Helicopter Life editor Georgina Hunter-Jones, who has covered the helicopter industry for more than 35 years, is the 2022 recipient of the Helicopter Association International Salute to Excellence Communications Award.
Hunter-Jones, a resident of the UK who began writing creative stories as a child, was drawn into aviation by her mother. Hunter-Jones wanted to work in Kenya for a summer, but her mother offered to pay for her private pilot license if she would remain in the UK.
Hunter-Jones accepted that offer and subsequently moved on to other ratings in both fixed-wing and helicopters, accruing more than 8,500 flight hours. Her experience has included competing in the World Helicopter Championships, setting a world altitude record in a helicopter, and earning a UK CAA examiner authorization for both aircraft categories.
Soon after she started flying, Hunter-Jones began writing about aviation, and she has been published in such periodicals as the Financial Times, Octane Car, Rotor and Wing, Flight International, Air Pictorial, Helicopter World, 4 Rotors, and Flyer Magazine.
In 1997, she became the editor of the Helicopter Club of Great Britain’s periodical, Rotor Torque, and in 2004, she launched Helicopter Life.