Fred is a senior editor and chief pilot with Business & Commercial Aviation and Aviation Week's chief aircraft evaluation pilot. He has flown left seat in virtually every turbine-powered business jet produced in the past three decades.
He has flown more than 195 makes, models and variants, ranging from the Piper J-3 Cub through the latest Boeing and Airbus large twins, logging more than 7,000 hours of flight time. He has earned an Airline Transport Pilot certificate and six jet aircraft type ratings, and he remains an active pilot. Fred also specializes in avionics, aircraft systems and pilot technique reports.
Fred was the first aviation journalist to fly the Boeing 787, Airbus A350 and Gulfstream G650, among other new turbofan aircraft. He’s also flown the Airbus A400M, Howard 500, Airship 600, Dassault Rafale, Grumman HU-16 Albatross and Lockheed Constellation.
Prior to joining Aviation Week, he was an FAA designated pilot examiner [CE-500], instrument flight instructor and jet charter pilot and former U.S. Naval Aviator who made three cruises to the western Pacific while flying the McDonnell-Douglas F-4J Phantom II.
Fred has won numerous aviation journalism awards, including NBAA’s David W. Ewald Platinum Wing Lifetime Achievement Award.
C ruising at 325 kt. at FL 310 may seem leisurely by very-light-jet standards, but when that’s combined with a 20 min., 15 sec. climb to maximum cruise altitude, the TBM 900 can meet or beat the trip times of the Eclipse 550 and Cessna Citation Mustang on most missions.
The TBM 900’s Pratt & Whitney Canada 1,825-hp PT6A-66D engine, flat rated to 850 shp to ISA+49C, gets a single power lever control that operates much like an automotive manual gear shift lever with an “h” pattern. The right side of the “h” controls condition modes, including feather, high and low idle, and cut off. The left side of the “h” controls power modes, including forward and reverse thrust, plus ground fine pitch, taxi power functions. Normal operating prop speed in flight is 2,000 rpm.
