Milwaukee airport joins round-the-clock livestream feeds

Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport is the latest airport to be featured in a round-the-clock automated video feed. The stream runs continuously and shows landings, takeoffs and other aircraft movements, paired with air traffic communications and flight data.

The camera setup uses CamStreamer equipment. Eight airports now have such feeds, a group that includes locations in the United States, the Caribbean and Europe.

The airport is named after General William Mitchell, who was born locally on December 29, 1879. During World War I he went to Europe to help set up the United States Air Service. After returning home in 1919, he became Director of Military Aeronautics and pushed for a larger air force and for the infrastructure needed to support commercial flying.

Milwaukee's own aviation history began on July 3, 1919, when Butler Airport opened as the state's first airfield. It stood on land that is now the James Currie Park and Golf Course in northwest Milwaukee County. The field was the base for the Lawson Airliner, which made a demonstration flight to the East Coast that August. In June 1926, the site began handling the region's first airmail service.