Gully - Sisters of heaven: Chinas barnstorming aviatrixes: modernity, feminism, and popular imagination in Asia and the West

Patti Gully is a graduate of the University of Winnipeg. She holds a BA in Arts with emphasis on English, Religious Studies, and Classics. She also holds an MLIS from the University of British Columbia. She is the co-Author of the two-volume book, Overseas Chinese from the Five Counties and Chinese Aviation (wu yi huaqiao yu zhongguo hangkong).

It is an honor to acknowledge my indebtedness to the following individuals and organizations without whose aid this project never would have been completed.

For her assistance with the story of Hilda Yan, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to Kim C. Wilson Owen, who, as director of the Autauga Prattville Public Library, Prattville, AL, was extraordinarily generous with her time and resources and was instrumental in helping me get started with the story of Ms Yans life. I am also grateful to Sandra Scott and Aimee E. Brown of Smith College; Dr. Robert M. Gully, Royal Inland Hospital, Kamloops, BC; Blandine Blukacz-Louisfert, Chief Archivist, UNOG Registry, Records and Archives Unit, United Nations, Geneva; and Bernhardine E. Pejovic League of Nation Archivist, Geneva, Harold K. Everett, of the Federal Aviation Administration in Oklahoma City, OK; Kate de Courcy, Manuscripts Librarian at the Auckland City Library, David Exley and Frank Male of New Zealand. The daughters of the late New Zealand poet, A.R.D. Fairburn, were extremely gracious and generous with their time and remembrances of Ms Yan, and I am deeply grateful to Corin Fairburn Bass, Dinah Holman and Janis Fairburn.

For their assistance with the story of Li Xiaqing, I wish to thank Linda (Hsu) Wei of Oakland, CA; Patricia Lee, veteran aviatrix of Toronto, ON; Tad Bennicoff, Special Collections Assistant, Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University, NJ; Blaise Morand, president, Pilotes de glaciers et de montagne, lAssociation Genevoise de lAro-Club de Suisse, Geneva, Switzerland; John Houser, retired aero engineer, and John D. Furbay, Director of Finance, Aeronca, Inc., Middletown, OH; Bill Larsen, aviation enthusiast and historian; Dr. Judy Yung, professor of American Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA; Linda K. Smith, Archives Specialist, Eisenhower Library, Abilene, KS; Law Kar, programmer, Hong Kong Film Archive, Hong Kong; Choi Kai-kwong, filmmaker, Hong Kong; Captain Moon Chin, retired professional air pilot of Hillsborough, CA; Danny Lee, retired wartime aircraft mechanic of Vancouver, BC; Sister Gilberte Painchaud, Provinical Animateur of the Sisters of the Child Jesus in Canada, Vancouver, BC; Paul Oelkrug, Senior Curator of Special Collections, McDermott Library, the University of Texas at Dallas, and Dr. and Mrs. Wen Hsiang-lai of St Petersburg, FL. Jean-Claude Cailliez, Swiss aviation historian of Meyrin, Switzerland, was extremely generous with his information, and I also wish to thank him for his insights, encouragement, and the promotion of Ms. Lis story through the splendid website and journal that celebrate Genevas aviation pioneers, Pionnair-GE.com and La Feuille Volante.

The list of those who helped me with the story of Zheng Hanying is a long one. I am grateful for the assistance of the late Madame Song Meiling, and Dr. C.J. Chen, representative of Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington, D.C. The contributions of Cliff Dunnaway and Ian D. Johnson, both of the Hong Kong Historical Aircraft Association, were of paramount importance to my research, and I also very much appreciate the friendly assistance of the following individuals: Larry Y. Wong, curator, Chinese Canadian Military Museum, Vancouver, BC; Dr. Henry Yu, Chinese Canadian Historical Society, Vancouver, BC; How Lee, president, Chinese Canadian Military Museum Society, Vancouver, BC; Steve Evans and Peter Olivieri, Aero Club of British Columbia; Robert Morrison, president, Canadian Military Remembrance Society (CMRS), Burnaby, BC; Colin Macgregor Stevens, manager, and Kelly Stewart, archivist, of Irving House/New Westminster Museum and Archives, New Westminster, BC; Michael DesMazes, RCAF historian; Tom O. Moore, Jr., CNAC history preservationist at cnac.org; Thierry Montigneaux of the Fdration Aronautique Internationale; Sylvie Grondin, technicienne en gestion de documents et archives, Htel-de-Ville, Montral, PQ; Hogan Loh, Hong Kong Aviation Club, Hong Kong, China; Barry Rolfe, Royal Aero Club, London, UK; Marquise Tessier and Ragnhild Milewski, National Film Board of Canada; Peter Chen, Director, Information Division, Taipei Economic & Cultural Office, Vancouver, BC; B.L. Riddle, Librarian, Royal Aeronautical Society, London, UK; David Walker, Strathcroix, St Andrews, NB; Terry Hadley, Manager of Communications, Vancouver Board of Trade, Vancouver, BC; Lynn Waller, archivist, City of Richmond Archives, Richmond, BC; Bev Tallon, photo archivist/editor, Western Canada Aviation Museum, Winnipeg, MB; and Paul Lasewicz of the IBM Corporate Archives. I am most grateful to Maurice Guibord, Museum Programs Coordinator of the Burnaby Village Museum, who has worked to ensure the achievements of Flt. Lt. Zheng receive proper recognition.

The staff and collections of the following archives, libraries and organizations have been of invaluable assistance to me: Burnaby Public Library, Bob Prittie Branch, Burnaby, BC; Oceanview Cemetery, Burnaby, BC; City of Vancouver Archives, Vancouver, BC; City of Richmond Archives, Richmond, BC; British Columbia Archives, Victoria, BC; National Library of Canada, Ottawa, ON; University of British Columbia Libraries, Vancouver, BC; Vancouver Public Library, Vancouver, BC; Bibliothque de Universit Laval, Ville de Qubec, PQ; Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ; Auckland City Libraries, Auckland, NJ; San Francisco Public Libraries, San Francisco, CA; University of Washington Libraries, Seattle, WA; Alabama Department of Archives, Montgomery, AL; Salt Lake City Libraries, Salt Lake City, UT; Philadelphia Public Libraries, Philadelphia, PN; the Manuscripts and Archives division of Yale University Library, New Haven, CT; Hong Kong Public Libraries, Hong Kong, China; and the Shanghai Library Institute of Technical Information, Shanghai, China.

I must reserve my deepest thanks for the following individuals who gave me their utmost assistance.

Ronald K. Chen, J.D., of New Jersey, was remarkably forthcoming with memories and photographs of his grandmother, Hilda Yaqing Yan. His colorful and beautifully etched recollections of Ms. Yan gave me a vibrant impression of her free-spirited individuality. Dr. Doreen Chen, Hildas daughter, was also kind enough to share her memories with me, and I am most grateful for her generosity and patience.

Pax Cheng, son of Li Xiaqing, and his wife Susan, graciously welcomed me into their home in Hercules, California, and put at my complete disposal the incredible archive of Ms. Lis papers, photographs and ephemera that had been safely buried underground in Hong Kong for decades, without which the bulk of her amazing story would have remained untold. Through his father, Zheng Baifeng, Mr. Cheng is also related to the aviatrix, Zheng Hanying, and although he had no knowledge of the young flyer, he was able to share with me many recollections of his grand aunt, the astonishing Dr. Zheng Yuxiu, who was undoubtedly the most formidable influence in the lives of so many young people, and in particular, that of her niece, Flight-Lieutenant Zheng.

Although I was only partly successful in tracking down the family of Zheng Hanying, I am extremely grateful to Mrs. Peggy (Wong) Lee of Vancouver, BC, who vividly remembered Ms. Zheng and was able to supply me with much information that otherwise would have remained unknown to me. Mr. Leigh Seto, the son of Ms. Zhengs estranged lover, Wilfred, was kind enough to share with me what he knew of Ms. Zhengs involvement in his familys history, and he generously contributed photos of his father and stepsister.