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
Infrared Enhanced Vision Systems now have been installed on more than 500 business jets, promising operators the flexibility to fly instrument approaches down to lower minimums than would be possible using the naked eye. IR EVS also can detect the thermal signatures of terrain, animals, aircraft, buildings, obstacles and vehicles, among other surface threats, affording pilots the ability to detect such hazards in conditions of darkness and many obscuration conditions.

Fred George
By the mid-1980s, Cessna knew it needed a successor to the Citation III, its first midsize aircraft. The 1982 model offered a cabin with 5.5-foot width, 5.7-foot height and 18.4-foot length, which provided considerably more comfort for six to eight passengers than Cessna's narrow-fuselage light jets. The Citation III also featured a moderately swept, super-critical wing that made possible 450 KTAS cruise speeds, fuel-efficient TFE731 turbofans, trailing-link main landing gear for smooth touchdowns and hot-wing anti-ice, plus advanced systems.

Fred George
Eclipse Aviation is awaiting word on when it can expect a cash infusion from Russia. Timing is a matter of concern since the Albuquerque, N.M., airframer’s current cash reserves only will sustain company operations at their current levels through the end of October.