Link Aviation Devices was a manufacturer of
aircraft simulators
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. C ...
. 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
Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...
, after experimenting with the compressed air used in the products of his father's
Link Piano and Organ Company
The Link Piano and Organ Company was an American manufacturer of pianos, orchestrions, fotoplayers, and theatre organ, theatre pipe organs.
During the early 1900s, George T. Link was managing a small firm named ''Shaft Brothers Piano Company'', wh ...
. 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
The General Precision Equipment Corporation was a major manufacturing company involved in the defense and space industries as well educational products and control devices for consumer goods. General Precision, Inc., was the principal operating sub ...
. It, in turn, was purchased by
Singer Corporation
Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I. M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac M. Singer with New York lawyer Edward C. Clark. Best known for its sewing machines, it was renamed Singer Ma ...
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
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
AVCATT (Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer) is a mobile aviation training simulator developed by L-3 Communications, Link Simulation & Training for the United States Army in 2001. Entire units (suites) have been fielded.
AVCATT is used by A ...
*
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.
* 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.
Other
* A-12 sextant
References
{{reflist
External links
Link Training & SimulationLife After Link
Aerospace companies of the United States
Companies based in Binghamton, New York