R. Randall Padfield, who spent 22 years as an editor with AIN Publications, was selected by the Helicopter Association International as the 2016 winner of the Lightspeed Aviation Excellence in Communications Award. Part of HAI’s Salute to Excellence award program, the Excellence in Communications Award will be presented during HAI’s Heli-Expo, Feb. 29-March 3, in Louisville, Ky.
Padfield retired from AIN at the end of last year as editor-in-chief and COO. While with AIN, he had overall responsibility for the editorial content of Aviation International News and Business Jet Traveler magazines. He has authored four books on aviation and was the 1998 winner of NBAA’s Gold Wing aviation journalism award.
Before joining AIN, he wrote articles for several other aviation publications and worked full-time as a pilot. An airline transport-rated pilot in helicopters and airplanes, Padfield has logged more than 9,000 hours of flight time. 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 and served as a pilot with Trump Air of New Jersey.