APS regularly publishes helpful content on UPRT and speaks at industry leading events, educating the industry on the importance of UPRT in reducing the risk of LOC-I.
Long-standing Authorities Define Excellence
Multiple government agencies, safety organizations, insurers, and rulemaking bodies give their seal of approval to APS’s UPRT program, recognizing the exceptional value of the training in addition to the depth and quality provided by the APS Master CFI team to enhance safety across aviation. APS maintains a standing invitation to manufacturers, air carriers, insurance providers, regulatory authorities, and flight test agencies to audit APS services and validate our gold-standard UPRT best practices.
Who Recognizes APS?
FAA – Part 141 Pilot School
APS operates multiple FAA Part 141 Pilot School UPRT programs. These programs are overseen by the FAA to ensure the highest standards in training curricula, instructor qualification, aircraft capabilities, and training and maintenance facilities.
Additionally, all APS instructors are required to receive their Master Instructor Master CFI-Aerobatic (MCFI-A) designation within one year of hire and maintain the designation in good standing for all active UPRT instructors. Master Instructors is a national accreditation recognized by the FAA. The MCFI-A designation is one of the most elite pilot recognitions available. With more than 101,000 flight instructors in the U.S., fewer than 50 have received MCFI-A worldwide. APS currently employs the largest number of MCFI-A pilots in the world.
IS-BAO Stage 2
APS is an International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO)-registered Stage 2 UPRT provider at all US civil training locations. Not only was APS the first IS-BAO-registered UPRT provider world wide, APS was the first IS-BAO-registered FAA Part 141 Pilot School in the United States; both programs started in 2010.
An industry standard built for operators by operators through the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC), IS-BAO is a recommended code of best practices designed to help flight departments worldwide achieve high levels of safety and professionalism. Both the FAA and Transport Canada recognize IS-BAO as meeting the ICAO standard. The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) also recognizes IS-BAO as an industry standard for business aircraft operations.
WYVERN – Highest Standard in Aviation Safety and Risk Management
With trusted programs designed for operational excellence, WYVERN leads the aviation community in implementing programs that lower costs, improve critical safety, and enhance security measures for organizations around the globe. In an effort to help mitigate Loss of Control In-flight (LOC-I), APS and WYVERN jointly created the APS-WYVERN Master UPRT Qualification. By combining an emphasis on Professionalism with APS’s industry-leading UPRT capabilities, this qualification–in addition to reducing PIC and SIC hour requirements at WYVERN-certified flight departments–leads the industry in effectively mitigating the LOC-I threat through world class UPRT.
ICAO Manual on Aeroplane Upset Prevention and Recovery Training
APS contributes to increasing safety through sharing and recommending best practices in Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT) to ICAO. As one example, APS coached the Royal Aeronautical Society’s International Committee for Aviation Training in Extended Envelopes (ICATEE) in the development of effective training guidance based on proven, long-standing, integrated UPRT implementations already operational with APS for more than a decade. Serving in training development leadership roles, APS openly and selflessly supported ICATEE to include its elite team of industry experts to shape UPRT recommendations to ICAO, the FAA, and other National Aviation Authorities. One culmination of this work is the ICAO Manual on Aeroplane Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (ICAO Doc 10011), generally referred to as the ICAO UPRT Manual. ICAO Doc 10011 directly reflects APS’s philosophical, integrated, and practical approaches to UPRT delivered to tens of thousands of pilots globally over the past three decades.
Industry UPRT Leadership
APS participates in multiple organizations, lending its leadership on tried and true skills, practices, and insight for preventing Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I).
Optimum UPRT Defined – Every Pilot In Control Solutions Standard
APS is the Creator, Pioneer, and Standard-bearer of the Every Pilot In Control Solution Standard™ (EPIC-S2™), the definitive global gold standard in optimized UPRT solutions in a wide diversity of training mediums. Improperly conducted UPRT results in ineffective training and often unintentionally generates increased risk to pilots and their passengers throughout their career due to negative training and/or negative transfer of skill. EPIC-S2™ defines a framework of proven critical factors that result in UPRT that is both safe and consistently successful at teaching pilots to recognize, prevent and if necessary, recover from an unexpected airplane upset. Deficiencies associated with the regulatory implementation of effective UPRT inspired APS to take this leadership role to save lives.
Safety Leadership – NBAA Safety Committee
APS CEO, Paul BJ Ransbury, is the Chairman of the NBAA’s Safety Committee, 2022-2024, and the founder of the NBAA’s Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I) Working Group in 2015 during his first year on the committee. LOC-I is a continuing Top Safety Focus Area of the committee with this specialized working group. The NBAA represents more than 11,000 companies and professionals, and provides more than 100 products and services to the business aviation community, including the NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE), the world’s largest civil aviation trade show.
Scholarships – Lifesaving Training for New Professional Pilots
APS awards one UPRT Professional Pilot Upset Training Course annually (since 2012), over a $7,500 as a fully-paid scholarship, to a pilot currently pursuing their professional pilot career. APS UPRT trains pilots to develop the often counter-intuitive skills necessary to recognize and prevent or recover from an unexpected airplane upset. In addition to helping pilots develop these life-saving skills, UPRT also helps professional pilots improve overall manual handling skills and develop mental strength. APS is honored by the opportunity to ‘give back’ to the industry to improve safety globally.
Technology Leadership – 2021 AIN Top Flight Award
Training Innovation: Aviation Performance Solutions Virtual Reality Upset Training
Aviation Performance Solutions (APS) is now using virtual reality (VR) technology for the maximum transference of upset prevention and recovery training (UPRT) skills to a customer’s specific aircraft type. Loss of control in-flight (LOC-I) is responsible for nearly 50 percent of all fatalities in aviation worldwide, and UPRT is the most effective mitigation. VR allows pilots to consolidate knowledge on their own aircraft type following APS’s integrated academic, on-aircraft, and advanced simulator training.
Upset Prevention and Recovery Training Association (UPRTA)
APS Vice President of Training and Business Development, Randy Brooks, and APS Vice President of Flight Operations and Standards, Clarke McNeace, are founders of the Upset Prevention and Recovery Training Association (UPRTA). Brooks served as its first president.
UPRTA’s mission is to promote industry-wide adherence to principles of enhanced upset/stall prevention and recovery training instructional practices and programs in commercial aviation training internationally. With a focus to reduce Loss of Control In-flight (LOC-I), UPRTA has been a resource to training managers, air carriers, and regulatory agencies developing and ensuring high-quality industry-approved standardized upset recovery training.
