Fred George

Chief Aircraft Evaluation Editor

Redmond, Oregon

Summary

Fred formerly served as senior editor and chief pilot with Business & Commercial Aviation and as Aviation Week & Space Technology's chief aircraft evaluation pilot. He has flown left seat in virtually every turbine-powered business jet produced in the past three decades. He now is managing member of Fred George Aero LLC of Redmond, Oregon.

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 [email protected]
Citation Mustang is the most successful very light in history. More than 440 have been built since 2006, but production rates now have dropped to about 12 aircraft per year because of slack demand. However, the aircraft remains an ideal entry-level twin turbofan aircraft because it's easy to fly, safe, reliable and well supported by Cessna.
Business Aviation

Kerry Lynch, Fred George
Bombardier received FAA certification on Nov. 14 for the first of the new Learjets, the Learjet 75, clearing the way for deliveries to formally begin. Bombardier on Oct. 17 held a ceremonial celebration for the delivery of the initial Learjet 75s – ceremonial because the aircraft was not yet certified. Bombardier had hoped to arrive at last month’s National Business Aviation Association annual convention with FAA approval in hand, but that was pushed back by the government shutdown.

Fred George [email protected]
Business aviation's long range, large cabin aircraft market heated up in the early 1980s as the Canadair Challenger 601-3A took on the Gulfstream III and IV. Dassault knew it would be left behind if it failed to field a competitor. Time was of the essence, so Dassault engineers dusted off the fuselage for what was to be the Falcon 30 regional jet, grafted on a strengthened Falcon 50 wing, designed a new area ruled aft fuselage and Voila! — the 3,750-nm Mystere Falcon 900 trijet.
Business Aviation