Capt. Moon Chin - A Legend lands in Shanghai
By Gao Ceng | 2012-10-21 | China Daily
A hero of Chinese aviation, Chinese American civilian pilot Moon Fun Chin was one of the
first, if not the first, to fly and chart the Hump in World War II, opening the way for the airlift to
resupply China by the Flying Tigers.
Though less known than General Claire Chennault's Tiger military pilots, Moon became famous
for carrying out dangerous rescues, evacuations and secret missions that other pilots refused,
both over sea and land.
He received four medals for heroism and distinguished service from the US Air Force, including
the Distinguished Flying Cross, and a citation from President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He also
flew the Hump.
And though the Flying Tigers are renowned for their heroism, few people are aware that the
China National Aviation Corp (CNAC) also regularly flew the treacherous 800-kilometer Hump.
Historian Liu Xiaotong writes in "Flying The Hump" (2005) that from August 1942 to 1943,
CNAC flew the Hump more than 9,546 times, delivering at least 100,000 tons of war materiel. It
lost at least 150 employees (pilots, crew and ground crew) and 46 aircraft.
Moon was CNAC's ace pilot and pioneer, the first in China to receive a commercial pilot's
license. He was the first to chart the Hump route in 1941 for the Chinese government. He mostly
flew passengers, meaning he had to fly especially fast because high altitude caused discomfort.
Superb flying skills were required, and he had them in abundance.
Capt Moon flanked by CNAC pilots
Starting as a mechanic, he eventually became a pilot, copilot, captain and eventually founder of
his own airline, Foshing Airlines in Taiwan, which he eventually sold.
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Inspired by Lindburgh
Born in Guangdong Province near Macau, he moved to the States when he was nine, living first
in Seattle, Washington, and then Baltimore, Maryland, with his Chinese American father and
Chinese mother.
Moon recently touched down in Shanghai during a visit for the opening of an aviation museum
in Beijing and spoke with Shanghai Daily in an interview, in person and by e-mail.
"I am Shanghai connected," said Moon, who now lives near San Francisco.
"My wife (Elsie) is Shanghainese. We got married in Shanghai (in 1936). If it hadn't been for
1949, when I realized that my house had been taken over, I would have stayed here," he said.
"I can still fly just about anything except jets," he said, chatting in the Aviation Lounge at The
Peninsula Shanghai. "I hope to be remembered as a person who enjoyed flying and always
wanted to fly."
And so he did. The boy was inspired by Lindbergh's solo, nonstop transatlantic flight in a singleseat, single-engine aircraft from New York to Paris on May 20-21, 1927.
"After that, most of the young boys wanted to fly, just like Lindbergh," Moon said.
Moon enrolled in the Curtiss Wright Flying School in Baltimore and graduated with a
mechanic's certificate and commercial pilot's license in 1932.
"I enjoyed flying so much. I was nervous until I got into the cockpit where I felt I was in control
and had a job to do," he said.
Because of discrimination against Chinese in the United States, Moon and many other Chinese
moved to China for aviation opportunities. But at first, due to discrimination in Chinese aviation
then dominated by Caucasian pilots, he remained a copilot, never a captain of his own aircraft. It
wasn't until the war against Japanese invaders intensified and most Western pilots left, that he
got his chance in his homeland.
"In the 1930s, the Americans were not hiring Chinese pilots. That is the reason many Chinese
pilots from Canada and the US went to China," Moon recalled. "Chinese also have the ability to
fly aircraft."
Captain Chin will be 100 in April. We wish him a big Happy Birthday in advance.
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