Link Aviation Devices Explained

Former Name:	Link Aeronautical Corporation
Predecessors:	-->
Successors:	-->
Founder:	Edwin Albert Link
Hq Location City:	Binghamton, New York
Hq Location Country:	United States
Areas Served:	-->
Owners:	-->

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.^{[1] [2] [3]} Finally, 26 years after it was sold by the company, it was repurchased by CAE in 2021.^[4]

Products

Trainers

• AVCATT
• Link Trainer
• School Trainer – Light airplane trainer. Intended for use in elementary school through college.^{[5] [6]}
• C-11B – Used for training for the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star.^{[7] [8]}
• E-26 – Flexible gunnery trainer.^[9]
• GAT-1 – General aviation trainer.^[10]
• GAT-2 – Light twin engine procedural trainer. Flying characteristics resemble the Beechcraft Baron, Cessna 310, and Piper Aztec.^{[11] [12]}
• GAT-3 – Twin jet trainer
• Model 60 – Private and business airplane trainer.^[13]
• MB-5 – Flight simulator for the F-102A^[14]
• MB-42 – Flight simulator for the F-106A
• ME-1 – Basic jet instrument flight trainer. Developed from the T-37 cockpit.^[15]
• P-1 – Constructed from a T-6G cockpit and mounted on a modified C-8 base.^[16] 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.^[17]

Other

• A-12 sextant^[18]

Further reading

• Book: Kelly . Lloyd L. . Parke . Robert B. . The Pilot Maker . 1970 . Grosset & Dunlap . New York.

External links

• Link Training & Simulation
• Life After Link

Notes and References

1. Web site: TIMELINE OF SINGER AND RELATED COMPANIES . Life After Link . 4 August 2020.
2. Web site: About . L3Harris . 4 August 2020.
3. Web site: Dorey . Susan J. . Link Aviation, A History . Susan Dorey Designs . 4 August 2020 . 2010.
4. Web site: CAE to acquire L3Harris Technologies' Military Training business for US$1.05 billion . CAE . 4 October 2021 . 1 March 2021.
5. Fountain . Paul . The Mighty Link . Flying . Ziff-Davis Publishing Company . Chicago, Illinois . 40 . 5 . 3 November 2019 . 40–42, 90 . May 1947.
6. News: 'School Link' Trainer to be Unveiled Tonight . 4 August 2020 . Binghamton Press . 2 January 1947 . 21.
7. Web site: Jaspers . Henrik . RESTORING AND OPERATING HISTORICAL AVIATION TRAINERS . Wanadoo . 28 January 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20041209171227/http://home.wanadoo.nl/hjaspers000/FlightSimulation.PDF . 9 December 2004 . 27 May 2004 . dead .
8. News: Wackett . Gordon R. . Link Teamwork Helps Produce Top Airmen . 4 August 2020 . Binghamton Press . 16 September 1951 . 12-A.
9. January 1954 . 25 Years of Synthetic Flight Training for America's Armed Forces . Air Force . Air Force Association . 37 . 1 . 4 April 2024.
10. Web site: Link General Aviation Trainer (GAT) . Techworks . 3 November 2019.
11. New products . Flying . Ziff-Davis Publishing Company . 85 . 1 . 3 November 2019 . 20–21 . July 1969.
12. [Untitled Advertisement] ]. Flying . Ziff-Davis Publishing Company . 85 . 4 . 3 November 2019 . 33 . October 1969.
13. Doyle . Lawrence . Flight Simulator for the Private and Business Pilot . Flying . Ziff-Davis Publishing Company . October 1960 . 67 . 4 . 58, 112–113 . 12 June 2022.
14. Web site: Valverde . Horace H. . Flight Simulators: A Review of the Research and Development . https://web.archive.org/web/20190714184750/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/855582.pdf . dead . July 14, 2019 . Defense Technical Information Center . Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory, Aerospace Medical Division, Air Force Systems Command . 12 June 2020 . Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio . 136, 138–139 . July 1968.
15. Book: Townsend . John C. . Evaluation of the Link, ME-1, Basic Instrument Flight Trainer . June 1956 . Operator Laboratory, Air Force Personnel and Training Research Center, Air Research and Development Command . 3 November 2019.
16. Book: Flexman . Ralph E. . Ornstein . George N. . Evaluation of a Contact Flight Simulator When Used in an Air Force Primary Pilot Training Program: Part I. Over-All Effectiveness . September 1954 . Basic Pilot Research Laboratory, Air Force Personnel and Training Research Center, Air Research and Development Command . Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas . 15 .
17. Book: Hagedorn . Dan . North American's T-6: A Definitive History of the World's Most Famous Trainer . 2009 . Specialty Press . North Branch, Minnesota . 978-1-58007-124-6 . 167.
18. Web site: Link A-12 Sextant . Smithsonian . 12 June 2022.