APS UPRT Leadership

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.

APS is an International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO)-registered Stage 2 UPRT provider at all U.S. civil training locations. Not only was APS the first IS-BAO-registered UPRT provider worldwide, but it was also the first IS-BAO-registered FAA Part 141 Pilot School in the United States. Both programs began in 2010.

The WYVERN Wingman Training Center designation validates that APS has implemented the various requirements of the world-renowned Wingman Standard into their unique Upset Prevention & Recovery Training operations.  APS is the first training center to receive such a designation.

The Master Certified Flight Instructor – Aerobatics (MCFI-A) designation is an FAA-recognized national accreditation from Master Instructors. To achieve the MCFI-A designation, an instructor must demonstrate an ongoing commitment to excellence, professional growth, and service to the aviation community and must pass a rigorous evaluation by a peer board of review. The designation significantly surpasses the FAA requirements for renewal of the candidate’s flight instructor certificate. With more MCFI-As than any other organization in the world, APS demonstrates an outstanding commitment to safety and excellence. 

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.

APS CEO, Paul BJ Ransbury, served as the Chairman of the NBAA’s Safety Committee, 2022-2024, and founded Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I) Working Group in 2015 during his first year on the committee. APS' Norm 'DQ' Dequier now serves on the safety committee and the Loss of Control In-flight (LOC-I) Working Group.

APS contributes to increasing safety through sharing and recommending best practices in Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT) to ICAO. 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 implementations already operational with APS for more than a decade. Additionally, APS supported ICATEE to shape UPRT recommendations to ICAO, the FAA, and other National Aviation Authorities, including contribution to development of the ICAO Manual on Aeroplane Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (ICAO Doc 10011), generally referred to as the ICAO UPRT Manual. 

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.

In 2021 APS won the esteemed AIN Top Flight Award for Training Innovation with Aviation Performance Solutions Virtual Reality Upset Training. APS employs 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.