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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 0278.PDF
100 FEBRUARY I, 1940 PRE-48 INITIO The New " Visual Link " Trainer " Flight " photograph. " Where the mountains o' Mourne." A pupil making a turn to port on the new Visual Link trainer. IN what was the sun lounge on the promenade of a SouthCoast resort are a number of circular structures whichhouse the new "Visual Link " Trainers which are now being used to give primary pilotage training to our Volunteer Reserve pilots. The Link Trainer, it will be remembered, is a stub fuselage with wings and tail surfaces, " driven " by power- ful bellows so that the movement of the normal flying con- trols in the cockpit will reproduce very faithfully the motions of actual flight. The pupil and instructor are in telephonic communication the whole time so that problems may be set and advice and correction given. Hitherto the Link Trainer has been used solely for instru- ment (or blind) flying instruction of pilots already qualified. In this case the pupil is enclosed in a hooded cockpit and receives instructions to fly on a predetermined course while the actual course he would have flown is electrically recorded on a map by a contrivance known as a " crab." The '' Visual Link'' Trainer differs from the original type in that the cockpit is open and the whole machine is surrounded by an aerial panorama of mountains, sunny countryside, littoral, smoky towns, clouds, seascape and misty horizon. This panorama is painted to represent a flying height of 2,000-3,000ft., and the illumination is varied in such a way as to complete the illusion of good or bad visibility. A top plane and centre-section have been added to give the impression of sitting in a Tiger Moth. The airscrew disc is realistically represented by a semicircle of celluloid on which abrasions have been made. There is a complete set of instruments on the dashboard, and standard throttle levers and controls are fitted. All the instruments give appropriate readings for the resultant of the position of the controls and the altitude of the machine. Thus, for instance, with nose down and engine full on the A.S.I, will go "right off the clock." A further refine- ment is a series of valves which will produce the effect of bumpy weather or icing conditions. When the pupil gets aboard the Visual Link for the first time, he has had about six weeks' training, mostly disciplinary, during which he has been converted from a civilian to a soldier. His chest is an inch or two bigger than it was ; his stomach has receded ; his head is erect ; his reactions have been smartened up by special drill games ; and he has had lectures on elementary theory of flight and piloting. Seated in the cockpit, he is told to assume a comfortable position, to hold the joystick lightly yet firmly, "as if it were made of glass," and to relax the knees. The Trainer is locked fore and aft, and the primary effect of the rudder is demonstrated by the machine turning to the right or the left when pressure of the feet is applied to the rudder bar. Next the machine is locked laterally and directionally and the primary effects of the elevators is taught. Following that, the Trainer is locked against directional and fore-and- aft movement and the raising and lowering of the wings by the operation of the ailerons completes the study of the
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