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.
Corporate Angel Network, the volunteer organization through which U.S. companies volunteer their aircraft to transport ill patients between their homes and distant medical facilities, reports that it transported 35 percent more people in fiscal 2002 than in the previous year, setting a record for the generosity of participating firms. Frequent CAN participants include Coca-Cola, ConocoPhillips, Corning, Dow Chemical, Duke Energy, Ford Motor, GM, International Paper, The Limited, Meredith, Motorola, Pepsico, Verizon and United Space Alliance.
Edited by David RimmerFred George, in Palm Springs
Satcom systems took center stage at the 45th annual Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) Convention held in late April. EMS Technologies, for example, introduced its HSD-128 Swift64 data link system, which is compatible with the Rockwell Collins ARINC 741 satcom system, thereby allowing users to surf the Internet. EMS is also developing a private-label version for Rockwell Collins called HST-900 that will enable users to talk and use data link services simultaneously.
Bombardier Aerospace's Challenger 604 has been one of the best-selling large-cabin business aircraft since production deliveries began in early 1996. As of late April 2002, there had been 234 deliveries of Challenger 604 aircraft. B/CA contacted operators of more than 50 aircraft to determine the reasons for this success and whether the trend is likely to continue.
