My son really wanted to go the Franklin Institute with his best friend for his 9th birthday in lieu of a party. He really wanted to see the Tesla coil and Franklin exhibits but they rotated that exhibit out. However, we managed to see tons of great exhibits one of the more interesting ones was the 1948 T-33 jet trainer. The cockpit was very spacious, from what I could tell. I took some pictures of the cockpit and the landing gear which seemed to use hydraulic disc brakes not too different from a car. They Also had a cutaway of a Curtiss-wright 3350 engine which was amazing to see the size of the valve springs, pistons and rods. If you are ever in Philly and need something to do the Franklin Institute had something for everyone. It brought back a lot of memories of when I was a kid.
T-33 trainer
- Thread starter Nmr1981
- Start date
Do they still have that giant walk through heart? I spent many a Saturday there as a kid. Took the train to 30th Street from l
Lancaster, PA and a cab to the museum.
Lancaster, PA and a cab to the museum.
What's also amazing about the T-33 is the fact it remained in service with several Air National Guard units until the mid-1980s, and with other nations' air forces until the early 2000s. Lockheed's design for the F-80/T-33 was a marvel of ruggedness and simplicity. If you've never seen one undergoing maintenance up close, a dolly was placed under the entire tail section, which was then detached from the front half of the fuselage and simply wheeled aside to access the entire engine. It was pretty cool to watch.
Sounds like a really cool museum, but there are so many of these underappreciated places all over this country. When we next fly through PHL and get stuck due to a missed connection, which is bound to happen, this might be a nice visit and if we're stuck overnight we might as well stay stuck for another day.
Absolutely worth it, and great chance you’ll be delayed at PHL lol. We try to visit different museums, parks etc a few times a year and the Franklin Institute was a favorite.
Curtiss Wright 3350 piston I bought at the Reno Air Races...
That’s awesome I keep a selection of pistons on my desk as paperweights. My students love them.
From Critical Mass !!
From Critical Mass !!
