Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Edwin A. Link - Inventor of the "Link Trainer"

You are probably scratching your head trying to figure out who Edwin A. Link is. You can think all you want, but if you don't follow aviation then you will probably never figure it out. Unless of course, you are a historian or enthusiast of history from that era. 

As for me, I happened to move to Binghamton, NY where the airport is actually named after Mr. Link. I have been learning to fly with Aero-Techniques, a flight school located at the Greater Binghamton Airpot-Edwin A. Link Field. I had never heard of this guy before. His pictures are posted all over the FBO (Fixed-Based Operator, aka business taking care of the general aviation flights coming in).

One of the posters found around the FBO that explains what instruments are found on the panel.

1936 -Edwin A. Link with Amelia Earhart. Amelia trained in the Link Trainer prior to her flight around the world.

I saw an early model of the Link Trainer on display at the Glenn Curtiss Museum in NY.

Here is a great video found on YouTube by user okrajoe . It describes the experience the pilot goes through to obtain instrument training.



Mr. Link was born in Indiana but had moved to Binghamton NY, so his story goes. In Binghamton is where he designed the first simulator which changed the aviation industry forever. I have yet to experience flight training in a simulator. They have come a long way since the Link trainer.

I hope one to get the opportunity. Have you ever done flight training in a simulator? If so, it would be great to hear how your experience went.
Thanks for reading this brief history lesson on Edwin Albert Link.