Fred George

Chief Aircraft Evaluation Editor

San Diego, CA

Summary

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.

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Articles

Fred George
Bigger is better in the booming large-cabin business aircraft segment, and the debut of Dassault’s $45 million Falcon 5X is the biggest news at this year’s National Business Aviation Association Convention. Formerly known as the Falcon SMS, this newest member of the family will have a cabin cross section that is slightly larger than that of Gulfstream’s G650, but it is considerably shorter, in keeping with its 5,200-nm. maximum range at Mach 0.80.
Business Aviation

Fred George (Wilmington, Del.)
Beechcraft is back from bankruptcy with more modest ambitions

Fred George fred_george@aviationweek.com
The King Air 350i's flight deck is a mixture of new and old. The panel has three, large-format, portrait configuration AFD-3000 adaptive flight displays used for left and right PFDs plus a center MFD with engine instrument indications. The core of the system is the central Integrated Avionics Processing System, a computer chassis at the center of the system's hub-and-spoke architecture. Standard equipment includes an Integrated Flight Information System that hosts electronics charts, enhanced map graphics, and XM satellite radio or ACARS weather, among other functions.
Business Aviation