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
Seattle-based Aviation Partners Inc. last week received supplemental type certification for installation of API winglets on Falcon 2000LX aircraft, an upgrade that will give the aircraft an NBAA-IFR range of 4,000 nautical miles at .80 Mach with six passengers aboard, Dassault Falcon announced last week. This represents a 5.4 percent increase in range for the Falcon 2000LX compared with the Falcon 2000EX that doesn’t have winglets. API received European Aviation Safety Agency STC approval for the winglets on April 23.

Fred George
In the mid-1960s, Bell Helicopter started design work on the Model 206 JetRanger, a commercial, light-turbine helicopter that revolutionized rotorcraft operations during the next three-plus decades. From the time the 206 entered service in 1967 until production ceased in 2003, Bell delivered over 4,600 of these remarkable machines. More Bell 206A/B JetRangers have been sold than any other light turbine helicopter in history.

Fred George
The King Air 350ER’s cockpit is a mixture of modern and traditional technologies. The Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 system features three large-format displays with integrated engine instruments, standard single FMS-3000, dual AHRS and DADC systems, dual Pro Line 21 CNS radios, a single radio altimeter, 12-channel GPS sensor and DME, plus a solid-state Doppler turbulence detection weather radar along with TAWS and TCAS I. A second FMS, enhanced map graphics and XM satellite radio or Universal Weather services are options.