To some that might seem like we were pretty smart. But my old rule of being lucky whenever possible had a lot to do with it. We did handle our advantage intelligently, of course. Rather than squander our profits, we poured money back into operations and facilities to make sure our customers had the most sophisticated, most complete and most convenient training experience possible. This wasn't the burger business. As simulation increased in fidelity, so did its expense. A single full-motion, full-visual simulator then probably cost more than all the profit we made in our first ten years of operation. Today one of our Level "D" machines represents an investment in excess of $15 million.

By 1978 our client list had risen to 1,200 business aircraft operators and airlines. We were training thousands of professional pilots at eighteen different learning centers in the United States, Canada and Europe. Business aircraft manufacturers were turning out turboprops, jets, helicopters and piston twins at a record rate. We were operating thirty simulators then, and we were so hungry for more that we bought a simulator manufacturer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, thereby creating our Simulation Systems Division. We also continued to buy simulators from other manufacturers.