R. Randall Padfield

Randy Padfield became chief operating officer of AIN Publications on July 23, 2012. Before that, he had been editor-in-chief since November 1998, 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. Padfield was hired as a full-time editor in 1993, after being a freelance writer for the company since 1989. 

Before working for AIN, Padfield published articles in several other aviation publications while working full-time as a pilot. He is also the author of four books on aviation: Flying in Adverse Conditions, Cross-Country Flying—3^rd Edition, Learning to Fly Helicopters, and To Fly Like a Bird (a biography of helicopter pioneer Joe Mashman, published by the American Helicopter Society). 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 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 and his wife of 40+ years have three adult children and five grandchildren.