R. Randall Padfield

Randy Padfield is the author of five books on aviation: Learning to Fly Helicopters (1st and 2nd Editions), Flying in Adverse Conditions, Cross-Country Flying (3rd Edition), and To Fly Like a Bird (a biography of helicopter pioneer Joe Mashman, published by the American Helicopter Society). The Helicopter Association International (HAI) awarded Padfield its 2016 Excellence in Communication Award (sponsored by Lightspeed Aviation) at its annual HeliExpo Convention, held that year in Louisville, Ken. In 1998 he received NBAA's Gold Wing Award for reporting excellence. Rated as an airline transport pilot in helicopters and airplanes, Padfield trained and flew missions as a U.S. Air Force HH-3E rescue pilot, flew Sikorsky S-61s, Bell 212s and Aerospatiale AS 332Ls for Helikopter Service of Norway for 12 years and was a pilot with Trump Air of New Jersey. He has some 9,000 hours of flight time. Padfield worked full time for AIN Publications from 1993 to 2014, serving as editor-in-chief from 1998 to 2012, during which time he had overall responsibility for the editorial content of the company's Aviation International News monthly and Business Jet Traveler bimonthly magazines, its daily, on-site editions at conventions and air shows and its websites and electronic newslettters. Because of his expertise in helicopters, he writes helicopter pilot reports for AIN, and to date has written reports on more than 25 rotorcraft. From 2012 to 2014, he served as Chief Operating Officer for AIN. Before joining AIN and while working full-time as a pilot, Padfield worked as a free-lance writer, publishing articles in several other aviation publications. He received his bachelor of science degree in engineering management from the United States Air Force Academy in 1971 and his master of science degree in the same discipline from UCLA in 1972. Padfield welcomes comments and questions about his books, helicopters and flying. You'll find him on Facebook at R. Randall Padfield.