Ashley Brown

Ashley Brown is an airline transport pilot with six type ratings across various Dassault Falcons and Gulfstreams; is currently flying the GVII–500 and G280; is a certificated flight instructor and is tailwheel endorsed; and has added motherhood to the mix. Mark Brown is the owner of 11 Aviation and former chief demonstration pilot for Quest and Daher who has logged more than 8,000 Kodiak hours (“Quest for Adventure,” March 2018 AOPA Pilot). 

“I am learning to balance motherhood and a flying career,” she says. “The transition to being both a pilot and a mom is not always seamless. It takes a strong support system and a lot of grace, but finding other moms in aviation and sharing those experiences has been an incredible source of encouragement. It’s a balance I’m still refining every day.”

Brown grew up in an aviation family. “Aviation has always been part of my life. My dad took me on my first flight in his Cessna 195 when I was just six months old, and some of my earliest memories are of fly-ins and family trips in that airplane,” she says. “When I turned 16, I started flying our 1946 Piper J–3 Cub, and I was instantly hooked. Many years, ratings, and hours later, I’m now a Gulfstream captain flying business aircraft—but I still carry the same excitement I felt as that teenager learning to fly with the door open on a summer evening.”

Aviation is central to the Browns’ family life. The couple are representatives for an aviation clothing company, and both are active in the Texas flying community where they live. “Aviation is full of people who feel like family, and those friendships have become some of the most meaningful parts of my life,” she says. “Every year we host a crawfish boil that started as my dad’s birthday party and has grown into a full-on fly-in. Seeing friends and family gather around airplanes, food, and stories—it’s the best reminder of how special this community really is.”

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