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

John Croft, Fred George
Two years ago, Boeing, Cessna and Gulfstream were the leading edge for introducing lithium-ion main-ship batteries into new aircraft in the civil aviation market. But by late 2011, evidence had emerged that the technology was not yet mature, spurring business aircraft makers Gulfstream and Cessna to return to more traditional, lower-performance and heavier batteries for the G650 and CJ4, respectively.
Business Aviation

John Croft (Washington), Fred George (Savannah, Ga.)
G650 switched batteries a year before certification.

Fred George [email protected]
Four minutes after taking off from Singapore's Changi Airport on Nov. 4, 2010, the flight crew of Qantas Airways Flight 32, an Airbus A380, heard two loud explosions from the left inboard engine while passing through 7,000 ft. overhead Batam Island in North Indonesia. At that point, a “black swan event” began to develop.
Business Aviation