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
It was a typical Chamber of Commerce late fall day on the beach at Puamana, just south of Lahaina, Maui, with brilliant sunshine, soft tradewinds, billowy cumulus clouds and 80°F temperatures. The only sounds to be heard were the breakers washing up against the rocks along with some mynahs singing in the acacia trees. I strolled down to the shore and settled into a beach chair to peruse A Hawaiian Reader, occasionally catching a brief glimpse of a sea turtle just beyond the shore break or glancing at the fishing boats plodding along off the coast.

Fred George
Bombardier reports delivering more than 300 Challenger 604 aircraft in the past decade, making its "entry-level" large-cabin business jet the single best-selling model in the heavy-iron category in that time. It has certainly lived up to its name as a challenger to the status quo, and it's easy to understand its popularity. Cabin comfort means a lot in this class and no other purpose-built business jet has a wider cabin cross-section.

Fred George
The GV, like previous Gulfstreams, makes no apologies for its size, fuel thirst or operating cost. With it you'll be able to fly eight passengers nonstop between virtually any two city pairs in North America and Europe. It can fly nonstop between about 90 percent of the most popular city pairs in the world.