Did You Know Katherine Sui Fun Cheung, was Aviation’s First Chinese-American Pilot

Katherine Sui Fun Cheng --Chinese Historical Society of America

(CHSA) Did you know that Katherine Sui Fun Cheung (1904-2003) was known as Chinese-American Amelia Earhart according to the Beijing Air Force Aviation Museum.

After her arrival into the United States in 1921 her father took her to an airfield to teach her how to drive but instead Cheung became fascinated with planes flying in/out of the gates, subsequently signing up for flying lessons at the Chinese Aeronautical Assn and took up a solo flight only 12 hours after her first lesson.

Cheung was also pursing music studies at USC and Cal Poly Pomona, later married her father’s business partner George Young and had two children before she earned her pilots license in 1932–an astounding feat in those times, when Asian-American Women were heavily restricted in pursing their dreams due to race and gender inequalities.

Cheung became the first Chinese-American to fly airplanes and dazzle crowds with her amazing acrobatics. Shortly thereafter, she was welcomed into the Ninety Nines Club formed by Amelia Earhart, exclusive to Women pilots.

Related: Cheung–First Female Asian-American Pilot -Epoch Times

H/T: Chinese Historical Society Museum San Francisco/Twitter

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