Dale Brown
Dale Brown (born 2 November 1956) is an American writer and aviator known for aviation techno-thriller novels. At least thirteen of his novels have been "New York Times" Best Sellers. Early life. Brown was born in Buffalo, New York, and was one of six children. At 15, he began flying instruction, eventually earning a private pilot's license. He graduated in 1978 from Penn State University with a degree in Western European history. Career. Military. Brown joined the Air Force ROTC while in college. He received a commission in the United States Air Force in 1978. He  was a navigator-bombardier (now known as a weapon systems officer (WSO)) in the B-52G Stratofortress long-range heavy bomber and the FB-111A Aardvark medium range fighter-bomber. Brown received several military decorations and awards, including the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Combat Crew Award, and the Marksmanship ribbon. He rose to the rank of Captain and has 2,500 hours of flight time in B-52s. He left the Air Force in 1986, having never seen combat. He is a Life Member of the Air Force Association and the U.S. Naval Institute. Writing. Brown's first paid writing was a  review of "Fort Apocalypse" for "Compute!'s Gazette". In 1986, while still in the Air Force at Mather Air Force Base in Sacramento County, California, he wrote his first book, "Flight of the Old Dog". His novels have been published in 11 languages and distributed to over 70 countries. He published 11 bestsellers in 11 years. Brown has been represented by literary agent Robert Gottlieb of Trident Media Group. Bibliography. Brown tends to stay with the same characters over a long period of time. Many of the characters introduced in "Flight of the Old Dog" are still around for the  latest, although a few have been killed in previous books. Most of his books occur in the same timeline, with a few exceptions. Patrick McLanahan series. Brown's novels mostly center on a character named Patrick McLanahan, whose exploits as a US Air Force officer date back over 25 years. Section::::"Dreamland" series. Brown and Jim DeFelice have created more than a dozen "Dale Brown's Dreamland" books. Personal life. In 1994, Brown resided in Folsom, California, near Sacramento, California. He enjoys flying his plane, a Grumman Gulfstream II. He is a mission pilot in the Civil Air Patrol. On the  ground, he enjoys tennis, motorcycling, skiing, scuba diving, and ice hockey. Brown is married. His wife Diane is a retired Sacramento police lieutenant and (like her husband) is also a pilot. They have a son, Hunter, and they reside near Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Legal issues. In April 2004, Brown pleaded guilty to charges of tax fraud. He was charged with creating companies in the West Indies for the purposes of receiving tax deductions from fictitious expenses. The fictitious expenses amounted to more than $440,000, which Brown claimed on his 1998 income tax filing. He then used the tax deductions  to remodel his home in Incline Village, Nevada.