272:(USC). Her father, who was a produce buyer, came with Zhang to the U.S. and would take her to Dycer Airport in Los Angeles to practice driving a car. Zhang was fascinated with the planes and wanted to learn to fly. After three years of studying piano at USC, Zhang quit school and married her father's business partner, George Young, keeping her own name, but Americanizing it to Katherine Cheung. By 1931, she had two daughters, Doris and Dorothy and was determined to take up flying. In a letter from a friend back in China, she was informed that Chinese flying schools would not allow women to enroll as pilots, which was not unusual, as in the U.S. at that time only 1% of licensed pilots were women.
312:. That same year, she obtained her international flight license, allowing her to participate in commercial flying, and was claimed to be the first commercial Chinese woman pilot. In 1936, Cheung became a United States citizen, but still harbored dreams of returning to China to work for the Chinese government and teach aviation. She believed that the possibilities for developing air services were boundless and recognized the potential of air service to areas which did not have adequate infrastructure to meet transportation needs.
1278:
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347:. She has been recognized with a display at the Aviation Museum in Enping and the Beijing Air Force Aviation Museum in China. Cheung has been recognized by the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum as the "First Asian American Aviatrix" and Flight Path Walk of Fame in Los Angeles has honored her with a bronze plaque bearing her name. In addition to other awards and recognition, she was the subject of a 2016 documentary entitled
323:, but her cousin was killed while testing the plane. Cheung's father, worrying for Katherine's safety, made her promise to give up flying. While she continued for a few years, the loss of her friend Earhart, her cousin, and her father, coupled with her brother's death in China in 1942, finally convinced her to give up flying, as she was then sole support for her mother.
331:, where she would remain until her death. On 4 March 2001, Lan Hua Jun, the Chinese Consul General of Los Angeles, presented Cheung with a medal on behalf of the Chinese government for her contributions as an aviation pioneer. The ceremony was held in conjunction with her induction into the International Women in Aviation's Pioneer Hall of Fame.
280:
In 1931, Cheung enrolled in aviation classes, taking flying lessons with the
Chinese Aeronautical Association in Los Angeles with flight instructor Bert Ekstein. On 30 March 1932 she received her private pilot's license and made plans to return within a few weeks to China. She was widely reported as
326:
During World War II, she became a flight instructor in the United States and when the war ended, she bought a flower shop, which she operated until her retirement in 1970. In 1989, Cheung, one of her daughters and a son-in-law, returned to China to visit Enping. Their vacation brought much media
281:
the first
Chinese woman to earn a license in the United States, or having earned a commercial license, while other papers acknowledged that she was one of two Chinese women pilots. After attaining her license, she continued to study, often with military pilots to learn
210:; 1904–2003) was a Chinese aviator. She received one of the first private licenses issued to a Chinese woman and was the first Chinese woman to obtain an international flying license. She became a United States citizen after attaining her licensure.
246:(formerly known as Canton) and her father was a businessman who interacted with the overseas Chinese community in the United States. Her mother took Zhang to Guangzhou while she was a child and she completed her primary education at the
285:, aircraft structures, international routing, navigation and other skills which would improve her versatility as a pilot. The skills she learned, allowed her to participate in air shows, performing
46:
1371:
327:
attention, as she was feted by various associations, the local government, and the aviation industry. Until the 1990s, she lived in
Chinatown, but at that time, she relocated to
319:
in 1937, Cheung decided to return to China and open a flying school. She toured
Chinese American communities and raised money for the venture, securing $ 7,000. She purchased a
1366:
1391:
265:
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304:
for Cheung. She participated in several racing events, like the Los
Angeles Women's Championship (1935) and Chatterton Air Race (1936). In 1935 Cheung joined the
811:
1406:
351:. Two statues were built in 2017 to honor Cheung in her hometown of Enping, China. She was also featured in a six-minute documentary segment for CCTV in 2019
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340:
260:
Upon her graduation, she obtained a passport and at the age of seventeen moved to the United States to study music at several institutions including the
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Almost as soon as she was licensed, Cheung began performing at fairs and air shows along the
California Coast. Her performances were thrilling to the
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first
Chinese woman to receive a pilot's license/Chinese-American woman to receive a commercial flying license in the United States
436:"Katherine Cheung Collection [Leschenko] | Collection | search=s=0&n=10&t=C&q=katherine+cheung&i=0 | SOVA"
1401:
568:"Cheung, Katherine Sui Fun; Asian Pacific Americans in Aviation and Space Science; Women in Aviation and Space Science, General"
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948:[Zhang Ruifen: Chinese woman went into the US military restricted area] (in Chinese). Beijing, China:
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1292:(in Chinese). Enping, China: Enping City Hall archives compound. 13 August 2007. Archived from
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Women
Aviators: 26 Stories of Pioneer Flights, Daring Missions, and Record-Setting Journeys
874:
New Modern
Chinese Women and Gender Politics: The Centennial of the End of the Qing Dynasty
702:
700:
344:
24:
1093:(in Chinese). Enping, China: Jun Tang Enping Central Primary School. 2013. Archived from
1336:
1040:"Katherine Cheung, 98; Immigrant Was Nation's First Licensed Asian American Woman Pilot"
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RACE: My Story & Humanity's Bottom Line: More than a Book.......It's an
Experience
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1230:. Santa Cruz, California: The Santa Cruz Evening News. April 2, 1932. p. 1
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257:, graduating in 1921 when she passed the Ministry of Education's examination.
1144:[General Aviation Information (article reproduced from Xixi River)].
1094:
243:
223:
77:
201:
789:
1317:
CCTV documentary series includes segment about Katherine Sui Fun Cheung
1068:
Remaking Chinese America: Immigration, Family, and Community, 1940-1965
320:
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community and they took up a collection to get her a plane to use.
1148:(in Chinese). Memphis, Tennessee. 16 February 2011. Archived from
300:
and other ethnic Chinese spent $ 2,000 to secure a 125-horsepower
1326:
829:
CCTV documentary series includes segment about Katherine Cheung
242:). Her mother had been a student at the Paxian Bible School in
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904:. Chicago, Illinois: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company: 249, 284
339:
Cheung died at age 98 on 2 September 2003 and was buried at
642:
1322:
Aviatrix: The Katherine Sui Fun Cheung Story Documentary
1071:. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.
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289:, inverted flying, loops and other aerobatic tricks.
1327:
Aviatrix: The Katherine Sui Fun Cheung Story Website
925:. Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Review Press. p.
612:
381:"Pioneers; Katherine Sui Fun Cheung - Travel Radar"
157:
149:
134:
124:
116:
106:
88:
55:
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972:Women Journalists and Feminism in China, 1898-1937
918:
627:
1089:[China's Aviation heroine—Zhang Ruifen].
550:
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546:
544:
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308:club for women pilots, an association founded by
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266:California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
1372:California Polytechnic State University alumni
1013:"'China's Amelia Earhart' Got Her Wings Here"
218:Zhang Ruifen was born on 12 December 1904 in
8:
791:Aviatrix: The Katherine Sui Fun Cheung Story
363:(International Organization of Women Pilots)
349:Aviatrix: The Katherine Sui Fun Cheung Story
601:Jun Tang Enping Central Primary School 2013
44:
33:
1332:Hark! A Vagrant: Katherine Sui Fun Cheung
518:
252:Guangzhou City Peidao Women's High School
1367:Los Angeles Conservatory of Music alumni
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775:
533:
372:
1392:Chinese emigrants to the United States
760:
721:
491:
1142:"通用航空信息(article reproduced from 西西河)"
1011:Rasmussen, Cecilia (April 12, 1998).
944:林(Lin), 天宏 (Tianhong) (7 July 2010).
846:Aldrich, Nancy (September 12, 2013).
429:
427:
425:
423:
421:
7:
1407:American aviators of Chinese descent
975:. Amherst, New York: Cambria Press.
892:Driscoll, Marjorie C. (April 1936).
676:
657:
419:
417:
415:
413:
411:
409:
407:
405:
403:
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120:Chinese (naturalized American, 1936)
1382:USC Thornton School of Music alumni
1342:Pioneers - Katherine Sui Fun Cheung
1025:from the original on 28 August 2016
996:. Bloomington, Indiana: iUniverse.
854:. Lakeland, Florida. Archived from
813:Katherine's hometown builds statues
745:
554:
250:. Continuing her schooling at the
248:Guangzhou True Light Middle School
14:
1197:"Plane presented to Chinese girl"
1052:from the original on 24 June 2016
1038:Woo, Elaine (September 7, 2003).
270:University of Southern California
262:Los Angeles Conservatory of Music
129:Los Angeles Conservatory of Music
1276:
1255:"Young Miss China Sprouts Wings"
1245:
1218:
1187:
1132:
434:Katherine, Cheung (1930–2017).
1228:"She's First Chinese Aviatrix"
1168:. San Bernardino, California:
852:20th Century Aviation Magazine
196:
187:
179:
1:
1203:. November 8, 1935. p. 4
1170:The San Bernardino County Sun
990:Nile, Lauren Joichin (2014).
690:The San Bernardino County Sun
1417:20th-century American people
1117:. March 31, 1932. p. 35
385:Travel Radar - Aviation News
1422:21st-century American women
1412:20th-century American women
1261:. April 8, 1932. p. 12
1257:. Uniontown, Pennsylvania:
1172:. April 12, 1932. p. 6
1048:. Los Angeles, California.
1021:. Los Angeles, California.
917:Gibson, Karen Bush (2013).
644:The Santa Cruz Evening News
111:Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills
1438:
1199:. Santa Cruz, California:
894:"She Will Wing Over China"
848:"Katherine Sui Fun Cheung"
317:Japanese invasion of China
18:
341:Forest Lawn Memorial Park
329:Thousand Oaks, California
239:
231:
165:
142:
100:Thousand Oaks, California
43:
1288:[Zhang Ruifen].
877:. Taylor & Francis.
226:, China to Nie Qinglan (
172:Katherine Sui Fun Cheung
153:Katherine Sui Fun Cheung
1402:American women aviators
1201:The Santa Cruz Sentinel
1166:"Miss China Goes Aloft"
1113:. Oakland, California:
1065:Zhao, Xiaojian (2002).
708:The Santa Cruz Sentinel
572:Smithsonian Institution
50:Image of Cheung in 1936
1397:Chinese women aviators
1290:Danganju.Enping.gov.cn
871:Chen, Ya-chen (2014).
788:Moy, Ed (2000-01-01),
234:) and Zhang Shunbing (
1387:People from Guangzhou
1377:Pomona College alumni
1045:The Los Angeles Times
1018:The Los Angeles Times
475:Enping City Hall 2007
574:(Archival materials)
442:(Archival materials)
1115:The Oakland Tribune
614:The Oakland Tribune
184:traditional Chinese
1296:on 30 October 2010
1259:The Morning Herald
1111:"Chinese Aviatrix"
969:Ma, Yuxin (2010).
858:on 17 October 2016
629:The Morning Herald
224:Guangdong province
176:simplified Chinese
1337:The Argonaut News
1078:978-0-8135-3011-6
1003:978-1-4917-0309-0
982:978-1-60497-660-1
950:China Youth Daily
946:"张瑞芬：闯入美军禁区的中国女人"
936:978-1-61374-543-4
884:978-1-135-02005-7
276:Aviation training
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92:September 2, 2003
70:December 12, 1904
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96:(aged 98)
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1087:"中国航空女英雄—张瑞芬"
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734:Driscoll 1936
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724:, p. 81.
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302:Fleet biplane
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298:Anna May Wong
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161:30 March 1932
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107:Resting place
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1298:. Retrieved
1294:the original
1289:
1269:– via
1263:. Retrieved
1238:– via
1232:. Retrieved
1211:– via
1205:. Retrieved
1180:– via
1174:. Retrieved
1154:. Retrieved
1150:the original
1145:
1125:– via
1119:. Retrieved
1099:. Retrieved
1095:the original
1090:
1067:
1054:. Retrieved
1043:
1029:30 September
1027:. Retrieved
1016:
992:
971:
958:. Retrieved
954:the original
920:
906:. Retrieved
901:
897:
873:
860:. Retrieved
856:the original
851:
839:Bibliography
828:
821:
812:
805:
795:, retrieved
790:
783:
776:Aldrich 2013
741:
729:
717:
712:, p. 4.
707:
694:, p. 6.
689:
684:
653:
648:, p. 1.
643:
638:
628:
623:
613:
608:
576:. Retrieved
571:
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534:Chenwei 2011
444:. Retrieved
439:
389:. Retrieved
387:. 2020-04-19
384:
375:
361:Ninety-Nines
348:
338:
325:
314:
306:Ninety Nines
291:
287:barrel rolls
279:
259:
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205:
197:Zhāng Ruìfēn
195:
171:
170:
143:
94:(2003-09-02)
60:Zhang Ruifen
28:
21:Chinese name
1362:2003 deaths
1357:1904 births
1300:30 December
1265:30 December
1234:30 December
1207:30 December
1176:30 December
1156:30 December
1121:30 December
1101:30 December
1056:30 December
960:31 December
908:31 December
862:31 December
761:Gibson 2013
722:Gibson 2013
492:Gibson 2013
440:sova.si.edu
117:Nationality
82:Qing Empire
25:family name
1351:Categories
797:2016-09-16
578:2023-01-11
446:2023-01-11
391:2021-08-17
368:References
283:aerobatics
268:, and the
214:Early life
66:1904-12-12
1091:epjyw.com
826:Moy, Ed,
810:Moy, Ed,
677:Zhao 2002
658:Nile 2014
321:Ryan ST-A
244:Guangzhou
150:Full name
125:Education
78:Guangdong
1050:Archived
1023:Archived
746:Lin 2010
555:Woo 2003
355:See also
255:(zh-yue)
202:Jyutping
19:In this
1146:Chenwei
236:Chinese
228:Chinese
16:Aviator
1075:
1000:
979:
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881:
238::
230::
220:Enping
204::
194::
192:pinyin
186::
178::
74:Enping
29:Cheung
23:, the
1286:"张瑞芬"
1302:2016
1267:2016
1236:2016
1209:2016
1178:2016
1158:2016
1123:2016
1103:2016
1073:ISBN
1058:2016
1031:2014
998:ISBN
977:ISBN
962:2016
931:ISBN
910:2016
879:ISBN
864:2016
710:1935
692:1932
646:1932
631:1932
616:1932
89:Died
56:Born
343:in
240:張舜炳
232:聶清蘭
188:張瑞芬
180:张瑞芬
27:is
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