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Link Aviation Devices was a manufacturer of aircraft simulators. The company is most notable for inventing the Link Trainer, and is credited with starting the flight simulator industry. It is currently a subsidiary of CAE Incorporated.

History

Ed Link founded the company in 1929 in Binghamton, New York, after experimenting with the compressed air used in the products of his father's Link Piano and Organ Company. The company's Link Trainer saw widespread service as an aircraft simulator during and after World War II. As a result, Link Aviation became one of the leading manufacturers of aircraft simulators in the world.

In 1954, Link Aviation was purchased by the General Precision Equipment Corporation. It, in turn, was purchased by Singer Corporation in 1968 and Link became the Simulation Products Division and later the Link Flight Simulation Division. The reincorporated Link Military Simulation Corporation was sold in 1988 to CAE Industries, which became CAE-Link. CAE-Link was purchased by General Motors' Hughes Electronics Corporation in 1995. After only three years, it was bought by Raytheon. Then, in 2000, it was acquired by L-3 Communications and named L-3 Link Simulation & Training. Finally, 26 years after it was sold by the company, it was repurchased by CAE in 2021.

Products

Trainers

• AVCATT
• Link Trainer
• School Trainer – Light airplane trainer. Intended for use in elementary school through college.
• C-11B – Used for training for the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star.
• E-26 – Flexible gunnery trainer.
• GAT-1 – General aviation trainer.
• GAT-2 – Light twin engine procedural trainer. Flying characteristics resemble the Beechcraft Baron, Cessna 310, and Piper Aztec.
• GAT-3 – Twin jet trainer
• Model 60 – Private and business airplane trainer.
• MB-5 – Flight simulator for the F-102A
• MB-42 – Flight simulator for the F-106A
• ME-1 – Basic jet instrument flight trainer. Developed from the T-37 cockpit.
• P-1 – Constructed from a T-6G cockpit and mounted on a modified C-8 base. A slightly modified version was known as the 1-CA-2 by the U.S. Navy.
• T-4 – Instrument flight trainer for the T-37.
• T-7 – Instrument flight trainer for the T-38.
• Unknown – Trainer for the North American SNJ called the 2-F-10 by the U.S. Navy.

Other

• A-12 sextant

References

1. "TIMELINE OF SINGER AND RELATED COMPANIES". Life After Link. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
2. "About". L3Harris. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
3. Dorey, Susan J. (2010). "Link Aviation, A History" (PDF). Susan Dorey Designs. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
4. "CAE to acquire L3Harris Technologies' Military Training business for US$1.05 billion". CAE. 1 March 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
5. Fountain, Paul (May 1947). "The Mighty Link". Flying. Vol. 40, no. 5. Chicago, Illinois: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. pp. 40–42, 90. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
6. "'School Link' Trainer to be Unveiled Tonight". Binghamton Press. 2 January 1947. p. 21. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
7. Jaspers, Henrik (27 May 2004). "RESTORING AND OPERATING HISTORICAL AVIATION TRAINERS" (PDF). Wanadoo. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2004. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
8. Wackett, Gordon R. (16 September 1951). "Link Teamwork Helps Produce Top Airmen". Binghamton Press. p. 12-A. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
9. "25 Years of Synthetic Flight Training for America's Armed Forces". Air Force. Vol. 37, no. 1. Air Force Association. January 1954. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
10. "Link General Aviation Trainer (GAT)". Techworks. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
11. "New products". Flying. Vol. 85, no. 1. Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. July 1969. pp. 20–21. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
12. ^ "[Untitled Advertisement]". Flying. Vol. 85, no. 4. Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. October 1969. p. 33. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
13. Doyle, Lawrence (October 1960). "Flight Simulator for the Private and Business Pilot". Flying. Vol. 67, no. 4. Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. pp. 58, 112–113. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
14. ^ Valverde, Horace H. (July 1968). "Flight Simulators: A Review of the Research and Development" (PDF). Defense Technical Information Center. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio: Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory, Aerospace Medical Division, Air Force Systems Command. pp. 136, 138–139. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
15. Townsend, John C. (June 1956). Evaluation of the Link, ME-1, Basic Instrument Flight Trainer. Operator Laboratory, Air Force Personnel and Training Research Center, Air Research and Development Command. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
16. Flexman, Ralph E.; Ornstein, George N. (September 1954). Evaluation of a Contact Flight Simulator When Used in an Air Force Primary Pilot Training Program: Part I. Over-All Effectiveness. Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas: Basic Pilot Research Laboratory, Air Force Personnel and Training Research Center, Air Research and Development Command. p. 15.
17. Roscoe, Stanley N., "Alexander Coxe Williams, Jr., 1914–1962" (PDF), Who Made Distinguished Contributions to Engineering Psychology, p. 72
18. Eddowes, Edward E.; Waag, Wayne L. (June 1980), The Use of Simulators for Training In-Flight and Emergency Procedures (PDF), Williams Air Force Base, Arizona: AGARD, p. 9, archived (PDF) from the original on November 4, 2019, retrieved 4 November 2019
19. Kelly, Lloyd L. (June 1955), "[Untitled Letter to the Editor]", Naval Aviation News, Washington, D.C.: Chief of Naval Operations and Bureau of Aeronautics, p. 32, retrieved 4 November 2019
20. Hagedorn, Dan (2009). North American's T-6: A Definitive History of the World's Most Famous Trainer. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-58007-124-6.
21. "Link A-12 Sextant". Smithsonian. Retrieved 12 June 2022.

Further reading

• Kelly, Lloyd L.; Parke, Robert B. (1970). The Pilot Maker. New York: Grosset & Dunlap.

External links

• Link Training & Simulation
• Life After Link

• Aerospace companies of the United States
• Companies based in Binghamton, New York