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
Brian Barents, president of Galaxy Aerospace Corp. (GAC), immediately addressed the top concern of IAI Westwind and Astra Jet operators at GAC's first Maintenance&Operations meeting, held in San Diego from May 5 to 7. Product support in the past, Barents conceded, suffered from ``some limited resources.'' His goal, first stated at the 1996 NBAA convention, is nothing less than to provide the best customer support in the business aircraft industry.

Fred George
Monte Mitchell, until recently the executive director of the Aircraft Electronics Association, received enormous applause at his retirement celebration at the AEA annual convention in Palm Springs in April. AEA members' praise for Mitchell was indeed appropriate, but the Association's long-term success has had as much to do with the eye-watering pace of technical developments in avionics as it has had with Mitchell's efforts.

Fred George
Business aircraft sales were up for the third consecutive year in 1996. The General Aviation Manufacturers Association reports that sales of new aircraft reached $3.1 billion, fueled largely by a resurgence in the turboprop market and continued strength in the export market. This was an increase of more than 10 percent from 1995.