Editing Edwin Albert Link

{{Short description|American inventor and underwater diver (1904–1981)}}
{{infobox person
| name        = Edwin Albert Link
| image       = Edwin Link.jpg
| caption     = Edwin A. Link
| birth_name  = 
| birth_date  = July 26, 1904
| birth_place = [[Huntington, Indiana]]
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1981|09|07|1904|07|26|mf=yes}}
| death_place = [[Binghamton, New York]], United States
| nationality = American
| other_names = 
| known_for   = Inventor of [[flight simulator]]; [[Underwater archeology|underwater archeologist]]; [[Naval architecture|ocean engineer]]
| education   = [[Binghamton Central High School]]
| employer    = 
| occupation  = Industrialist, entrepreneur
| title       = 
| predecessor = 
| successor   = 
| spouse      = Marion Clayton Link
| children    = William Martin Link, Edwin Clayton Link
| parents     = Edwin A. Link, Sr., Katherine Martin Link
| relatives   = 
}}

'''Edwin Albert Link''' (July 26, 1904 &ndash; September 7, 1981)<ref name="Timeline">{{cite web|url=http://library.binghamton.edu/specialcollections/findingaids/linkcoll_m4.html |title=Edwin Albert Link - A Chronological Biography |access-date=2011-12-29 |publisher=[[Binghamton University|Binghamton University Libraries]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317171714/http://library.binghamton.edu/specialcollections/findingaids/linkcoll_m4.html |archive-date=2012-03-17 }}</ref> was an American inventor, entrepreneur and pioneer in [[aviation]], [[underwater archaeology]], and [[submersible]]s. He invented the [[flight simulator]], which was called the "Blue Box" or "[[Link Trainer]]". It was commercialized in 1929, starting a now multibillion-dollar industry.<ref name="LinkColl">{{cite web |url=http://library.binghamton.edu/specialcollections/findingaids/linkcoll_m3.html |title=Edwin A. Link 1904-1981 |last1=Clark |first1=Martha |last2=Eichelberger |first2=Jeanne |access-date=2012-06-06 |publisher=Binghamton University Libraries |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317171710/http://library.binghamton.edu/specialcollections/findingaids/linkcoll_m3.html |archive-date=2012-03-17 }}</ref><ref name="FIT Bio">{{cite web |url=http://lib.fit.edu/edwin/biography.php |title=A Biographical Sketch OF Edwin A. Link |access-date=2011-08-26 |publisher=[[Florida Institute of Technology|Florida Tech Evans Library]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002191434/http://lib.fit.edu/edwin/biography.php |archive-date=2011-10-02 }}</ref> In total, he obtained more than 27 patents for [[aeronautics]], [[navigation]] and [[oceanography|oceanographic]] equipment.<ref name="Foundation">{{cite web |url=http://www.linkenergy.org/linkinfo.html |title=Link Foundation Information |access-date=2011-08-26 |publisher=Link Foundation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727033854/http://www.linkenergy.org/linkinfo.html |archive-date=2011-07-27 }}</ref>

==Early life==
Edwin Link was born in [[Huntington, Indiana]], in 1904, the son of Edwin A. Link, Sr., and Katherine (Martin) Link. In 1910, he moved with his family to [[Binghamton, New York]].<ref name="Timeline"/><ref name="LinkColl"/><ref name="LinkBio">{{cite web |url=http://library.binghamton.edu/specialcollections/linkedwin.html |title=Binghamton Univ. Libraries: Edwin A. Link |date=2011-02-15 |access-date=2011-08-26 |publisher=Binghamton University Libraries |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719152646/http://library.binghamton.edu/specialcollections/linkedwin.html |archive-date=2011-07-19 }}</ref>

==Aviation==
===Aviator===
He took his first flying lesson in 1920.<ref name=HOF>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalaviation.org/link-edwin/ |title=Edwin Link: Innovator/Inventor/Industrialist |publisher=National Aviation Hall of Fame |access-date=August 27, 2012}}</ref> In 1927, he obtained the first [[Cessna]] airplane ever delivered and eked out a living by [[barnstorming]], charter flying and giving lessons.<ref name=HOF/>

As a young man, Edwin Link used apparatus from his father's automatic piano and organ factory (of the [[Link Piano and Organ Company]]) to produce an advertising airplane. A punched roll and pneumatic system from a [[player piano]] controlled sequential lights on the lower surfaces of the wings to spell out messages like "[[Endicott Johnson Corporation|ENDICOTT-JOHNSON SHOES]]". To attract more attention, he added a set of small but loud organ pipes, also controlled by the roll.

===Flight simulator===
[[File:Link Trainer (WCAM).JPG|thumb|right|Link Trainer at the Western Canada Aviation Museum]]
In the 1920s, he developed the [[Link Trainer]], "a fuselage-like device with a cockpit and controls that produced the motions and sensations of flying."<ref name=HOF/><ref>[https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/af/90/f1/d285ed1242b560/US1825462.pdf US patent no.1825462A, (held by Edwin A. Link Jr.), dated 29 September 1931, for a "Combination training device for student aviators and entertainment apparatus ".]</ref>

Much of the pneumatic system was adapted directly from technology used in the organ factory;<ref name="Trainer">{{cite web |url=http://www.starksravings.com/linktrainer/linktrainer.htm |title=Link Trainer Restoration |access-date=2011-08-31 |publisher=starksravings.com}}</ref> and, in the 1970s, Link used parts scavenged from an inoperative trainer to help rebuild a Link pipe organ.

===Link Aeronautical Corporation===
He formed the [[Link Aviation Devices|Link Aeronautical Corporation]] in 1929 to manufacture the trainers.<ref name=HOF/> His few early customers were [[amusement park]]s, not flight training schools; the early models served as amusement rides.<ref name=HOF/> Finally, in 1934, the [[United States Army Air Corps]] bought six.<ref name=HOF/> During [[World War II]], more than half a million airmen were taught using the Link Trainer.<ref name=NAP>{{cite book |title=Memorial Tributes: National Academy of Engineering, Volume 2 (1984) |year=1984 |publisher=[[National Academy of Engineering]] |isbn=0-309-03482-5 |page=174 |url=http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=565&page=174  |access-date=August 27, 2012}}</ref> In 2000 the Link Trainer was placed on the [[List of Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks]].

===Link Aviation===
Together with his wife Marion Clayton Link, whom he had married in 1931, Edwin Link managed the very successful Link Aviation, Inc.<ref name="LinkColl"/><ref name="LinkBio"/> He contributed a great deal to the Binghamton, New York area, where he set up a production facility that at one time employed thousands of workers. Although the company later passed through different ownership, its legacy can be traced to the current [[L3Harris Technologies|L3Harris]] division known as Link Training and Simulation, now headquartered in [[Arlington, Texas]] (though it still maintains some operations in Binghamton).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.link.com/about/pages/history.aspx |title=History - L-3 Link Simulation & Training |access-date=2016-09-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606213135/https://www.link.com/about/pages/history.aspx |archive-date=2017-06-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===The Link Foundation===
In 1953, Edwin and Marion Link established The Link Foundation. The foundation continues to provide grants and fellowships in [[aeronautics]], simulation and training, ocean engineering, energy, and organizations of interest to the Links.<ref name="FIT Bio"/><ref name="Foundation"/>

==Undersea interests==

===Man-in-Sea project===
After Link sold his company to [[General Precision]] in 1954, he turned his attention to underwater archaeology and research.<ref name="LinkColl"/> Link worked at developing equipment for deeper, longer lasting and more secure [[underwater diving|diving]]. To this end he designed several submersible [[decompression chamber]]s.<ref name="Timeline"/><ref name="LinkColl"/><ref name="FIT Bio"/> On August 28, 1962, at [[Villefranche-sur-Mer]] on the [[Mediterranean Sea]], Link inaugurated his "Man in Sea" project by spending eight hours at a depth of {{convert|60|ft|m}} in his submersible decompression chamber (SDC), becoming the first diver to be completely [[Saturation diving|saturated]] with a mixture of oxygen and helium ([[heliox]]) while breathing underwater.<ref name="LinkColl"/><ref name="NGM 1">{{cite journal |author=Lord Kilbracken |author-link=John Godley, 3rd Baron Kilbracken |date=May 1963 |title=The Long, Deep Dive |journal=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]] |volume=123 |issue=5 |pages=718–731 |publisher=[[National Geographic Society]] |location=[[Washington, D.C.]]}}</ref><ref name="Sténuit">{{cite book |last=Sténuit |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Sténuit |title=The Deepest Days |others=Trans. Morris Kemp |publisher=[[Coward-McCann]] |location=[[New York City|New York]] |year=1966 |lccn=66-10428}}</ref><ref name="Marion">{{cite book |first=Marion Clayton |last=Link |title=Windows in the Sea |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution Press]] |location=Washington, D.C. |year=1973 |isbn=0-87474-130-0 |lccn=72-93801 |url=https://archive.org/details/windowsinsea0000link }}</ref><ref name="Ecott">{{cite book |last=Ecott |first=Tim |title=Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World |publisher=[[Atlantic Monthly Press]] |location=New York |year=2001 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/neutralbuoyancy00time_0/page/249 249]–250 |isbn=0-87113-794-1 |lccn=2001018840 |url= https://archive.org/details/neutralbuoyancy00time_0|url-access=registration }}</ref> This dive served as a test run for a dive the following month by [[Robert Sténuit]], who spent over 24 hours in the SDC at a depth of {{convert|200|ft|m}} and thus became the world's first [[aquanaut]].<ref name="LinkColl"/><ref name="NGM 1"/><ref name="Sténuit"/><ref name="Marion"/><ref name="Ecott"/> In June–July 1964, Link conducted his second Man in Sea experiment in the [[Berry Islands]] (a chain in the [[Bahamas]]) with Sténuit and [[Jon Lindbergh]], one of the sons of [[Charles Lindbergh]]. Sténuit and Lindbergh stayed in Link's SPID [[Underwater habitat|habitat]] (Submersible, Portable, Inflatable Dwelling) for 49 hours underwater at a depth of {{convert|432|ft|m}}, breathing a helium-oxygen mixture.<ref name="LinkColl"/><ref name="Sténuit"/><ref name="Marion"/><ref name="NGM 2">{{cite journal |last=Link |first=Edwin A. |date=April 1965 |title=Outpost Under the Ocean |journal=National Geographic |volume=127 |issue=4 |pages=530–533 |publisher=National Geographic Society |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref><ref name="NGM 3">{{cite journal |last=Sténuit |first=Robert |date=April 1965 |title=The Deepest Days |journal=National Geographic |volume=127 |issue=4 |pages=534–547 |publisher=National Geographic Society |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref><ref name="MacInnis">{{cite book|first=Joe|last=MacInnis|author-link=Joseph B. MacInnis|title=Underwater Man|year=1975|publisher=[[Dodd, Mead & Company]]|location=New York|pages=53–68|isbn=0-396-07142-2|lccn=75-680}}</ref> Dr. [[Joseph B. MacInnis]] participated in this dive as a [[life support]] specialist.<ref name="Sténuit"/><ref name="Marion"/><ref name="NGM 3"/><ref name="MacInnis"/>

===Submersibles===
In March 1967, Link launched ''[[Deep Diver]]'', the first small [[submersible]] designed for lockout diving, allowing divers to leave and enter the craft while underwater.<ref name="LinkColl"/><ref name="Marion"/> ''Deep Diver'' carried out many scientific missions in 1967 and 1968, including a {{convert|430|ft|m|adj=on}} lockout dive in 1967 (at the same location as the 1964 Sténuit-Lindbergh dive) and a {{convert|700|ft|m|adj=on}} lockout dive near [[Great Stirrup Cay]] in 1968. Dr. MacInnis participated in both of these dives as an observer in ''Deep Diver'''s forward chamber.<ref name="Marion"/><ref name="NGM 4">{{cite journal |last=MacLeish |first=Kenneth |date=January 1968 |title=A Taxi for the Deep Frontier: Project Man-in-Sea Goes Mobile |journal=National Geographic |volume=133 |issue=1 |pages=138–150 |publisher=National Geographic Society |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref><ref name="MacInnis 2">MacInnis, pp. 91-103.</ref>

Later in 1968, after ''Deep Diver'' had been requisitioned by the [[United States Navy]] to help search for the lost [[submarine]] [[USS Scorpion (SSN-589)|USS ''Scorpion'']], the [[Bureau of Ships]] determined that ''Deep Diver'' was unsafe for use at great depths or in extremely cold temperatures because of the substitution of the wrong kind of steel, which became brittle in cold water, in some parts of the sub.<ref name="Marion"/> Link proceeded to design a new lockout sub with a distinctive acrylic bubble as the forward pilot/observer compartment. In January 1971 the new sub was launched and commissioned to the [[Smithsonian Institution]]. It was named the ''[[Johnson Sea Link]]'' after its donors, Link and his friend [[John Seward Johnson I]].<ref name="LinkColl"/><ref name="Marion"/>

===Death of son===
{{main|Johnson Sea Link accident}}
In June 1973, Link's 31-year-old son, Edwin Clayton Link, and another diver, 51-year-old Albert D. Stover, died during a scheduled dive off [[Key West]]. They suffered [[carbon dioxide poisoning]] when the ''[[Johnson Sea Link]]'' became trapped in debris around a [[United States Navy|Navy]] destroyer, the ''[[USS Fred T. Berry (DD-858)|Fred T. Berry]]'', which had been sunk to create an [[artificial reef]]. The submersible's other two occupants survived.<ref name="LinkColl"/><ref name="Time">{{cite magazine |title=Science: Tragedy Under the Sea |date=1973-07-02 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,879228,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214074757/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,879228,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 14, 2008 |access-date=2011-08-26}}</ref><ref name="World Book">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Alexiou |first=Arthur E. |encyclopedia=[[World Book Encyclopedia|The World Book Year Book 1974]] |title=Ocean |year=1974 |publisher=[[Field Enterprises|Field Enterprises Educational Corporation]] |location=[[Chicago]] |isbn=0-7166-0474-4 |lccn=62-4818 |page=[https://archive.org/details/1974worldbookyea00fiel/page/426 426] }}</ref><ref name="Ellis">{{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Richard |title=Deep Atlantic: Life, Death, and Exploration in the Abyss |publisher=The Lyons Press |location=New York |year=1998 |pages=76–77 |isbn=1-55821-663-4}}</ref> Over the next two years, Edwin Link designed an unmanned Cabled Observation and Rescue Device (CORD) that could free a trapped submersible.<ref name="LinkColl"/>

==Death==
Edwin Link died in his sleep on September 7, 1981, in Binghamton, New York,<ref name="Timeline"/> where he had been undergoing treatment for [[cancer]].<ref name="LinkColl"/>

==Honors==
[[File:Link Hall, Syracuse University.JPG|thumb|350px|Link Hall, Syracuse University]]

Link was awarded the [[Howard N. Potts Medal]]<ref name="FIT Bio"/> in 1945 for developing training devices for aviators, and the [[Royal Aeronautical Society]] Wakefield Gold Medal in 1947.<ref>{{cite journal |date=29 May 1947|title=R.Ae.S. Medals and Prizes |journal=[[Flight International|Flight]]|volume=51|issue=2005|page=500|url= http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1947/1947%20-%200862.html |access-date=30 August 2013}}</ref> He received an honorary degree from [[Syracuse University]] in 1966<ref name="link hall"/> and [[Binghamton University]] in 1981.<ref name=SUNY-B>{{cite web|title=Honorary Degree Recipients|url=http://www.binghamton.edu/president/previous-honorary-degrees.html|publisher=Binghamton University, State University of New York|access-date=23 May 2012|date=9 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130319120031/http://www2.binghamton.edu/president/previous-honorary-degrees.html|archive-date=19 March 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1976, he was inducted into the [[National Aviation Hall of Fame]].<ref name=HOF/>

In 1992, Link was inducted into the [[International Air & Space Hall of Fame]] at the [[San Diego Air & Space Museum]].<ref>Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. ''These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame''. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-57864-397-4}}.</ref>

Link donated $6 million dollars to build the engineering building on the campus of [[Syracuse University]]. The ''Edwin A. Link Hall of Engineering'' was dedicated in presence of Link and his family on October 16, 1970.<ref name="link hall">{{cite news |title=SU to Honor Edwin A. At Dedication of Building |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66192125/ |access-date=28 December 2020 |work=The Post-Standard |date=4 September 1970 |location=Syracuse, New York |pages=30, 32 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Building Named for Inventor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74953709/ |access-date=2 April 2021 |work=[[Press and Sun-Bulletin]] |date=16 October 1970 |location=Binghamton, New York |pages=3 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Link Hall |url=https://answers.syr.edu/display/itslemp/Link+Hall |website=answers.syr.edu |access-date=28 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Lawrence |first1=Al |title=$5.7 Million Engineering Hall Dedicated at SU |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74953369/ |access-date=2 April 2021 |work=[[The Post-Standard]] |date=17 October 1970 |location=Syracuse, New York |pages=3 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}}}}</ref> It currently houses offices, classrooms and laboratories of the [[Syracuse University College of Engineering and Computer Science]].

From the early 1980s to the 1990s, what is now [[Greater Binghamton Airport]] was named Edwin A. Link Field-Broome County Airport his honor,.<ref name="FIT Bio"/> The field is still named after Link, and there is an original "Blue Box" on display in the terminal.

The Link Building at Florida Institute of Technology (Melbourne, FL) is named for Edwin A. Link inventor of the Link Trainer and co-founder of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution. A display of an original Link Trainer can be seen in the College of Aeronautics’ Skurla Hall, a two-minute walk from the Link Building.

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
*Madhavan, Guru (2024). ''Wicked Problems: How to Engineer a Better World''. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. {{ISBN|978-0-393-65146-1}}
*{{cite book|last=Hellwarth|first=Ben|title=Sealab: America's Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor|location=[[New York City|New York]]|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|year=2012|isbn=978-0-7432-4745-0|lccn=2011015725|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/sealabamericasfo0000hell}}
*{{cite book |first=Marion Clayton |last=Link |title=Windows in the Sea |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution Press]] |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |year=1973 |isbn=0-87474-130-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/windowsinsea0000link }}
*{{cite book|first=Joe|last=MacInnis|author-link=Joseph B. MacInnis|title=Underwater Man|year=1975|publisher=[[Dodd, Mead & Company]]|location=New York|isbn=0-396-07142-2}}
*{{cite book |first=Robert |last=Sténuit |author-link=Robert Sténuit |title=The Deepest Days |others=Trans. Morris Kemp |publisher=[[Coward-McCann]] |location=New York |year=1966 |lccn=66-10428}}
*{{cite book|last1=van Hoek|first1=Susan|last2=Link|first2=Marion Clayton|title=From Sky to Sea: A Story of Edwin A. Link|location=[[Flagstaff, Arizona]]|publisher=Best Publishing|year=2003|isbn=0-941332-27-6}}

==External links==
*[https://www.binghamton.edu/libraries/about/special-collections/research-and-collections/link/ The Edwin A. Link and Marion Clayton Link Collections, Binghamton University]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111002191434/http://lib.fit.edu/edwin/biography.php A biographical sketch of Edwin A. Link]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111002191510/http://lib.fit.edu/edwin/bibliography.php Bibliography of The Edwin A. Link Collection of the Evans Library at Florida Institute of Technology]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110727033854/http://www.linkenergy.org/linkinfo.html The Link Foundation]
*[http://www.psubs.org/accidents/johnsealink.pdf U.S. Coast Guard report on fatal ''Johnson Sea Link'' accident]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Link, Edwin Albert}}
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1981 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Binghamton, New York]]
[[Category:People from Huntington, Indiana]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century American inventors]]
[[Category:American underwater divers]]
[[Category:Aviation inventors]]
[[Category:Aviators from Indiana]]
[[Category:Howard N. Potts Medal recipients]]
[[Category:National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:20th-century aviation]]
[[Category:Flight training]]
[[Category:Aircraft simulators]]