Feng Ru

Feng Ru (; 1883–1912), also known as Fung Joe Guey , was a pioneering Chinese aviator and aircraft designer.

Life and career Born in Enping, Guangdong, Fung moved to the United States at the age of twelve, living and working in various parts of California before trying to settle in San Francisco in 1906, the year that the San Francisco earthquake struck. The earthquake spoiled his plan and sent him fleeing to Oakland. Fung was fascinated by the Wright Brothers' plane and because he was always interested in machinery, one of the first things he did after arriving in Oakland was to organize Guangdong Air Vehicle Company, an airplane manufacturing company, only a few years after the Wright Brothers' Kitty Hawk flight (1903).

Within two years of founding the company in 1908, Fung constructed his first airplane, a sesquiplane with an upper span of and lower of , powered by a engine of Fung's own construction.

On September 22, 1909 (several newspapers report the date as Tuesday, September 21, 1909) Fung was the first Chinese man known to fly in America (and first aviator of any nationality to fly in California and the West Coast of the United States). He had constructed his own biplane, improving on the Wrights' blueprints. Fung flew in a wide circle, despite the harsh winds; after twenty minutes, however, the bolt holding the propeller to the shaft snapped off, and he was brought to a stop, suffering only minor bruising. The flight was reported in several papers, including The San Francisco Call and the Oakland Tribune. He was accompanied by six Oakland residents and another biplane of his own design. However, on August 26, 1912, he was killed when his plane crashed during an aerial exhibition in front of 1,000 spectators at the , Guangzhou which was permanently shut down after the tragedy. One of Fung's workshops, where he designed and built parts of his biplane, was on a site that is now part of the Laney campus, near the heart of commercial Chinatown. The event was organized by Steve Lavoie of the Oakland Public Library and Lieutenant-Colonel Roger Glenn of Amelia Earhart Senior Squadron 188, Civil Air Patrol.

The book Dragonwings is partially inspired by Fung Joe Guey.