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
Rolls-Royce BR725 powerplants, rated at 16,100 pounds of thrust for takeoff to ISA+15°C, will power the G650, preserving the 50-year partnership between Gulfstream and Rolls-Royce. The engines will be fitted with a new, 50-inch diameter, 24-blade swept airfoil fan, 10-stage axial flow compressor with improved aerodynamics and with five blisk rotors to reduce weight, low emissions combustor adapted from the BR715 and improved efficiency two-stage high- and three-stage low-pressure turbine sections with better blade tip clearance control.

Fred George (Savannah, Ga.), William Garvey (Savannah, Ga.)
After years of rumors and whispers, Gulfstream Aerospace unveiled its next-generation G650 program in front of 5,000 people here on Mar. 13. Company officials say it will define a new class of “ultra-large cabin, ultra-long-range business jets.”

Fred George
Simulator-based training is one of the greatest advances for increasing safety margins, especially in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), since the advent of using vision-restricting devices on instrument proficiency check (IPC) rides. That's quite evident from the dramatic reduction in accident rates since the corporate aviation community, several decades ago, embraced a training method long proven by commercial airline and military organizations.