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]
The FAA’s revised Flightcrew Member Duty and Rest Requirements NPRM, released in mid-September 2010, stirred up plenty of discussion regarding the need to update statutory requirements for consecutive duty periods, flight duty limits and rest periods in relation to time of day, circadian rhythms and actual sleep opportunities, among other factors.

Fred George
Bombardier launched development of the clean-sheet Learjet 45 almost immediately after buying the company in June 1990. Unlike previous Learjets, the fuselage has a non-circular cross section that increases head and shoulder room for the passengers. It has a flat floor, plus a full-width, externally serviced aft lav. Interiors may be configured either with a fore-aft double club section or a center club with two front and two aft chairs. A belted potty seat is optional. There is a 50-cu.-ft. aft external baggage compartment.

By Fred [email protected]
The Falcon 900LX is a lithe, lean, large-cabin business aircraft that seems to defy the laws of physics. It can cruise between continents at Mach 0.80 indicated, similar to heavy-iron competitors with nearly double the engine thrust. In the process, it also is able to achieve best-in-class fuel efficiency, actually better than some large-cabin aircraft that poke along at Mach 0.73 to 0.75, including Falcon 900EX, the former class leader in fuel efficiency.
Business Aviation