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

By Fred George Photography by Mike Vines
Five years ago, if you asked any group of business aviation industry pundits about the prospects for the BBJ, few were upbeat, some were ambivalent and many outright negative. This 85-ton behemoth was too big, too conspicuous and too unwieldy, many said. They're eating their words now. Since launching the program with partner General Electric in July 1996, Boeing officially acknowledges 71 sales. By early 2002, insiders say, BBJ orders will top 100. This represents nearly one-quarter of all new, ultra-long-range business aircraft orders.

Fred George
In 2000, general aviation aircraft revenues grew by 9.1 percent to $8.6 billion compared to 1999, setting a new record for billings, according to GAMA. More than 900 turbine aircraft were delivered as production capacity soared to keep up with record backlogs in manufacturers' order books. Cessna, for example, doubled the number of Excels it delivered and increased Bravo production by 50 percent. Dassault Falcon Jet deliveries reached 73, five more than in 1999, while its backlog of orders increased. Learjet 45 deliveries were up from 43 in 1999 to 71 in 2000.

Fred George
Design similarities and differences between the Bell/Agusta 609 and the MV-22 tiltrotor have the potential to affect market acceptance of the civilian version of the tiltrotor in the wake of the latest MV-22 crash on December 11, 2000. The MV-22 accident was apparently caused by a hydraulic malfunction, according to a report in the January 1 issue of Aviation Week&Space Technology.