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
Glance into the Legacy 650’s cockpit and you might not immediately notice the major improvements that are incorporated in its new Honeywell Primus Elite package. The instrument panel looks nearly the same, with five eight-by-seven-inch portrait configuration LCD screens that closely resemble the CRT displays of the Primus 1000 avionics suite installed in legacy EMB 135/145 regional jets. And much of the underlying architecture is carried over from the Primus 1000 system. But, when the power is switched on, a number of substantive changes become apparent.

Fred George

Fred George
None of the operators we contacted regretted moving up to the Mustang from their former turboprop or piston-engine aircraft. They said the small fanjet has the same or lower operating costs than twin turboprops and offers speed, cabin comfort and high-altitude cruise not possible in similarly priced turboprops.