Richard Collins began writing for Flying magazine in 1968 and became Editor in Chief in 1977. He moved to AOPA Pilot magazine as Publisher and Editor in 1988. In 1993 he returned to Flying as an editor at large where he wrote a monthly column as well as feature articles. In October 2008 Collins retired as a regular contributor to Flying magazine. At the time of retirement, Collins had been on the masthead of an aviation magazine since July 1958.

Collins has authored eleven books about aviation weather and flying technique.In 2009 Collins released his most recent book, The Next Hour, dealing with the prevention of aircraft accidents.