Link Trainer Type ANT-18

The Link Trainer was one of the earliest forms of Flight Simulator, it was developed in the late 1920s by Edwin Link, the son of the owner of the Link Piano and Organ Company of New York, and the Trainer is based on the technology in use in his father's factory. It was patented in 1930 and advertised as "an efficient aeronautical training aid".

The ANT-18 (Army-Navy Trainer, Model 18) was considerably developed from early models and was fitted with a complete set of blind flying instruments and navigation aids such as Radio Compass, Lorenz blind landing system and Radio Range. It was intended to correspond to the US Navy's SNJ and the Army's T-6 trainer aircraft (Harvard). The Trainer is mounted on a universal joint on a turntable thus permitting movement in roll, pitch, and yaw and motion is provided by a system of vacuum operated bellows which are controlled by valves attached to the pilot's controls. The instructor's desk is fitted with a flight recorder, or 'Crab' which drives round the glass surface marking the course flown by the pilot in the cockpit. The instructor also has a set of repeater instruments, intercom facilities and controls for the navigation aids.

The Trainer on display belongs to 424 (Southampton) Sqn, ATC and was reconstructed from two scrap ex-RAF machines obtained from Isle of Wight ATC squadrons in 1967.It was then used for cadet training at the squadron's headquarters in Havelock Road until 1984 when it was retired to the museum, having been replaced by more modern equipment.

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