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

By Fred George [email protected]
Pilots soon will be able to control many avionics and aircraft systems by touching panel and console screens in much of the same way as they use their smart phones and PDAs. Avionics and airframe makers rapidly are embracing this proven user interface because, in most instances, it's easier to touch, tap, scroll and stretch screen icons and images with your fingertips than it is to use a multifunction control display unit (MCDU) or point-and-click cursor control device (CCD).
Business Aviation

By Fred George [email protected]
On Jan. 30, 2013, an F3 category tornado with 137- to 179-kt. winds ripped through Adairsville, Ga., leveling five dozen structures, damaging almost 100 others and killing one person. This 900-yd.-wide twister reportedly sustained average 140-kt. winds for more than 20 mi. before dissipating. It crossed Interstate 75, flung vehicles into the air and damaged or destroyed entire neighborhoods.
Business Aviation

John Croft, Fred George
Two years ago, Boeing, Cessna and Gulfstream were the leading edge for introducing lithium-ion main-ship batteries into new aircraft in the civil aviation market. But by late 2011, evidence had emerged that the technology was not yet mature, spurring business aircraft makers Gulfstream and Cessna to return to more traditional, lower-performance and heavier batteries for the G650 and CJ4, respectively.
Business Aviation