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
Take a close look at Encore+ and you would be hard-pressed to guess that it's a third-generation derivative of the nearly two-decade-old Citation V. Cessna Aircraft, the undisputed master of iteration, has modified the wing, narrowed the track of the main landing gear and incorporated trailing link suspension, along with increasing range/payload flexibility, improving the cabin environment, reducing the airport noise footprint and cutting operating costs during that time period. Some of the block-point production changes almost make the iterations look like new models.

Fred George
Few business aircraft have been in production as long as the King Air B200, which essentially has been unchanged since 1981. It is the best selling, most enduring turbine powered business airplane ever made. More than 1,800 units have been delivered and today there are some 1,000 on the FAA registry.

Fred George
For more than three decades, aircraft certification standards have become increasingly more stringent, thereby increasing safety margins and potentially reducing accident rates. During the same 30-year period, though, not much has changed with respect to pilot technique. The accident rate attributable to human error hasn't been reduced significantly. It still is a causal factor in nearly eight of 10 fatal accidents.