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

Kerry Lynch, Fred George
SyberJet is making plans to return the SJ30 light jet to production within two years with the selection of Cedar City, Utah, as the location of its headquarters and new assembly plant. MT LLC, which acquired the SJ30 program from bankruptcy in April 2011 and renamed the operation SyberJet, has since been updating and refining the aircraft with the hopes of bringing it back into production as the light business jet market improves.
Business Aviation

Fred George
The A400M's fly-by-wire system is based on the three-axis digital flight controls developed by Airbus for the A380, but modified to increase maneuverability and agility. The maximum bank angle is 120 deg. and load factor 3g. Software provides flightpath stability, plus high- and low-speed flight-envelope and overstress protection.
Defense

Fred George
The San Antonio Airport system will honor the late aviation pioneer and entrepreneur Durrell Unger “Dee” Howard by renaming South Terminal Drive as Dee Howard Way in a June 3 ceremony. The west airport access road runs just south of the giant red-orange hangars built by Howard in the 1960s through 1980s. It is now owned by MRO and completions giant ST Aerospace.
Business Aviation