Wong Tsu (王助) 1893-1965 Boeings first engineer who designed the first financially successful aircraft

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wong_Tsu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Model_2

Wong Tsu (1893 – 1965) was born in Beijing, China. At the age of 12, he was selected as a naval cadet, and at 16 he was sent to England to study naval engineering, then to the U.S. to study aeronautical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Graduating in 1916, he learned to fly at the Curtiss Flying Boat School in Buffalo, New York. He was then hired by the fledgling Boeing aircraft company and designed its first product, the Boeing Model C, more than 50 of which were acquired by the U.S. Navy. In 1917, after two years at Boeing, he returned to China where he became chief secretary of the airline China National Aviation Corporation. When the Kuomintang government was defeated in the civil war, Wong went to Taiwan where he became professor of aviation at Cheng Kung University.

During his lifetime, Wong is believed to have had a hand in designing 30 aircraft. In 2004, at a time when it was hoping to increase its ties to the Chinese aviation industry, Boeing unveiled a plaque and exhibit at its Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington, honoring his work as its first engineer.

In the U.S. his name is sometimes inverted to Tsu Wong, to put the family name last.

(摘自香港《大公报》 作者：丁 香)   参观波音公司航空博物馆要买门票，老人优惠一点。我在该馆不仅看到了该公司的发展历史，从初创时期的工具设备、劳动生产状况，到以后不同时代的飞机 产品。特别意外的是，我惊喜地发现该公司第一任总工程师竟然是中国人，名王助(Wong Tsu)。而且展出了他的照片、简历、平面雕像，显示其重要的历史地位。

　　王助(一八九三至一九六五)，十六岁到英国从事海军研究。六年后，到美国麻省理工学院研究宇航工程，毕业后，一九一六至一九一七年在波音公司任 总工程师。后因回国离开该公司，一九一八至一九三一年在福州海军制造飞机处任主任处长，一九三一至一九三四年任中国航空公司工程师，一九三四至一九三八年 调入空军任中央杭州飞机制造厂监理，一九三九至一九四六年调任空军航空研究院副院长至退休，一九四六至一九四七年任中国航空公司机航组副主任，一九四七至 一九五○年任中国航空公司主任秘书，直至公司解散。最后到台湾成功大学。

　　波音公司如此详尽地展出王助事迹，联系在其它地方还见到的一些事例。使我一再感到中国人的聪明才智，为创造美国历史作出过多方面的贡献。不少地方尚留有类似的历史记录，也说明美国人民没有忘记这些中国人。