Flight simulation has been around a long time; even the Wright brothers were using a motion-based simulator called the "balancer" as early as 1912.

Some of the most famous (and, ahem, second-most widely used) flight simulators in history are the Link Trainer series, produced and sold from the 1930s through the 1950s. There were a number of different models, but most of them were enclosed cockpits on motion platforms with fully functional panels and no external display. There are a number of surviving examples, and it's common to see them set up in museums (the picture at right is from the Hiller Museum in San Carlos, CA.)

What's considerably less common, however, is the chance to actually try one. Well, if you're a student in North Carolina, you can have that chance and even log the time, thanks to Ed Frye, the chair of Guilford Technical Community College's Transportation Systems Technology division. Have a look at the article - Training Next Generation of Flying Aces - from Rhinotimes.com (the "only official website of The Rhinoceros Times newspaper.")