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 [email protected]
There now are 260+ Phenom 100 aircraft in service. The aircraft went through some teething pains as first deliveries began in December 2008, but operators say it has evolved into a highly reliable means of business transportation in the last 30 months.
Business Aviation

Fred George [email protected]
FAA has no studies on the possible toxicity of pilots' breathing 100% oxygen for prolonged periods, but Jeffrey Sventek, executive director of the Aerospace Medical Association, co-authored just such a study using rabbits in the mid-1980s. The goal was evaluate the possible side effects of breathing almost pure oxygen on the rabbits' cardiovascular systems. Significant changes in the rabbits' responses to certain enzymes that regulate blood pressure and heart rate were recorded after 72 hr. of almost continuous exposure to pure oxygen at normal atmospheric pressure.
Business Aviation

Fred George [email protected]
EASA has a far different requirement for supplemental oxygen aboard high flying jets. EU-OPS 1.770 (b)(iii) and (iv) only require that O2 masks “be within immediate reach of flight crew members” and that “quick donning” masks be installed for flight crewmembers in pressurized aircraft flying above 25,000 ft. Similarly, the ICAO Annex 6 3.4.4.2.2 rule for supplemental oxygen use essentially is the same as the EASA regulation. Canada, in contrast, requires one pilot to use an oxygen mask above FL 410, according to CAR 605.32.
Business Aviation