If you like flying, chances are you like airplanes. And if you like airplanes, chances are you like visiting aviation museums once in a while.
Lucky for you there are more than 600 aviation and space-related museums around the country. Each Monday, StuckatTheAirport.com visits one of them.
This week, it’s the Mitchell Gallery of Flight inside Milwaukee General Mitchell International Airport.
(Hamilton Metalplane display, courtesy Mitchell Gallery of Flight)
Like the airport, the museum is named in honor of General Billy Mitchell, who is regarded as the Father of the U.S. Air Force.
Mitchell is profiled in the People section of the museum, along with Wisconsin-born fighter ace Dick Bong and other aviators with Wisconsin links, including Charles Lindbergh, who visited the Milwaukee airport in 1927. Two exhibit cases display artifacts and photos about Captain James Lovell, who is best known for his four Gemini and Apollo spaceflights.
In the Aircraft & Airships section of the museum, you’ll see antique propellers, aviation-related artifacts and loads of models, including a 22-foot, 1/36th scale model of the Graf Zeppelin II (a sister to the Hindenberg) and models of military jets, WWII aircraft and airplanes of all eras.
(Photo by Prateek Bahadur, via Flickr Creative Commons)
Best of all, the museum is located pre-security at Milwaukee General Mitchell International Airport and admission is free.
For information about hours and exhibits, see the Mitchell Gallery of Flight website.
(Photo by Prateek Bahadur, via Flickr Creative Commons)
Do you have a favorite aviation/space museum? Please feel free to nominate it for a future edition of Museum Monday.