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
The European Aviation Safety Agency has notified Eclipse Aviation of its decision to suspend EASA Type Certificate IM.A. 171 covering the Eclipse 500 aircraft, effective June 12, 2009, the agency said last week. EASA further requested Eclipse to notify any person to whom this could be of concern. Eclipse Aviation invested several million dollars and spent months of development time to achieve the EASA TC in November 2008 because it was viewed as essential to opening up the market for the aircraft in Europe, a source said.

Fred George
Although Dassault’s Super Mid-Size (SMS) jet still is being designed on the firm’s CATIA V workstations, engineers already are brainstorming concepts for a family of aircraft to be introduced in two decades, Bruno Stoufflet, vice president scientific strategy, R&D and advance business, said last week at the Paris Air Show. The European Community’s $2.2 billion Clean Sky joint technology initiative is a main driver.

Fred George FGeorge@san.rr.com, Fred George FGeorge@san.rr.com
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp., a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries since April, is marching ahead with development of its $40 million, all-composite 86- to 96-seat MRJ90, despite having only 15 orders and 10 options from All Nippon Airways since March 2008 and slim prospects for landing more orders from cash-strapped regional air carriers in the near future. Undeterred, MAC is moving ahead through the preliminary design review phase with plans to certify and deliver the aircraft by 2013.