The Wong brothers, who founded what was once the largest flight school in Canada in Toronto, were among the first Asian Americans to be inducted into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame.
In celebration of Asian American Cultural Month, children’s author Evelyn Wong shares her father’s love for flying in the book “Reach for the Sky: How Two Brothers Built an Airplane in Chinatown.”
“He grew up during the Great Depression in a time of discrimination against the Chinese in the 1930s. But he was just curious, and his love for flying kept him going, regardless of this economic and social situation, and that passion really inspired others to help him,” Wong tells OMNI News.
Robert Shun Wong and his younger brother Tommy were two of 12 siblings born in British Columbia who had a dream of flying. Evelyn Wong says her father was a young boy when he was inspired by Charles Lindbergh, who had just flown solo across the Atlantic. Using his own experiences from building model planes and seeing plans in magazines, she says her father decided during his second year of high school to build an airplane using a Ford model car engine.
“For him, he said it started with a love for building model planes, and then building a real plane in Chinatown in Vancouver when he was growing up,” said Wong, whose book details the story of how the Pietenpol Sky Scout was built in 1935.
“It is his youth from building model planes to deciding that in order to learn how to fly and go to air college, it would be more fun and definitely cheaper to build his own airplane.”
After moving to Ontario and following the war, the brothers founded Central Airways, a flight school and charter business in Toronto at what is now Billy Bishop Airport, training over 8,000 pilots and profoundly impacting the Canadian aviation industry.
In 2024, the brothers were recognized for their achievements by being posthumously inducted into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame.
Wong says that while her father never had expectations to be employed in the aviation industry, he held on to his love for flying to learn everything he could. And it’s that story of overcoming difficulties and holding on to a dream that she hopes resonates with children.
“I hope that (the book) will inspire children everywhere, of all ages, that everything is possible, as long as you love what you’re doing.”