Everybody loves going to the airport; with the expensive parking, expensive snacks, expensive tickets, taking off your shoes in never-ending security lines, TSA agents getting handsy, and the dread of waiting to board a compressed metal tube full of ornery strangers, it’s no wonder the most popular spots in the terminal are the bars.
All photos by Joe Powell for The Squeaky Curd.
Instead, at Milwaukee’s own General Mitchell International Airport (MKE) there’s a completely free and informative way to pass the time, away from the snotty businessmen or stale muzak.
We’ve visited Milwaukee museums in historic mansions, behind blue corrugated metal walls, and on the roof of an engineering building, but here at MKE hiding in plain sight between Gate C security and the escalators to the check-in desks resides our next stop: the Mitchell Gallery of Flight.
This non-profit, full-fledged exhibit hall was started to honor General Billy Mitchell, the namesake of our hometown airport who is widely considered the father of today’s US Air Force. Indeed, there are a number of artifacts related to the good General, including a replica of his Medal of Honor, a life-size portrait, replicas of his planes, and even his saber (sword).
But the museum expands beyond Mitchell, highlighting other hometown heroes of the air:
- Astronaut Jim Lovell‘s personal Naval leather bomber jacket.
- Books penned by Lester Maitland, WWII pilot and the first person to fly from California to Hawaii (who also flew with Mitchell).
- Original newspaper articles about Richard Bong, the WWII “Ace of Aces”.
- The amazing story of Vietnam bravery by Bay View native Lance Sijan.
- The fighter helmet of Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq War veteran Major General Thomas Benes.
Though there was no mention of our original lakefront airport now covered by Summerfest, there are amazing artifacts, images, and recreations of Milwaukee’s physical connections to flight:
- Tiny replica of a commercial airliner cockpit.
- Full-size propellers and scale-model aircraft hang on the walls and from the ceiling.
- Original images and a scale-model of Layton Airfield, the original Mitchell Airport.
- A huge collection of memorabilia from our local 128th Fighter Group Wisconsin Air National Guard, aka the “Flying Badgers”.
- A model of the first commercial aircraft of Lawson Airlines, founded by Alfred Lawson, eventual creator of the Racine-tied pseudoscience Lawsonomy.
- Info on the Hamilton Metalplane Company, a full-fledged aircraft manufacturer in urban Milwaukee.
- Models of defunct but beloved airlines AirTran and Midwest Express.
There’s undoubtedly no better way to spend a short layover in the Milwaukee airport, and the museum is worth a stop before, after, or even without a flight at all. Because it’s free and in the pre-security terminal, a quick $2 for parking will get any Milwaukeean access to the space. For a city built on water, it’s amazing the history we also have in the air.
