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, 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.

Fred George
It's tough to improve upon one of the most capable and versatile turboprop airplanes ever built, but that's exactly what Pilatus Aircraft has done with its next-generation PC-12. The latest iteration of the Swiss-built single, the PC-12 NG, was FAA certified in March 2008 and it incorporates some half dozen improvements, including a more robust powerplant that helps increase cruise over older models as much as 11 knots and gives it more range because of improved climb performance. The electrical, cabin pressurization and environmental control systems have been improved.
Business Aviation

Fred George
Think you're ready for any inflight emergency after your latest sim session? Many flight crews believe that checking all the boxes during recurrent simulator training fulfills all their training needs. That's false confidence, according to some experienced pilots.