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 fred_george@aviationweek.com
You know the drill. If it's Tuesday, it must be hydraulic failures and hot-and-high takeoffs. Break out the manuals Monday night, study the systems and plan for the predictable emergency to be encountered some time after takeoff during tomorrow's sim session.

By Fred Georgefred_george@aviationweek.com
To the surprise of many, hard-pressed Cessna Aircraft introduced an all-new jet, the Citation Latitude, at the NBAA Convention in Las Vegas, and in so doing challenged those hoping to supplant its leadership in the less-than-heavy-iron market. Notably, it's the second new model to be announced by the firm in just two weeks. It unveiled the Citation M2, an evolutionary successor to the CJ1+, in late September (BCA, October 2011, page 82).

By Fred George fred_george@aviationweek.com
Next year, Bombardier's Global 5000 and 6000, fitted with Global Vision cockpits powered by Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics, will be the first production business aircraft to enter service with head-up displays with synthetic vision system (SVS) background imagery.