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

Jessica A. Salerno, Fred [email protected]
This is Learjet's golden anniversary, and Clay Lacy, a longtime friend of William P. “Bill” Lear and one of the aircraft's original distributors, bore witness from the start. The first Learjet 23 flew on Oct. 7, 1963. In July the following year, it became the first general aviation aircraft to be certified to the then new FAR Part 23 standards. Powered by two 2,850 lb.-thrust GE CJ610 turbojets and sporting go-fast lines, it was an instant phenomenon. But once certification was won, Lear had more hurdles to overcome.
Business Aviation

Jessica A. Salerno, Fred [email protected]
A softening in purchase expectations in several regions led Honeywell Aerospace to scale back its 10-yr. forecast for new aircraft deliveries, but the increasing preference for large-cabin, long-range aircraft is keeping the anticipated dollar value of those deliveries at the same level as in previous forecasts. In its latest Business Aviation Outlook, Honeywell predicts a market for 9,250 new business jets valued at $250 billion through 2023. The forecast is down from last year's prediction of 10,000 new business jets through 2022.
Business Aviation

Fred George [email protected]
As winter approaches, flight crews are gearing up for the heart of the icing season. Virtually all of them are aware of the potentially lethal consequences of attempting to take off with airframe ice contamination. But some pilots think that minor ice contamination has little, if any, effect on aircraft performance.
Business Aviation