Photograph of Robert Shun Wong at Parks Air College dedicated to his sister Winnie

Robert Shun Wong posing on an aircraft at Parks Air College in East St. Louis, Illinois.

Wong showed a passion for flying from an early age, building model airplanes and taking flying lessons in high school. He pursued a Bachelor of Science degree in Maintenance Engineering at Parks Air College in East St. Louis, Illinois -- the first federally certified school of aviation in the U.S. -- graduating in 1940. Just shy of attending his graduation ceremony, Wong was called upon to serve as a flight engineer for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, training pilots for the Royal Canadian Air Force out of an Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) based at Windsor Airport from 1940 to 1944 as part of the war effort. After the war, Wong and his brother Tommy co-founded and operated Central Airways out of Toronto Island Airport.