Richard L. Taylor, award-winning author of many articles and 14 aviation books, writes from a background of continuous pilot activity since 1955, when he entered USAF pilot training. He retired from the Air Force Reserve as a major in 1979, having earned Command Pilot status.

Taylor was for 22 years a member of the aviation faculty at the Ohio State University (now associate professor emeritus), where he was director of flight operations and training and taught at all levels of the flight curriculum. He is the founder and editor of The Pilot's Audio Update, a monthly audio tape cassette service published continuously since 1978.

Taylor has accumulated nearly 13,000 hours of pilot time in a wide variety of aircraft including gliders, helicopters, amphibians, turboprops, jets, and most general aviation light airplanes. He remains active as a pilot and an aviation consultant in Dublin, Ohio.