Over one hundred years ago, history was made not far from here on a sandy beach in North Carolina by two unknown, but inventive brothers. December 17, 1903, was a cold and blustery day, but it offered the perfect conditions for the first heavier-than-air, manned, powered, controllable flight.

Today visitors can explore 100 years of aviation history with the new state-of-the-art Adventures in Flight gallery. This exhibit expansion, the largest in the museum's history, takes visitors from the origins of flight to the future of flight. The gallery highlights Hampton Roads' role in commercial, civil and military aviation.

The gallery features one-of-a-kind, world-class interactives that allow you to be directly involved in discovering our region's many contributions to flight. See a replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer, the first in the nation to be completed for the Centennial of Flight. An accurate reproduction of the first powered airplane, the replica is within 21 pounds of the original 1903 Flyer's weight.

" Wing walk" on a recreated Jenny bi-plane, in the Curtiss Jenny Century of Flight Theater. The "Jenny" Theater takes visitors back to the Roaring '20s to experience an exhilarating barnstorming ride first-hand, while taking a fanciful flight through 100 years of aviation milestones. For a ride experience unlike any other, step aboard a B-24 Liberator to experience the sound and feel of a true bombing mission. The B-24 Simulator combines thrilling motion programming with incredible details of actual combat flights to give you a real sense of what B-24 crews experienced 60 years ago.

The Commercial Aviation exhibits offer a behind-the-scenes look at commercial air travel beginning with the monstrous AirTran Airways DC-9 that you can enter and explore. A Boeing 717 Simulator can be found in the first-class cabin, where pilots of all ages can take the yoke and try their hand at flying. The simulator demonstrates NASA's Glass Cockpit, a variety of new digital cockpit technologies that make flight safer. You can also become an air traffic controller where you can learn the ins and outs of possibly the toughest job at an airport. Real-time data is displayed on an electronic map of North America showing all aircraft in flight. Guests are also given a quick lesson in speaking like an air traffic controller as simple directions are transformed into code-like ATC slang. You can even climb into the cockpit of an F/A-22 Raptor, the Air Force's newest fighter jet, and learn more about the latest stealth technology used by the military.

For those who prefer to keep their sea-legs, consider getting into the action in the Air Power at Sea exhibits with a blue-screen interactive that allows you to step into the shoes of a "Shooter." Experience the exhilaration of launching a Navy fighter from an aircraft carrier through green-screen technology that places you right on the deck of an aircraft carrier as a member of the Rainbow Crew.