America’s first aircraft carrier-launched jet, a Vietnam-era F-105, as well as a Soviet-era MIG 17 jet, and a Croatian-designed aircraft. Hop into another T-6 Texan for a ride over the area, or stay on the ground for a trip in three flight simulators, including one for an F-106 Delta Dart. A recent restoration project is a Grumman Wildcat that was pulled from Lake Michigan near Chicago Memorabilia displayed includes information on the Tuskegee Airmen, while a big gift shop has t-shirts, bomber jackets, toys for kids and historical books.

Together, the four, and others, tell the continuing story of flight, from Wilbur and Orville’s time, when their first flight barely covered the wingspan of a Boeing 747, to the present, and with a look to the future.

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