Halton Take Charge of a Link Air Training Simulator

The James McCudden Air Power Centre at RAF Halton has taken charge of a Link Air Training Simulator.

Volunteers at the Air Power Centre intend to completely refurbish the Link trainer to go on display and are interested in contacting anyone who worked for the Aylesbury firm and may have knowledge of this type of equipment. Anyone interested should in the first instance, speak to Francis Hanford at the Trenchard Museum on 01296 656841

The instrument flight simulator, or Link Trainer, is a ground based simulator designed as a basic jet engine trainer for teaching all phases of elementary and advanced instrument flying, including radio navigation, radio range and loop orientation, instrument landing systems, voice procedure, flight and instrument familiarisation.

The simulators were originally made in Leighton Buzzard and transferred to America before returning to Aylesbury in 1946 where the firm provided work for 950 local Aylesbury people. In 1967 the firm became a subsidiary of Redifon Ltd, a member of the Rediffusion organisation, and was renamed Redifon Air Trainers Ltd. In 1972 production was transferred to the Redifon Flight Simulator Division, Crawley and after the Link Trainer was given to the Air Training Corps Centre in Aylesbury for training and has since been stored there but this week it was loaded on to a transporter and brought to Halton

Tom Costello from the Air Power Centre, who has co-ordinated the delivery, said: “It was quite a big job getting the Link Trainer through the doors with there being just a centimetre space either side. Our volunteers will now start working on refurbishing the trainer with a view to get it working again so any help that anyone who worked in the factory can give when it was at Aylesbury will be invaluable.”