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
– A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of plaintiffs SM Aircraft Leasing and 136 other Eclipse 500 deposit holders against defendants Vern Raburn, plus other former Eclipse Aviation directors, officers and senior employees, seeking unspecified damages resulting from Eclipse’s failure to deliver aircraft they ordered or return their deposits.

Kerry Lynch, Fred George
FAA’s Fort Worth Aircraft Certification Office last week transferred the Eclipse 500 type certificate (TC) to Eclipse Aerospace LLC, the firm that bought the assets and intellectual property of insolvent Eclipse Aviation in August. The event comes three years to the day after FAA originally issued the TC to Eclipse Aviation on Sept. 30, 2006. The European Aviation Safety Agency was expected to follow with the European EA 500 TC to Eclipse Aerospace LLC. Both approvals are key to the firm’s resuming new aircraft production deliveries.

Fred George
The Phenom 300’s flight deck continues Embraer’s philosophy of reducing workload by automating systems and slashing the size of checklists. Much the same as does the Phenom 100, the Phenom 300 reflects Embraer’s experience in designing airliners for a broad range of pilot experience levels. Less is more in this cockpit. Dedicated controls are installed for frequently operated systems, such as engines and airframe systems. Occasionally operated systems, such as weather radar and TCAS, have software-driven interfaces accessible through the MFD.