Gallery 3: The Second World War
Learning to Fly
The Link Model C-3 Trainer
The Link Trainer was safe, inexpensive, and cut training time in half. Many pilots found the Link to be more challenging to operate than real aircraft. Pilots could be trained to fly a specific route at a specified altitude, then at the appropriate position start a descent to break out of cloud above the airport - all in the safety of the trainer.
More than 500,000 US pilots were trained on Link simulators, as were pilots of nations as diverse as Australia, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Israel, Japan and the USSR.