This Model C-3 Blue Box is in amazing shape. Bob and Ron acquired it from Bill in New Jersey. We are still setting it up and giving it its first bath in many years.
Link Aviation Devices Inc. delivered our Blue Box, Model “C-3” to 394th SubDepot, Army Air Force Advanced Flight School, Frederick, Oklahoma on July 22, 1943. It was part of a shipment of 4 identical C-3 trainers. It was purchased by the War Department of the Air Force, Finance Office, at Wright Field, in Dayton, Ohio. Wright Field is now Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and the office they refer to was located about a block from our current trainer location.
The “S-W” in our serial number stands for Sparks Withington. While Sparks Withington received orders to construct and deliver 1,726 C-3 trainers in two contract quantities of 125 and 1601, their contracts were cancelled, and they only delivered 81 trainers. The parts inventory was transferred to Link and Link was awarded a contract for 1500 C-3 trainers built from the Sparks Withington inventory. The records indicate that the Link order for 1500 model C-3 Sparks Withington trainers was the last of the C-3 models built as Link had developed the AN-T-18 and was preparing to start building that model. The AN-T-18 is essentially like a C-3 but has a 28-contact slip ring and was more connectorized to facilitate maintenance of wiring harnessing and reconfiguring the instruments for the Army, Navy, and British radio navigation and instrument landing systems. A tip of the hat to Steve at linktrainer.net for this information.
The AAF Advanced Flight School, Frederick Oklahoma was opened in March 1943, and closed in November 1945. Bob K. found this unbelievable 1944 Frederick School Yearbook. One page from the yearbook shows four of their Link trainers in 1944. The page even shows the simulator building.
Bob and Ron acquired this Blue Box in February 2017. Restoration efforts are currently under way.