First flight simulator

The first recorded flight simulator was not a videogame, but a mechanical device built by Edwin A Link (USA) in 1929. As a young man Link gained his pilot’s licence through flying with a qualified pilot, but found the lessons very expensive. His solution was to draw on the engineering knowledge he gained from working in his father’s piano and organ making business to build a flight simulator that would enable pilots to be trained cheaply. Link received a patent for his first simulator, dubbed the Link Trainer, in 1931, and two years later he upgraded the contraption so that it could be used to train pilots to fly "blind" using only its instruments – invaluable in preparing pilots to fly through cloud and fog.

Initially popular fairground ride, Link’s "pilot maker" was adopted by the US Army Air Corps in 1934 in the wake of a number of plane crashes caused by pilots being unable to fly in fog. The trainer was used widely in the training of pilots during World War II. By the end of the conflict, a total of 6,271 Link trainers had been sold to the US Army and 1,045 to the US Navy. After a series of mergers and acquisitions the modern descendant of Link’s company, L-3 Communications, actually produces professional-quality simulation hardware and software for the US military.