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
Embraer plans to rewrite the rules for how airframe manufacturers will compete in the business jet industry from 2008 to 2017. What's at stake? This will be a decade-long, Olympics-scale contest in which a dozen major players will compete for more than $200 billion in new aircraft sales, according to the firm's internal projections. The Brazilian jet maker believes that its $3.3 million Phenom 100, its first purpose-built business jet, will be a game changer when the very light jet enters service before year-end.

Fred George
Eclipse Aviation is awaiting word on when it can expect a cash infusion from Russia. Timing is a matter of concern since the Albuquerque, N.M., airframer’s current cash reserves only will sustain company operations at their current levels through the end of October.

Fred George, Fred George
Gulfstream will unveil the G250 at NBAA, a clean-sheet super-midsize to large-cabin business aircraft, powered by Honeywell HTF7500-series turbofans and fitted with a downsized variant of the G550 wing. It will be capable of carrying eight passengers 3,600 n.m. at .80 Mach, according to prospective customers. The reported wing design also suggests it will able to fly 3,000+ n.m. at .85 Mach.