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 (Gaviao Peixoto, Brazil)
Late last July, this reporter became the first journalist to fly the Phenom 100. And as soon as the electrical power came on, it was apparent that the very light jet (VLJ) benefited from Embraer’s considerable experience as a seasoned jetliner manufacturer. Accompanied by senior flight test pilot Antonio Braganca Silva and flight test engineer Maximillian Kleinubing, we embarked upon a 2-hr. 44-min. evaluation flight in EMB500 serial No. 500-801, Embraer’s first flight-test aircraft.

Fred George (Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil)
A bold move might pay proportionate dividends. The once-flagging ward of the state, Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica, S.A., best known as Embraer, that evolved to become the world’s third-largest commercial airliner manufacturer, changed its successful course in mid-2005. It was then that the company announced a redirection of a major part of its engineering resources toward developing a line of purpose-built business aircraft.

Fred George
Embraer plans to rewrite the rules for how airframe manufacturers will compete in the business jet industry from 2008 to 2017. What's at stake? This will be a decade-long, Olympics-scale contest in which a dozen major players will compete for more than $200 billion in new aircraft sales, according to the firm's internal projections. The Brazilian jet maker believes that its $3.3 million Phenom 100, its first purpose-built business jet, will be a game changer when the very light jet enters service before year-end.