William A. Ong, known to all as Bill, was one of the first Ongs I heard anything about as a child, of course excluding my immediate family, my Ong grandparents and various other uncles and aunts. We knew of him as the "Ong Airlines" man, since indeed that was one of his many ventures. It was amusing to us that our obscure family name had an airline named after it, even if Ong Airlines was not exactly a household name. My father had somehow procured a timetable which he had tucked into one of his copies of "Ong Family of America.
Much later I acquired two of his books and learned more about his fascinating career in and around airplanes, especially in his memoir, "Ride The High Wind - An Adventure Story of Flying in the 1920's" (1979, Pilot News Press).
Bill Ong was born in Lacon, Illinois on 28 December 1902, the child of Judson W. Ong, Jr and Mercedes E. Armitage Ong. He was apparently named after his maternal grandfather William Armitage. Here is his "About the Author" biography from the dust jacket of his WWII study "Target Luftwaffe - The Tragedy and the Triumph of the World War II Air Victory" (1981, The Lowell Press):
"Following his first solo flight in 1927, Ong won recognition by barnstorming and air racing throughout the Midwest. From 1929 through 1936, he held the position of sales manager for Rearwin, Inland, Waco and Beech, all manufacturers of civil aircraft. Charter member of the Professional Racing Pilots Association, he flew in six Thompson Trophy Races during the '30s , and in 1946 returned to Cleveland to win a trophy in a P-51D.
"In 1937, Ong founded his own company, Ong Aircraft Corporation. When World War II began, Ong, a Captain in the Army Air Corps Reserve, was operating flight schools at seven Kansas and Missouri locations under the Civilian Pilot Training Program. By war's end, his company had trained approximately 10,000 Army, Navy and Air Force students without a fatality.
"In 1940, Ong was the principal founder and first president of the National Aviation Trades Association, general aviation's most respected voice in Washington.
"After the war, Ong was elected to the presidency of virtually every aviation-oriented organization in the Kansas City area and helped to found the national organization, Silver Wings Fraternity. In 1960, he was designated "Aviation Man of the Year" by the Midwest Region of the Air Transport Association. He then became active at the national and international levels, serving as U.S representative to the Federation Aeronatique Internationale, and as Vice-President, received its Paul Tissandier Diploma.
"Ong's love of speed, which took him into dirt track racing in the early '20s, surfaced again in the middle '50s when. his air racing days completed, took up sports car racing. Winning numerous trophies, he was elected Regional Executive of the Sports Car Club of America, Kansas City Region.
"Ong served two years as President of the National Aeronaticcs Assocaition and two years as Board Chairman, during which time he edited and published National Aeronatics magazine. He served on both the Collier Trophy Committee and was appointed to the College of Elder Statesmen of Aeronautics.
"During this time, he continued to operate Ong Aircraft Corporation, founded Ong Airlines, a Chicago-based feeder line, and turned his attention increasingly to writing. He became Associate Editor of the prestigious Flight Magazine and in 1963 was made a member of the Aviation/Space Writers Association. a prolific reviewer of aviation books, he also served as Contributing Editor to Pilot News, where his "Prop Wash" column appeared regularly. The Kansas City Star frequently carried his articles on many subjects. His account of flying in the '20s, Ride the High Wind, was published in 1979.
"In May of 1975, Ong was inducted in the Aviation Hall of Fame at Hammondsport, New York, as a outstanding aviation pioneer, statesman, and author."
The NATA, which now stands for the National Air Transportation Association and is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, honors the memory of its co-founder and first president through the annual granting of the "William A. "Bill" Ong Memorial Award" for extraordinary achievement and extended meritorious service to the general aviation industry. A list of recipients can be found here: http://nata.aero/Awards/Ong-Memorial-Award.aspx.
Bill was married for over 57 years to Esther Louise Hunter Ong, of whom he wrote:
"I do not think any other woman would have shared my erratic life with her understanding, her gentle consideration, and her unselfish devotion to me. She hated airplanes; well she might, for one of them took the life of one of her two sons.
"Yet never once did she protest or complain although dread uncertainty was a heavy cross for her small body.
"I have never won anything of importance in aviation, or in motor racing which I was doing in dirt track cars at country fairs when we met in Illinois. But no man has won a greater prize than her assent to marry me that hot summer day of August 18, 1921."
Bill and Esther's son Donald Hunter Ong also became in turn a prominent Kansas City businessman and many descendants of this branch of the family tree still live in the area.
Another website on aviation pioneers has a page on Bill Ong found here: http://petersonfield.org/people/ong_wa/index.php
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