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

Edited by Paul RichfieldBy Fred George, in Phoenix
Photograph: Honeywell's AS900 flight-test team Backslapping and handshaking were prevalent at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport on January 28, as Honeywell's Boeing 720 flying test bed touched down after the successful first flight of the firm's new AS900 turbofan engine. Pre-launch delays caused by a brand-new digital test suite aboard the Boeing cut the ambitious four-plus hour test card by one half, however, since FAA rules require the test flight to be completed by sunset (1756 local time).

Edited by Paul RichfieldBy Fred George, in San Diego
Global Express operators will have the option of installing a BAe Systems (formerly GEC-Marconi) HUD2020 Visual Guidance System by September, according to Kevin Hoffman, chairman of Aerospace Concepts, a completion weight-reduction and consulting firm based in Montreal. The BAe Systems Head-Up Display (HUD) is offered as an alternative to the Sextant Avionique Head-up Flight Display System (HFDS), now Bombardier's factory-standard HUD option for the Global Express.

Edited by Paul RichfieldBy Fred George, in San Diego
Frustrated with waiting months for Avionics Displays Corp. (ADC) to deliver its flat-panel displays, Tucson-based Universal Avionics Systems Corp. (UASC) bought the company. Over the past two years, Norcross, Ga.-based ADC's development and production assets were stretched thin by long-term projects, delaying UASC's new family of LCD flat-panel displays for more than 12 months.