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Randall ‘Random’ Brooks

Executive Vice President, Flight Operations

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Randall Brooks’ varied flying experience supports the advancement of APS’s unique flight training programs and advanced pilot training techniques. Randall joined APS in 2012 with seven years of experience in the UPRT field and more than 25 years of flight operations and training experience as a pilot and aviation manager.

Prior to joining APS, Randall held multiple director of flight operations and director of flight training positions. While vastly skilled in providing flight instruction in flight simulators, gliders, aerobatic aircraft, multi-engine jets, and military jet training aircraft, he finds UPRT the most challenging and gratifying as providing such training offers the greatest potential for worldwide aviation safety improvement.

 

 

Randall served as the president of the Upset Prevention and Recovery Training Association (UPRTA), focusing on instructor and training program standardization. He has also served as the leader of training analysis for the International Committee for Aviation Training in Extended Envelopes (ICATEE), an international working group founded by the Royal Aeronautical Society. Randall has assisted in drafting FAA Advisory Circulars and other guidance material in the area of stall training and loss of control prevention, and has appeared as a subject matter expert for multiple Aviation Rulemaking Committee proceedings on these subjects.

As an instructor pilot, Randall has over 25 years of experience in the delivery of all-attitude/all-envelope flight instruction. He served as a primary instructor for the FAA Flight Standardization Board’s evaluation of pilot training for a newly certified business jet aircraft and developed a unique training program combining both simulator and aircraft training for European aviation authorities. He was also instrumental in creating a required program of upset recovery instruction for customers of a certificated light jet aircraft.

Randall is a 4 time Master CFI–Aerobatic and has over 14,000 hours of flight experience in over 100 different aircraft types. As an airshow demonstration pilot, he performed over 500 surface level aerobatic displays throughout North America and the Caribbean. He served as a member of numerous civilian formation aerobatic teams and flew formation aerobatics professionally for 19 years. Randall’s diverse airshow experience includes demonstration of a single-engine jet aircraft prototype and leading a two-ship sailplane team. As the director of operations for the Red Baron Squadron, he was responsible for the formation training and airshow qualification of all pilots of a seven-ship fleet of aerobatic aircraft, and was inducted into the Air Show Hall of Fame as a founding member of the team.

Randall holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado. In the field of flight simulation, Randall worked as a flight test engineer creating and executing a test plan to gather data for flight simulator development and has evaluated operational and research simulators assessing their upset recovery training potential and capabilities. In 2019, he received the NBAA Dr. Tony Kern Professionalism Award recognizing individual aviation professionals who have demonstrated their outstanding professionalism and leadership in support of aviation safety in the business aviation industry.​

Randall’s articles and presentations on flight training to reduce the LOC-I Accident Threat

  • “Loss of Control in Flight – Training Foundations and Solutions”, European Airline Training Symposium, Istanbul, Turkey, 9-10 November 2010
  • “Aerobatics versus Upset Prevention and Recovery Training”, Civil Aviation Training Magazine, Issue 2, 2011
  • “The Psychological Boundaries of Flight Simulation”, Royal Aeronautical Society, Flight Simulation Group Conference, London, UK, 8-9 June 2011
  • “Integrated Upset Prevention and Recovery Training”, Simulation and Training for Resilience and Safety Symposium, London, UK, 27 March 2019

Instructor Qualifications

  • 4x Master Certified Flight Instructor (MCFI) Aerobatic
  • Certified Flight Instructor (CFI)/Multi-Engine Instructor (MEI)/Instrument Instructor (CFII)/Glider (CFIG)/Airplane
  • Over 4,000 Hours of Dual Instruction Given
  • Over 35 Years of Aerobatic Instructional Experience

Experience and Certifications

  • Former President of the Upset Prevention and Recovery Training Association (UPRTA)
  • Leader of Training Analysis for the International Committee for Aviation Training in Extended Envelopes (ICATEE)
  • Former Sr. Director of Flight Training for Opinicus Corporation
  • Former Director of Customer Training and Manager of Emergency Situation Training for Eclipse Aircraft
  • Former Director of Operations for the Red Baron Squadron
  • Dr. Tony Kern Professionalism in Aviation Award, 2019

Education

  • B.S. Aerospace Engineering, University of Colorado

Flight Experience

  • Airline Transport Pilot Rating with over 14,000 Hours of Total Flight Time
  • 6,000 Hours of Aerobatic Operations/5,000 Hours Formation
  • 8,000 Hours in Tailwheel Aircraft
  • Four Jet and Turboprop Type Ratings
  • Flight Experience in over 100 Aircraft Types

Air Show Qualifications

  • Over 500 Surface Level Formation Aerobatic Demonstrations with 3 Formation Aerobatic Demonstration Teams
  • Former International Council of Air Shows (ICAS) Aerobatic Competency Evaluator (ACE)
  • Inducted into the Air Show Hall of Fame in December 2015

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