Originally published in 2010
Legendary pilot, FBO owner and general aviation promoter, Emma Browning passed on Friday, April 23, 2010, after a short illness. Browning was 99. Emma Carter was born on October 26, 1910. In 1929, she paid $1 for her first airplane ride and had been in love with aviation ever since. She married her husband, Robert Browning Jr. in 1930. In 1939 she soloed and soon obtained her pilot’s license. A true aviation historian, Browning often told stories of meeting Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh, who both landed in Austin with plane trouble.
Browning sold the aerial services company in 1987 but remained active in the aviation community. The Texas Department of Transportation gave her its lifetime achievement award in 2003, honoring her for running one of the first companies to train pilots in the area.