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.

Read more

Articles

Kerry Lynch, Fred George
The Environmental Protection Agency last week reassured aviation officials that its recent advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) on the use of lead in aviation gasoline was meant as a means to collect additional information, and says the agency has not established or proposed any deadline for banning the use of lead in avgas. EPA made those assurances in a July 27 letter to Robert Hackman, vice president of regulatory affairs for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.

Fred George
General aviation safety numbers are “not where I or FAA would like them to be,” FAA Administrator Randy Babbit said Wednesday. Speaking at last week’s Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture, he noted that there have been 120 fatal GA crashes in the first half of 2010. A recent mishap involved NASCAR team owner Jack Roush at the EAA gathering on Tuesday. Although Roush and a passenger were both able to walk away, Roush suffered serious injuries while attempting to land his Beech Premier 1 light jet.

Fred George
OSHKOSH, WIS. – Honda Aircraft Co. has powered up the first conforming flight test HondaJet, making possible first flight in the next few months and FAA type certification by mid-2012, followed by entry into service in the third quarter. Company officials revealed the milestone event, which occurred in May, during a briefing at last week’s Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture. The company claims to have 100-plus orders for the aircraft, a figure that has been cited for well more than a year.