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
For less than $2 million, you can buy an early 1990s CitationJet that carries a pilot and two to three passengers up to 1,400 miles in four hours flat. These aircraft are holding their values well in the resale market because they're reliable, easy to fly and relatively inexpensive to maintain. Cessna delivered 359 units between 1993 and 1999. In 2000, it replaced the CJ with the CJ1.

Fred George
Just before the NBAA's 2006 convention in Orlando, Cessna Aircraft introduced the CJ4, the fourth and newest member of its Citation CJ family. Although Cessna personnel were all-smiles, the announcement elicited yawns from many industry technocrats and harrumphs from those of the faster-higher-farther philosophy of aviation. After all, to them what was being unveiled was just the sequel to the sequel to the sequel. The aeronautical equivalent of double vanilla.

Fred George
A couple of decades ago, B&CA's Purchase Planning Handbook listed well more than a dozen piston twins suitable for personal business transportation use. In essence, these aircraft were designed for much the same personal business transportation missions as today's VLJs and coming PLJs, albeit considerably lower and slower flying than today's entry-level turbine aircraft.