Reminiscing: the good ol' Link.
Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2004 9:03 pm'Lo all!
I'm certain there are a few pilots here old enough to be trained on the venerable Link Trainer. I was just going through some old photos with my old squadron today and came across a few that brough up some fun memories.
My first RCACC squadron was 87th Eagle out of Welland, Ontario. We had a Link Trainer in pieces. How the heck we got the damn thing I have NO idea. Well; some officer got it into his head it'd be a good idea to restore it and get the old clunker working again - and this one was real old; 1950 at the latest (so about 30 yrs at the newest.) Of course - who'se the best people to fix it up? You bet - Cadets.
So there we went; cleaning, scrubbing, tapping away at this poor old wood-and-fabric doghouse; with officers - IOW; people that think they know what they're doing - worked on the hard bits. The bellows; pneumatics, etc. I tell you; it was quite a proud moment when we got the little plane mounted on the base; as you can imagine. The poor thing actually looked pretty good - gleaming dark blue with a silver wooden instrument hood.
Well; the day came when the contraption was pronounced "done" by the...ahem...experts. Man were we proud; looking at what we'd created. Link's aren't very big; but when compared with the pile of junk in the corner it was the year before; it looked enormous - a lovely monument to what a few dozen eager hands can do in a year and a bit.
Our CO got the first ride. He was...fairly large. They started the thing up; it made the most unholy rattling racket you've ever heard! Maj. Smith climbed up into the thing; made a few test-turns. Worked great. So he tried a nice sharp turn to the port; just in time for the left bellows to let go. Hee hee - I never knew you could spin a Link Trainer! It went round a few times before we could shut it off.
Couple of months later; the bellows was repaired; and we tried her again - worked great; save those had to be the loudest instrument flights on Earth - I doubt an F-18 makes so much noise. (They'e apparently pretty quiet when they're working right; I've been told.)
Everyone got a turn; and we wound up using the thing fairly successfully for ground instruction. When I earned my Glider Scholarship; they congratulated me by giving me several hours of free time in the thing; then locking the damn hood with me inside for about an hour, the jerks.
Lol - just remembering a fine time of life - that old piece of firewood had loads of personality; sure 'nuff.
Cheers!
I'm certain there are a few pilots here old enough to be trained on the venerable Link Trainer. I was just going through some old photos with my old squadron today and came across a few that brough up some fun memories.
My first RCACC squadron was 87th Eagle out of Welland, Ontario. We had a Link Trainer in pieces. How the heck we got the damn thing I have NO idea. Well; some officer got it into his head it'd be a good idea to restore it and get the old clunker working again - and this one was real old; 1950 at the latest (so about 30 yrs at the newest.) Of course - who'se the best people to fix it up? You bet - Cadets.
So there we went; cleaning, scrubbing, tapping away at this poor old wood-and-fabric doghouse; with officers - IOW; people that think they know what they're doing - worked on the hard bits. The bellows; pneumatics, etc. I tell you; it was quite a proud moment when we got the little plane mounted on the base; as you can imagine. The poor thing actually looked pretty good - gleaming dark blue with a silver wooden instrument hood.
Well; the day came when the contraption was pronounced "done" by the...ahem...experts. Man were we proud; looking at what we'd created. Link's aren't very big; but when compared with the pile of junk in the corner it was the year before; it looked enormous - a lovely monument to what a few dozen eager hands can do in a year and a bit.
Our CO got the first ride. He was...fairly large. They started the thing up; it made the most unholy rattling racket you've ever heard! Maj. Smith climbed up into the thing; made a few test-turns. Worked great. So he tried a nice sharp turn to the port; just in time for the left bellows to let go. Hee hee - I never knew you could spin a Link Trainer! It went round a few times before we could shut it off.
Couple of months later; the bellows was repaired; and we tried her again - worked great; save those had to be the loudest instrument flights on Earth - I doubt an F-18 makes so much noise. (They'e apparently pretty quiet when they're working right; I've been told.)
Everyone got a turn; and we wound up using the thing fairly successfully for ground instruction. When I earned my Glider Scholarship; they congratulated me by giving me several hours of free time in the thing; then locking the damn hood with me inside for about an hour, the jerks.
Lol - just remembering a fine time of life - that old piece of firewood had loads of personality; sure 'nuff.
Cheers!