October 16-22, 2003

mixpicks

"The Franklin Air Show" opening

by Alex Koppelman

Suffer in silence no more, oh long-maligned Philadelphia cultural attractions. No longer will you be overshadowed by the steps Sly Stallone ran up to glory: The Franklin Institute's newest exhibit, The Franklin Air Show, is coming to town. The new permanent installation, the Institute's fifth in the past three years, took $2 million to build, but Institute Vice President of Exhibits Steve Snyder hopes this will be the exhibit to rocket the Institute forward. I don't think Philadelphia has actually realized the treasure that has been sitting in the middle of town, but this is a wonderful topic that combines science, history and society, all wrapped together.

And from the description, The Franklin Institute's hopes may not be misplaced. The collection of artifacts from the history of flight is one of the best in the world, featuring the Wright Brothers' entire scientific collection, the research from before their first flight. Famed Airfoil 12, one of the Wright Brothers' experiments that finally proved which shape is best for a plane's wing, and upon which airplane design is based today, is included here. Plus, there are almost 30 interactive exhibits in the 5,000-square-foot exhibition space, everything from making paper airplanes to a device that shows you what all those weird flaps in an airplane actually do, says Snyder. And best of all: a full-motion flight simulator with what he describes as upside-down, twist-you-around turns, perfect for the barf-bag-needing kid in all of us.

"The Franklin Air Show" opening, Sat., Oct. 18, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m., $10-$12.75, The Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th St., 215-448-1200, www.fi.edu.