The intervening 115 years has produced enough artifacts and knowledge to fill dedicated museums around the world.

Axar.az reports citing CNN.

The greatest aviation museums capture the achievements and products of the pilots, designers and engineers who completed those rickety first flights then set their sights on space while we were just trying to ignore the guy clipping his toenails in seat 17B.

1. Carolinas Aviation Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina

January 2019 marks the 10th anniversary of the "Miracle on the Hudson," when US Airways Flight 1549 lost both engines following bird strikes and was forced to ditch into the Hudson River, with no loss of life.

Following the retrieval and investigation, the Airbus A320 found a home at the Carolinas Aviation Museum as part of a permanent exhibit on the extraordinary event.

Although the Carolinas Aviation Museum is relatively small compared to others in this list, with only around 50 aircraft on static display, its location on the grounds of Charlotte Douglas International Airport makes it convenient for travelers on lengthy layovers.

2. Delta Flight Museum, Atlanta

Visitors arrive to the Delta Flight Museum by driving between a Boeing 747 and a 757, two of the many full-size aircraft on display at the Delta Flight Museum.

Those drove here, too; the museum is next to Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and is an ideal long layover diversion for travelers not content to pass the hours thumbing through magazines at a Hudson News.

Reopening in 2014 after a $12 million renovation, the Delta Flight Museum is two World War II-era hangars chock full of exhibits on the airline's history as well as of those it's taken over through the years, including Pan Am, Continental, and Northwest.

The centerpiece of the collection is "The Spirit of Delta," a 767-200 bought for Delta by its employees (yes, really), after they raised $30 million in the early 1980s to help keep the airline on its feet in tough times. The 767 is a museum within a museum, as its interior has been restored and arranged to showcase flight attendant uniforms and onboard service items through the decades.

3.Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and Udvar-Hazy Center, Washington

It's the sheer number of aircraft and artifacts that make this Washington, D.C., museum beloved by both the aviation-obsessed and the marginally curious.

"It's a museum that seems to have life and soul and I would challenge anyone with an inquiring mind, whether aviation enthusiast or not, not to find something here that engages and interests them," says aviation author and researcher Andy Saunders.

Eight million people every year visit the 60,000 exhibits and a public archive of more than 1.75 million photographs and 14,000 videos detailing aviation and space.

It has the world's first airplane, the "Wright Flyer" that made its debut flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903, front and center in an exhibit dedicated to the onset of the aerial age.

4. Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum, Colorado

With 182,000 square feet of exhibits on the grounds of the former Lowry Air Force base, Denver's Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum has enough to command more than a few hours of anyone's time.

Among exhibits that span the history of aviation in the United States is one automotive surprise: The museum houses the "Spirit of America -- Sonic Arrow," adventurer Steve Fossett's jet engine-powered car, which reached a speed of 675 mph in 1996.

A satellite museum, the Boeing Blue Sky Aviation Gallery, sits at Denver's Centennial Airport and allows visitors up-close inspections of historic aircraft, including a 1942 Douglas DC-3 and a 1936 Stearman biplane.

"It's a fun museum and mostly caters to military aviation, but there's an excellent collection of commercial aircraft models and space exhibits," says aerospace blogger Isaac Alexander.

5. Central Air Force Museum, Monino, Russia

A shrine to Cold War aviation, this museum 24 miles outside of Moscow is considered Russia's best.

"The whole thing does have a unique charm that is rather difficult to quantify," says aviation author and researcher Andy Saunders.

Outdoor exhibits at the once operational air base showcase Russian jets from the 1960s and '70s. There are military Mikoyans (MiGs), Tu-142 bombers, Tu-22 bombers and a Tu-144 supersonic passenger plane.

The flight uniform Francis Gary Powers wore when his U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union during a reconnaissance mission is on display.

Retired air force officers, who have stories and personal anecdotes to share, guide the museum tours.