In 1936, a wide-eyed boy by the name of LeRoy Brown clambered aboard a 1929 Waco 10 converted to crop dusting duty, sat down in the grimy hopper, and then launched into a clear-blue Florida sky on a wondrous flight that ignited a life-long passion with flying and airplanes. More than 35,000 flight hours later, Captain LeRoy Brown stepped out of the cockpit of a Pan American World Airways DC-10 to end a commercial aviation career that spanned nearly five decades . In between, he filled dozens of logbooks with exciting tales of flying biplane crop dusters, B-17 freight haulers, old airliners, surplus military trainers, state-of-the-art propeller and jet airliners, and more than 150 personally owned airplanes. Packed with photographs and generous sidebars of supplemental information, From Crop Duster to Airline Captain chronicles the life and flying stories of Captain LeRoy Brown, 2009 inductee into the Florida Aviation Historical Association Hall of Fame and 2012 recipient of the Federal Aviation Administration's Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award.

Celebrate the Centennial of powered flight with the achievements of Pensacola's own early aviators On December 17, 1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright launched into history with the first powered, controlled and sustained flight of an aeroplane. On November 30, 1911 Pensacola witnessed her own first successful aeroplane flight, beginning with over 90 years of near-continuous aviation achievements and adventures over the Gulf Coast that continues to this day. Learn about: The 1909 "Rhodes Aeroplane: flight attempt from Fort Barrancas The 1911 "Nassr Aeroplane" flight attempt from Kupfrian's Park The 1911 "Curtiss-Mills Pusher" flight from Palmetto Beach Pensacola's first civilian airfield The birth of the "Cradle of Naval Aviation" and "Annapolis of the Air" Pensacola's - and Florida's - first aviation-related death Early aviation records set in Pensacola Medal of Honor awarded for aviation action in Pensacola Pensacola's lighter-than-air achievements Visiting barnstormers, flying circuses and airtours Pensacola's aviation mysteries, tragedies, and oddities