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
Raytheon Aircraft turned a few heads at the NBAA's Orlando convention when Brad Hatt, president and general manager of the Hawker unit, announced that the $13.8 million Hawker 850XP, the newest iteration of the Hawker 800 family, would be fitted with winglets designed by Raytheon's own engineers. Up until then, it appeared to be a foregone conclusion that Aviation Partners' full-chord, 44-inch-tall winglets recently certified for the Hawker 800 would have been standard.

Fred George
Bombardier reports delivering more than 300 Challenger 604 aircraft in the past decade, making its "entry-level" large-cabin business jet the single best-selling model in the heavy-iron category in that time. It has certainly lived up to its name as a challenger to the status quo, and it's easy to understand its popularity. Cabin comfort means a lot in this class and no other purpose-built business jet has a wider cabin cross-section.

Fred George
The GV, like previous Gulfstreams, makes no apologies for its size, fuel thirst or operating cost. With it you'll be able to fly eight passengers nonstop between virtually any two city pairs in North America and Europe. It can fly nonstop between about 90 percent of the most popular city pairs in the world.