Finally got to fly one!

GARY HILTON · **Posted:** Sat May 03, 2008 11:34 am

Good for you Gary! No longer "The Missing Link!"

Jack Frost · **Posted:** Sat May 03, 2008 5:01 pm

My memories of the Link trainer are anything but "fun". We had Link sessions all the way through Aviation Cadet training and monthly afterwards. It was, at best, a procedures trainer but most of the instructors expected you to actually fly it precisely!

One of my classmates was an ex-Link Instructor. In the real airplane when the instrument hood was on he did a beautiful job flying that B-25. But pull the hood off at minimums and he was all over the sky. He graduated but I was really quite suprised to see him at a Cadet reunion 25 years later.

Punisher05 · **Posted:** Sat May 03, 2008 5:18 pm

Hey, I'm a guy raised on PlayStation and I still think that's cool

Hal B · **Posted:** Sat May 03, 2008 6:59 pm

Second Air Force wrote:

Hal B,

If you would, please ask your Link instructor if he had any experience with the Link Celestial Navigation Trainer. I've done some research on that synthetic trainer and would love to talk to anyone with hands-on experience.

Thanks,
Scott

Scott,
Wrote myself a note to ask Merrill about this next time I see him...

Craig59 · **Posted:** Sat May 03, 2008 9:07 pm

Careful. First you fly their trainer. Then they ask you to install new steps for the side entry. Then a tail turret. Then bomb bay doors. Oh, and how about new paint. And a navigators compartment. And would you mind starting an entire thread about your progress on WIX? And then...

tom d. friedman · **Posted:** Sat May 03, 2008 9:58 pm

gary, did it come with a shoe horn?? i went to an auction in youngstown about 5 years ago where there was a ton of aviation memorabilia for sale including a restoration project "cabin waco" as well a COMPLETE!!! ww 2 link trainer with the desk, controls, etc. it went for peanuts.... under 2000 bucks!! why?? it was a royal b!tch to haul the sucker out of their. the operators desk alone could have doubled for an aircraft carrier. what a steal for that kind of $$$$!!!

JDK · **Posted:** Sat May 03, 2008 10:01 pm

The RAAF Museum's Link Trainer was fully operational, but isn't powered up now.

Bill Greenwood wrote:

I seem to recall that Mr. Link went on to develop underwater research vessels also, but I might be way off on that.

Not far off, Bill. Interesting links ~hem~ here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_Trainer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Albert_Link

retroaviation · **Posted:** Sat May 03, 2008 10:11 pm

Those are some funny replies, y'all! Thanks for the smiles. :lol:

All I know is that I have now decided that I'm gonna have to get me one of those someday. (John Hall may be on to something there...I could use it to pretend I'm flyin' around the pylons at Reno too. :-)

) Heck, there's plenty of room in my dining room for one. Hmmmm...........

Gary

Second Air Force · **Posted:** Sun May 04, 2008 1:12 am

Thanks, Hal.
Here is a photo of the Link Celestial Navigation Trainer buildings being completed at McCook Army Air Field. They are the four octagon shaped buildings in the backyard of the hangar. Merrill will definitely remember them if he worked around them--the buildings had to be air conditioned for the equipment to work correctly!

Scott

Hal B · **Posted:** Tue May 13, 2008 10:39 pm

Second Air Force wrote:

Thanks, Hal.
Here is a photo of the Link Celestial Navigation Trainer buildings being completed at McCook Army Air Field. They are the four octagon shaped buildings in the backyard of the hangar. Merrill will definitely remember them if he worked around them--the buildings had to be air conditioned for the equipment to work correctly!

Scott

Sorry Scott, can't help you out. Though Merrill instructed on Links in the AF and airlines, and had heard of the Celestial Navigation Trainer, he's never seen one.

Second Air Force · **Posted:** Wed May 14, 2008 12:53 am

Thanks for asking, at least he knew what a CNT was!

The USAAF, USN, and RAF used them during the war, but I don't know how long they were kept running after VJ Day. The RAAF had the last operational CNT, retired in '57 or so. Unfortunately, I think it was later discarded.

I have only talked to one veteran who actually ran or maintained the Celestial Nav Trainer. His main memory was the air conditioning system and that the building had to be around 75 degrees or so for the equipment to work properly. Each CNT had a standard aircraft maintenance logbook and serial number, just like the Link Instrument Trainer. Oh, and did I tell you, the building was air conditioned!

I think he mentioned that fact a couple of times. It gets mighty hot in western Nebraska in July, and CNT duty was highly prized by the NCOs.

Scott

Ztex · **Posted:** Wed May 14, 2008 8:54 am

That's cool!

I flew a Link when I was working on my Instrument rating in 1985...

The only time I got "air"sick was flying that danged thing....ugh...almost hurled

:vom:

But it was fun.

Django · **Posted:** Wed May 14, 2008 9:37 am

Gary, maybe they'll let you tinker with the one next door. I'm sure it could use a safety and maintenance check! :lol:

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