1950s Link C-11B Flight Simulator
A rare 1950s-era Link Aviation Devices C-11B Instrument Flight Simulator is up for sale, featuring manual controls and analog gauges
The Link Aviation Devices C-11B Instrument Flight Simulator was built in the 1950s and has no screens, relying on manual controls and analog gauges. According to the source, Silodrome, this simulator was used to train pilots in instrument-only flying. The Taiwanese Air Force reportedly used the Link C-11B simulator until 1993, a remarkably long service life for a device built to teach pilots to fly a jet on instruments.
Jet Instrument Simulator On Vacuum Tubes
The Link C-11B simulator was designed to mimic the behavior of a subsonic jet fighter, with the air force museum in Kaohsiung describing it as suitable for instrument training in any subsonic jet fighter, with behavior closest to the Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star. The simulator used 265 vacuum tubes to run the flight, engine, and radio-navigation systems. This technology was a significant improvement over earlier simulators, which used pumps, valves, and bellows to simulate flight.
From Bellows To Tubes
Link Aviation Devices had been building simulators since 1929, when Edwin Link built his first trainer in Binghamton, New York. The company claimed to have built over 10,000 simulators during World War II, with production peaking at one simulator every 45 minutes. The WWII-era standard model flight simulator, the AN-T-18, was designed to teach instrument-only flying and was used by tens of thousands of pilots. The simulator used a removable opaque canopy and a motorized ink marker to plot the student's track.
The Link C-11B Flight Trainer
The C-11B model was Link Aviation Devices' first jet instrument trainer, built around an electronic analog computer. The cockpit of the C-11B Trainer is essentially a mock-up of the F-80A aircraft, with a range of instruments including a Type ID-249 course indicator and a Zero Reader flight director. The stick and rudder pedals were connected to pneumatic cylinders, providing a realistic flying experience. The simulator measures 10 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 7 feet tall, and is being offered for sale at no reserve out of Deptford, New Jersey.
The simulator has been converted into a static display, commemorating Brigadier General Robin Olds and his Lockheed P-80A Shooting Star. The removable exterior panels have been refinished with period-correct details, including 'SCAT X' markings and 'U.S. Air Force' lettering. The cockpit still has its instrument panel, inoperative gauges, and a resistance-based joystick, although some parts have been removed to reduce weight. A pilot decal has also been added to the canopy, and the display comes with a copy of Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds.
