Aircraft Exhibited at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport

While visiting the City of Milwaukee or the Mitchell Gallery of Flight specifically, there are a number of historic aircraft on display in the area worth seeing.

Crites 1911 Curtiss Pusher N1911D, “Silver Streak”

Location: In the main airport terminal before TSA security
Parking: Available in the airport parking structure for a fee

The Crites 1911 Curtiss Pusher is an authentic reproduction of the type of airplane owned and flown by John G. Kaminski, Milwaukee’s first pilot. It was built in 1974 by Dale and Dean Crites of Waukesha, Wisconsin, using many parts from an original Curtiss Pusher. During the following 13 years, Dale flew the airplane at various air shows, including the Experimental Aircraft Association conventions in Oshkosh, logging a total of 44 flight hours. On September 7, 1987 Dale flew the aircraft for the last time at an air show at Wilmington, Delaware. The Pusher has been exhibited in the airport terminal since November 1987 thanks to a loan to the Mitchell Gallery from the Wagner Foundation. In April 2021, the Wagner Foundation donated the aircraft to the Friends of the Mitchell Gallery of Flight.

North American TB-25M Mitchell, 44-30444

Location: Southwest corner of the airport parking structure near the base of the control tower.
Parking: There is no place to stop on the airport entrance road to view the B-25. Instead, enter the parking structure and drive to the southwest corner of the structure to view.

The North American B-25 “Mitchell” is named after General William “Billy” Mitchell, the Milwaukee airport’s namesake, and is also famous as the type of aircraft used for the daring 1942 Doolittle raid on Tokyo, Japan. Although the B-25 is of World War 2 vintage, the aircraft that is exhibited actually served in Milwaukee during the Cold War, training Wisconsin Air National Guard radar observers when Milwaukee’s Air Guard unit had an air defense mission. During the years that “444” served here, the Milwaukee-based 126th Fighter Interceptor Squadron flew F-89D “Scorpion” jet interceptors.

The aircraft was retired in 1959. Through the efforts of the Wisconsin Air National Guard and the Mitchell Field Rotary Club, the aircraft was saved and put on display at General Mitchell Field in 1964. Since that date, it has been exhibited at the airport as a memorial to both General William “Billy” Mitchell and Colonel Seymour Levenson, a local Air National Guard leader who lost his life in a 1959 aircraft mishap here.

The aircraft is on loan to Milwaukee County from the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II - Captain Lance Sijan memorial Plaza

Location: In front of the USPS post office at 5500 S Howell Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53207, near the airport’s main entrance
Parking: A free lot is located at the base of the F-4

The F-4C Phantom II is displayed in the markings to represent the aircraft in which Milwaukee Medal of Honor recipient Capt. Lance Sijan was flying when he was forced to eject over Vietnam (tail number 64-0751). The aircraft in the memorial plaza, tail number 63-7704, is also a Vietnam War veteran and actually served in the same squadron (480th Tactical Fighter Squadron) as Capt. Sijan during the same period in 1967. Additionally, the display aircraft is credited with destroying an enemy MiG-17 in aerial combat on May 14, 1967. After later serving with various other squadrons, the memorial F-4C ended its operational life with the Oregon Air National Guard. It was retired to the Air Force storage facility at Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona before being selected for display at the Sijan Memorial in Milwaukee.