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
There are plenty of choices in today's pre-owned light jet market and plenty of trade-offs in cabin comfort, performance and direct operating cost. The Beechjet 400/400A has one of the roomiest cabins in its class, rivaling those of Phenom 300 or Learjet 40XR, although it's about two feet shorter in length. It will climb directly to FL 410, or higher, and cruise at 440 KIAS, assuming standard-day conditions. And most aircraft in the resale market are priced at $1.2-$1.8 million, an attractive value.
Business Aviation

Fred George ([email protected])
Bell Helicopter is selling its assets and intellectual property for the Bell/Agusta 609 tiltrotor aircraft to AgustaWestland, a unit of Finmeccanica, subject to U.S. and European approvals, Bell Helicopter President John Garrison announced at last week’s Paris Air Show. AgustaWestland initially plans to pursue FAA certification of the aircraft, now known as the AW609, in 2015 and begin customer deliveries in 2016, says Bruno Spagnolini, CEO of AgustaWestland.

Fred George (Istres Air Base, France)
Dassault Aviation has created a more affordable version of its Falcon 2000 rather than field an all-new super mid-size (SMS) business jet during one of the industry's most severe down cycles. The company's intent is to upstage the smaller competition with an aircraft that has considerably more cabin volume, better runway performance and a larger tanks-full payload.