Link Aviation Flight Simulation Trainer

Link Aviation Flight Simulation Trainer. . , The Link Trainer Building was located in this area on the north side of PAAF, and housed several Link Aviation Flight Simulation Trainers. These simulators became famous during World War II, when they were used as a key pilot training aid by almost every combatant nation. The Link was mounted on a base which permitted the trainer to turn, tilt, and bounce. The instructor sat at a desk outside the trainer and created "rough air", and put the pilot through simulated instrument flight conditions. An operator sat at the desk and transmitted radio signals which the pilot in the trainer heard through his ear phones. The pilot "flew" the Link through various turns, climbs, and descents, and the Link's course was traced in red ink by a remote plotter, called "the crab", on a map on the table. After a flight was completed, the pilot could study the red-line course to determine his performance, and what he might have done incorrectly. There was no air conditioning in these trainers, and on a hot Kansas summer day, it got pretty hot inside this "hot-box". Many a young trainee almost crashed and burned, not from lack of flying skills, but from the heat! , Copyright © 2015 B-29 Museum Inc. - Funded in part by the Recreational Trails Program administered by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism - Sign by Lowen Sign, Hutchinson, KS.