Nadine Hwang

Nadine Hwang, also recorded as Nadine Huong, was one of the first Chinese women to fly an aircraft and one of the notable pioneering female pilots of early twentieth century Chinese aviation. Born in Madrid in 1902 to a Chinese father and a mother of Belgian background, she learned to fly small aircraft and went on to serve with the Chinese Air Force, where she held an honorary colonel rank, an unusual position for a woman in a military aviation service of that era anywhere in the world. She also served under the warlord Zhang Zongchang, which earned her the nickname the Amazon of the North, reflecting both her flying skill and her visibility within warlord-era Chinese military circles. Hwang's life crossed multiple countries and roles, from her Spanish birthplace to her flying career in China, and her documented service as an honorary colonel places her among the small number of women who held recognized rank in an air force during the interwar period, making her part of the wider history of women entering military and civil aviation before it became more common in the decades that followed.