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About APS

We Help Pilots Bring Everyone Home Safely

Aviation Performance Solutions (APS) has focused on addressing aviation safety issues associated with Loss of Control In-flight (LOC-I), the #1 cause of aviation-related fatalities, for more than three decades. During that time, we have developed a long-standing trust in the global aviation community as an organization that unfailingly supports the safety needs, expectations, and challenges faced by manufacturers, government agencies, airlines, flight departments, regulators, flight schools, and industry safety organizations.

Preventing LOC-I related accidents through Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT) is our passion. Our programs are built on decades of experience, research and testing as we have worked with major regulatory agencies and top industry leaders to ensure that our training is standardized according to proven best practices that achieve excellent results while maximizing training safety and value. Our commitment to excellence, safety and customer satisfaction is the reason we are trusted by corporations large and small, military and government agencies, global airlines and major US air carriers.

 

The APS Vision

Purpose

We Help Pilots Bring Everyone Home Safely.

Mission

Crush the Loss of Control In-flight Threat Globally by Partnering with Safety Champions to Accelerate Adoption of Life-saving APS Upset Training.

Brand Promise

Every Pilot Trained – In Control – All the Time.

Core Values

At APS, our core values drive our purpose, our business practices, and everything we do. We are more than a company. We are a team of individuals united in our purpose to help bring pilots, and all who fly with them, home safely. Our shared values guide our actions and decisions, ensuring we move together toward our goals and vision. These values are not only what we stand for, they represent who we are and how we execute our Vision.

APS History

1996

APS CEO forms an advanced flight instruction company focused on closing gaps in general training.

2000

Company expands to Williams Gateway Airport (now the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport—KIWA).

2005

Aviation Performance Solutions LLC (APS) founded to advance modern Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT).

2006

APS completely overhauls its training methods, practices, and techniques in preparation for its next level of evolution: becoming an integrated multi-domain/sector training provider.

2008

APS expands its piston airplane-based training foundation with web-based instructional methods and the integration of advanced simulation.

2009

The APS CEO joins the Royal Aeronautical Society’s 5-year ground breaking global harmonization of UPRT through the International Committee for Aviation Training in Extended Envelopes (ICATEE).

2012

APS Europe opens at the Breda International Airport in The Netherlands.

2013

APS Texas opens in Arlington Municipal Airport.

APS becomes the first IS-BAO registered Part 141 Flight School in the USA and the first IS-BAO registered UPRT provider in the world.

2014

APS establishes a licensed location in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to support the implementation of UPRT on a third continent.

APS announces the integration of the A-4 Skyhawk into its menu of UPRT.

2015

APS becomes the go-to UPRT train-the-trainer provider for airlines around the world, establishing strong training relationships with more than a dozen air carriers in both hemispheres as their training provider and consultant on delivering ICAO UPRT Manual instruction.

APS CEO joins NBAA Safety Committee to lead LOC-I Working Group.

2016

APS acquires two high performance, high-altitude sweptwing all-attitude jet training platforms, the SIAI-Marchetti S211 and the Dornier Alpha Jet.

2017

APS opens its first military UPRT location in Dothan, Alabama, in partnership with CAE USA (the military division of CAE, Inc.).

APS announces full-service airline type-specific UPRT solutions for Airbus A320 / A330 / A340 and Boeing 737 / 747 / 757 / 767 / 777 / 787 platforms.

APS achieves IS-BAO Stage II at all US operating locations.

2018

APS contracts with its second major U.S. legacy air carrier to provide APS-proprietary UPRT nationwide.

APS achieved its 2020 mission of training 25,000 pilots annually in life-saving APS upset training methodologies two years ahead of schedule at the end of FY2018.

new aps facility
2019

APS announces development plans for two all-new headquarters facilities, one 25,000-sq-ft and the other 40,000-sq-ft, at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport on its 4.5-acre premium lot at the north end of the airfield, slated to open in Q4 2020.

APS CEO elevates role on the NBAA Safety Committee to Co-Lead of the Training and Standards Team while continuing was the lead of the NBAA’s LOC-I Working Group.

2020

In response to COVID-19, APS develops an all-new division of focused on online/virtual training to include comprehensive UPRT-specialized video training courses, predesigned and customized high-tech webinars, and its all-new UPRT App (Revision 4).

To support the revitalization of the aviation industry, APS launched its COVID Month-long Grand Re-Opening in June while simultaneously kicking off its annual UPRT Virtual Summit 2020 starting with the ‘Boeing 737 MAX Loss of Control – Survivable Catastrophes’ webinar.

APS enters the ASEAN market with a new APS-licensed training location.

2021

APS finalizes and launches its all-new world headquarters at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (KIWA) in Mesa, Arizona, consisting of two separate developments. APS primarily occupies the southern 25,000-sq-ft facility (right) located on a 4.5-acre premium lot at the northwest end of the KIWA airfield with the northern APS facility including a 34,000-sq-ft hangar and integrated office space (left). Truly the Nexus of UPRT Excellence worldwide, all in one facility the APS team offers instructor-led academics, on-aircraft all-attitude piston and jet UPRT, and harmonized advanced simulation in seven classes of airplanes to substantially enhance every graduate’s knowledge, skills, and life-saving disciplines to overcome the threat of Loss of Control In-flight (LOC-I), every pilot’s #1 fatal threat on every flight.

2022

Recognized for excellence through the Top Flight Award for Training Innovation in December 2021 by Aviation International News (AIN), in 2022 APS launches Virtual Reality / Mixed Reality (VR / MR) Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT) as a featured add-on to its industry leading solutions for all turbofan, turbojet, and turboprop operators with piston VR/MR solutions kicking off in 2023. The APS VR UPRT solution is a capstone session concluding APS’s internationally-recognized integrated (academic, on-aircraft piston & jet, and advanced multi-class advanced simulation) upset training programs for all fixed-wing professional pilots.

Delta Air Lines Historic Upset Training Outcomes
2023

Released by Delta Air Lines (DAL) at the UPRT Global Summit in Seattle, WA, hosted by Alaska Airlines and Boeing Aircraft Company, DAL and Aviation Performance Solutions (APS) announced the outcome of a five (5) year and five (5) million flight FOQA (Flight Operational Quality Assurance) study demonstrating the integration DAL-APS Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT) program on all DAL Boeing and Airbus fleets reduced precursor airplane upset condition by 50%. This achievement is a testament to the effectiveness of professionally implemented, expertly guided and managed UPRT air carrier solutions. Capt. Brian Sims, the UPRT program leader for DAL, presented his findings again at the Airline Track of the 2023 UPRT Safety Summit for Professional Pilots Worldwide. This outcome if one the most significant advances in life-saving aviation safety through training since the advent of flight simulation in the 1950s and 1960s.

Every Pilot In Control Solutions Series
2024

2024 brings advanced levels of the Every Pilot In Control (EPIC) solution series to the industry, expanding on the international standard for optimally effective Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT) pioneered in 2019 by Aviation Performance Solutions (APS) aptly named the Every Pilot In Control Solution Standard (EPIC-S2). Advanced EPIC levels include personalized protocols and career-long interventions to counter aviation’s #1 fatal threat to air safety, Loss of Control In-flight (LOC-I). Maximizing operational risk management through the effective integration of UPRT in every operator’s Safety Management System (SMS) is central to accomplishing the necessary paradigm shift in pilot training, skills, and knowledge to overcome LOC-I for progressive flight operations in the longterm.

Paul BJ Ransbury
Chief Executive Officer

A message from
our founder

Throughout my career as a professional pilot, I’ve had the opportunity to experience many facets of the aviation industry. My formative years as a military fighter pilot led to the airlines where my inspiration to passionately address the improvement of air safety took hold. As an airline pilot, I gained a deep and respectful understanding of the exceptional and highly effective safety practices of commercial air travel – the world’s most modern and advanced mode of transportation. However, the same experience equally revealed the critical need for professional pilots to expand their capabilities beyond the traditional commercial licensing skill set. This ‘skill set expansion’ has demonstrated itself to be a critical first step towards increasing every pilot’s competency to effectively address aviation’s most lethal and pervasive threat—Loss of Control In-flight (LOC-I).

In the beginning, in large part due to my military background, I was skeptical that training to overcome LOC-I for the typical civilian pilot was even necessary. Military flight training and operational NATO fighter operations prepare pilots much differently for the LOC-I environment. The military focus on developing a pilot’s ability to perform effectively – both psychologically and physiologically – in threatening environments, produces a different result. Not better, not worse – just different. It was my first experiences in the late 1990s while training civilian production and test pilots from a well-known airplane manufacturer where those differences were revealed that convinced me, forevermore, of the dire need for Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT). The differences were not personal or individual, they are a function of effective, intense, focused, transferable training. Known back then in its foundational stages as emergency maneuver, stall-spin, unusual attitude or advanced maneuvers training, this UPRT-like instruction was primarily designed for general aviation pilots flying light single-engine and multi-engine piston airplanes. In late 2005, with the establishment of Aviation Performance Solutions (APS), we had the opportunity to evolve these valuable training practices into powerful solutions for high performance, multi-engine jet pilots. Our advanced proprietary APS methods were – and are – an evolutionary leap forward for UPRT. The responses from our customers were overwhelmingly positive and the powerful enhancements to their skills were clear and lasting. We soon integrated technology-based learning tools, advanced simulators, and high-performance all-attitude jets into our training programs that further served the diverse needs of professional pilots.

The long-term effectiveness of the APS series of UPRT services to maximize air safety is unprecedented, yet we dedicate ourselves to being sensitive to the needs and feedback of each one of our customers. Over the course of three decades, training thousands of professional pilots flying all types of airplanes in a wide diversity of conditions, I’m proud to say APS addresses the needs of pilots in all sectors of aviation in a customized manner that unquestionably and markedly improves safety. I’m empowered each and every day knowing the skill enhancements achieved by our graduates can, and do, save lives and dramatically reduce their personal risk of LOC-I.

I am honored to be surrounded by the APS team of passionate, friendly, professional and dedicated experts. It is a privilege to go out into the aviation community and stand on the shoulders of these true and undisputed giants – the men and women at each APS location around the world on the front lines that deliver first class service to our valued customers each and every day.

APS Advisory Board

We are honored and privileged to have a powerful team of advisers to help shape and guide the global expansion of Aviation Performance Solutions. Each adviser is genuinely and passionately dedicated to improving air safety worldwide through the systematic reduction of LOC-I.

APS board

Marc Dulude

APS Advisory Board Member and Cessna Mustang Owner/Operator

Marc Dulude retired as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rand Worldwide in November of 2014 after having served in that role since 2007 and where he also served as Chairman of the company. Rand Worldwide is a public company focused in the areas of CAD/CAM/CAE/PLM/BIM.

From 2002 to 2010 Marc was a General Partner at Ampersand Capital Partners. During his eight years with the firm, Ampersand was a stage independent private equity firm that invested primarily in the industrial and healthcare markets. Prior to Ampersand, Marc was the President and CEO of Moldflow, the world’s leading developer of software solutions that enhanced the design, analysis, and manufacture of injection molded plastic parts, a role he held from 1996 until 2002. Marc was the central figure in Moldflow’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) of stock on the NASDAQ market, an offering that was ranked in most every list of top IPO’s of the year 2000.

Before moving to Moldflow, Marc was the Senior Vice President of Marketing for Parametric Technology Corporation (NASDAQ: PMTC), where he had overall responsibility for product line management of PTC’s products as well as the creation and dissemination of the supporting marketing materials and PTC’s marketing activities.

Marc has a B.Eng. and an M.Eng. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Carleton University in Canada. Marc Dulude has served on the boards of numerous companies around the world including private and public companies.

APS board

Sylvain Allard

APS Advisory Board Member and Citation CJ3 Owner/Operator

Sylvain has worked in the helicopter industry for 32 years. In May, 1979, Sylvain graduated from the Aeronautical Program of Chicoutimi College in Quebec, Canada and completed his master’s degree in Business Administration at Concordia University in May, 1994. He was employed with CHC Helicopter Corp. for twenty-eight years before retirement. During his career at CHC, he served as Director, CEO and President of CHC Helicopter Corp. for twelve years. As President and CEO, First Reserve Corporation acquired CHC Helicopter Corporation for $3.7 billion in the largest-ever oilfield services buyout.
Sylvain Allard initially joined the company in 1982 as a helicopter pilot. Over the years, he became a chief pilot and moved through various management positions within the company’s divisions. Sylvain helped the company to facilitate the successful acquisition and consolidation of HSG Group and Schreiner Aviation, leading CHC Helicopter Corp. into being the world’s largest provider of helicopter services to the global offshore oil and gas industry with aircraft operating in more than 30 countries. He was appointed President of the company in 1998 and served as Director from November, 2004 until his retirement in 2010. Sylvain Allard is still serving as a Director on the CHC Board.

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