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

By Fred George
Steven Higgins, section manager for high-performance aircraft and turboprops for EASA, presented the founding president and CEO of Honda Aircraft Company, with a new EASA type certificate for the HA-420 HondaJet.
EBACE

By Fred George
The new business aircraft market continued to fly into troubled skies in 2015, with piston engine aircraft deliveries dropping 6.5%, turboprops down 7.6%, and turbofan aircraft shipments flat at 1.6% growth, compared to 2014, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Fred George
Six years ago, the $7 million Embraer Phenom 300 entered service, instantly redefining the value proposition in the light-jet segment. Excluding its shorter lavatory, the dimensions of the main passenger seating area compare favorably with the Learjet 70, including maximum height because of Phenom 300’s 4-in. dropped aisle. Its 66-cu.-ft. aft baggage compartment is the largest in the light-jet class and there is another 10 cu. ft. of luggage storage split between the nose compartment and lavatory. Its runway performance is closely matched to Citation CJ4.
Business Aviation