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
Embraer’s Legacy 500 super-midsize aircraft and Legacy 450 light-super-mid jet will have digital fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control systems that are substantially more advanced and more capable than the FBW systems installed in its ERJ 170/190 series regional airliners, Embraer’s first aircraft to be fitted with fly-by-wire controls, company executives said last week.

Fred George
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware last week accepted a motion by Jeoffrey Burtch, trustee for insolvent Eclipse Aviation, to set Thursday, Aug. 20, as the date for a sales hearing for the assets of the insolvent VLJ start-up, according to court documents. The bankruptcy court’s decision follows Burtch’s acceptance last week of the $40-million lead or “stalking horse” bid for Eclipse Aviation’s assets offered by Mason Holland’s Eclipse Aerospace (BA, Aug. 10/64).

Fred George
The proposed sale of Cirrus Design’s SF50 Vision single-engine turbofan aircraft development program to company chairman Alan Klapmeier has reached an impasse. “It appears we’re too far apart on a number of things. We’re going to suspend negotiations,” Klapmeier said.