At this year’s recently-concluded FlightSim Expo in Houston, it became clear that the training technology lines between hobbyists and licensed pilots are becoming increasingly blurred. Major OEMs including Boeing are licensing cockpit components to companies that heretofore catered exclusively to enthusiasts, while FAA-certificated flight training device manufacturers are turning to architecture that more and more resembles the hardware from the gaming world.

The trends are being driven by a variety of factors: the soaring cost of full-motion simulator training, where individual simulator units easily run into the millions of dollars, and simulator time slots increasingly hard to come by, as well as continuing advances in augmented/virtual reality and artificial intelligence.

Directional Aviation Capital (DAC)–the company headed by Kenn Ricci that owns Flight Options, Sentient Jet, Nextant Aerospace, and Constant Aviation, among others–announced that it is buying fractional provider Flexjet from Bombardier for $185 million. The transaction is to close by the end of 2013, pending U.S. government approvals. All Flexjet employees will be retained, Ricci noted.

Flexjet LLC, which is DAC’s shell company for the acquisition, also placed a $1.8 billion firm order for 85 Bombardier business jets–25 Learjet 75s, 30 Learjet 85s, 20 Challenger 350s, and 10 Challenger 605s–along with options for 160 more airplanes worth another $3.4 billion. Aircraft deliveries from this order will begin in July next year.

The ability of airlines to attract pilots away from business aviation with lucrative contracts continues to have a deleterious effect on corporate flight department rosters. At the same time, the costs of pilot training remain a serious impediment to addressing the supply shortage, industry experts agree. But clearly, this is a good time to be a pilot.

Whether it's business aviation or airlines, the shortage of pilots has created challenges for the operators and opportunities for the pilots, said David Cox, academy director for L3Harris Flight Academy in Sanford, Florida. "It's really a very competitive landscape right now where you've got the airlines and the corporate operators competing with each other. Good jobs that pay well tend to be able to attract the right type of people. It is also a little bit of a lifestyle choice."

Here are 11 American roadside attractions, located from coast to coast, that merit a stop.

Many of them are too big to miss, including Big Betsy, billed as "the world's largest lobster"; two giant Paul Bunyan statues; a giant cowboy; and a 15-foot-tall Superman.

Epic Aircraft plans to deliver 20 E1000 GX turboprop singles this year and 24 of the all-composite aircraft next year, company marketing director Amy Trenz told AIN at EAA AirVenture. The company has successfully completed testing for and is closing in on FAA certification for flight into known icing (FIKI) conditions, with all aircraft delivered in 2024 expected to have this approval, she added.

The price of the base aircraft is currently $4.45 million, up from $3.85 million in 2021. The 333-knot GX model features the Garmin G1000 NXi flight deck, Garmin GFC 700 automatic flight control system, and Hartzell five-blade composite propeller.