The Passing of Randy Tomlinson
By Thomas J. Norton June 20, 2007 — Today I bring very sad news. Randy Tomlinson, a valued contributor to Ultimate AV and, more importantly, a close personal friend of over 30 years, dating back to when we were both in the Air Force, was killed this past Saturday morning in the crash of a private plane in northern California.

Randy was on a trip to the west coast to visit friends here. Ironically, he visited me last Thursday and Friday, and helped me install some new software in my computer that will enhance UAV's video testing capabilities.

His next stop, before returning home to Atlanta, was to visit another friend from his Air Force days who lived near Oakland, CA. His friend was an experienced private pilot, and was going to take Randy up for a ride in his kit-built plane. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff while trying to come back around for an emergency landing, killing both the pilot and Randy.

Randy and I continued our friendship through our mutual and ongoing passion for audio, which branched out in recent years to video and home theater as well. Always looking for new challenges, Randy took up video calibration, acquired precision test tools, got his ISF certification, and became one of the premier ISF video calibrators in the country. He was a perfectionist, and brought that perfectionism not only to his work for clients, but to his video reviews at UAV as well.

He had other passions. He taught race-level auto driving skills at a track in Atlanta. He was also a lifelong motorcycle enthusiast, with a garage full of motocross trophies to show for it.

He will be greatly missed.