Arnaiz Aviation History

Tan, Erica Niña

Transportation Management ClassSubmitted to :Prof. Josefino T. Larena CPS,CPE,MPA

Arnaiz Aviation

Who is Antonio Somoza Arnaiz?

Antonio Somoza ArnaizAntonio Arnaiz was born to a Haciendero family of the Somoza/ Rubio Clan prominence in Bais, Negros Oriental. He studied at the Dallas Aviation School.

In 1936, Colonel Arnaiz, together with Juan Calvo, made the pioneering Manila- Madrid flight, a first in Philippine aviation, now known as the ‘Arnacal Flight’. When they returned to the Philippines, the two were promoted to Lieutenant Colonels in the new Philippine Army Air Corps by President Manuel L. Quezon.

In 1937, Antonio was selected to become the King Consort to Maria Carmen Zaldarriaga, at the Manila Carnival celebrations. 

They were soon married and begot five children. Antonio earned a doctoral degree in aeronautics engineering and served as the Vice President and Director of the Philippine Aviation Corporation.

Upon his death in 1979, the old Pasay Road was renamed Arnaiz Avenue, in his honor. This road crossed Makati Avenue and Paseo de Roxas, once the runways of Nielson Airport, from where Antonio Arnaiz took off on an adventure that earned him a place in Philippine aviation history.

BAIS CITY: Home of Col. Arnaiz

 La Planta Hotel and Restaurant Bais City

Casa Lita Bais City

Arnaiz Aviation History

Old Pasay Road in Manila was renamed to Arnáiz Avenue in honor of Don Antonio S. Arnáiz, who was a pioneering, early aviator and national hero in the Philippines. While America had Charles Lindbergh, the Philippines had Antonio Arnáiz and Juan Calvo!

Sadly, the proud history of early aviation in the Philippines is largely forgotten nowadays, save for the founding of Philippine Air Lines (now known as the Philippine Airlines/PAL), which was the first commercial airline in Asia. Few people are aware of those great, early aviators who became heroes in the Philippines, Spain, and throughout Asia for their pioneering efforts.

The most important of these triumphs were the historic Madrid-Manila flight of Spanish pilots Captain Joaquín Lóriga y Taboada and Captain Eduardo Gallarza y González, of the Spanish Royal Flying Corps, and the reciprocal "Arnacal" Manila-Madrid flight of Filipino aviators Don Antonio Arnáiz and Don Juan Calvo.

The start of the Madrid-Manila flight on 8 April, 1925. Capt. Eduardo Gallarza prepares to board his Breguet Type 19 biplane, the "Legazpi". 

The "Legazpi," ironically the only of the Breguets to survive the journey, leaves Macau for Aparri, Philippines on 12 May carrying Capts. Lóriga and Gallarza.

Portugal provided assistance in this great endeavor -- the Portuguese Navy also offered to station its cruiser "Republique" in the South China Sea in support of the Spanish aviators as they made the long overwater flight between the Portuguese colony and the Philippines. After experiencing numerous close calls with disaster, Capts. Lóriga and Gallarza arrived in Manila on 13 May, 1925, completing the historic flight.

Capts. Joaquín Lóriga (left) and Eduardo Gallarza (right) following their arrival in the Philippines, with some society women.

The two aviators were welcomed as heroes amid shouts of "Viva España", "Viva Filipinas", "Viva Lóriga" and "Viva Gallarza" by the crowds of Manileños gathered to greet the arrival of the "Legazpi," which featured the flag of the Philippines on the left side of its fuselage.

At the Luneta, the pilots laid wreaths at the foot of the Rizal monument, as a symbolic gesture. A similar ceremony was then held at the monument to the explorers Legazpi and Fr. Urdaneta, which was followed by an even larger one at the Manila Cathedral, where a choir of a hundred men and women sung a dedicatory hymn especially composed for the occasion by Prof. Trápaga. 

Capts. Lóriga and Gallarza with Philippine literary figures and 1926 Premio Zóbel laureates Manuel Bernabé (left) and Jesús Balmori (right)

In the days that followed, Capts. Lóriga and Gallarza were feted and honored by many of the country's leading business magnates (including tycoon Don Enrique Zóbel y de Ayala and media mogul Don Alejandro Roces y González, who brought the pilots to Baguio;

aristocrat-cum-insurance industry titan Don Antonio Melián y Pavía, whose El Hogar Filipino led the effort to have streets in Metro Manila named after the pilots;

and Secretary of the Casino Español de Manila Don Antonio Ossorio, who brought the pilots to the shrine of Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje at the old Antipolo Church), prominent literary figures and scholars (including 1926 Premio Zóbel laureates Jesús Balmori and Manuel Bernabé; and Dr. Rafael Palma),

and politicians (including Mayor Miguel Romualdez, Governor Filemón Pérez, Councilor Francisco Beech, Consul General Emilio de Motta, House Speaker Manuel Roxas, former President Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, presidential aide-de-camp Manuel Nieto, and President Manuel L. Quezón).

Prior to the two Spanish aviators' leaving the Philippines, Capt. Lóriga paid a wonderful tribute to their well-wishers in the country (translated from the original Spanish): 

You, Spaniards, voluntarily expatriated, who have known to create in the midst of this hospitable country a home in which burns perpetual the sacred fire of the country, become a part of the great Spain extended over a chain of twenty sister republics and are the soldiers, unknown yet unforgotten, in that great crusade for the spiritual union of these lands, which at one time formed a gigantic empire fighting under a single standard. ¡Viva Filipinas!, ¡Viva America! y ¡Viva España!

Tragically, Capt. Joaquín Lóriga died less than a year later in a plane crash in Spain. All of Manila was saddened by the terrible news. His death is said to have caused considerable grieving in the Spanish community in the Philippines -- especially among those of its ladies who became very close to their dashing heroes from Spain

It was nearly eleven years later when, in 1936, a proposal for a Manila-Madrid flight finally took shape. A Filipino salesman for the Manila Trading and Supply Co. enrolled in flight training at the Valeriano School of Aviation named Juan Calvo approached his instructor Antonio Arnáiz with an idea for a Manila-Madrid flight, which he had conceived several years earlier.

Arnáiz was receptive to the idea, and the two began the planning for it shortly thereafter. Don Antonio Arnáiz was a young, but capable, pilot who had trained at the Dallas Aviation School in the U.S. He belonged to a prominent hacendero clan from Bais, Negros Oriental and was able to obtain from his family the funds needed to purchase a Fairchild 24 plane.

With the help of real estate broker Don Federico Calero y Ortíz, Jr. (father of legendary Filipino advertising executive Don Javier José "Jay Jay" L. Calero, a cousin of Vázquez-Prada family), the two aviators recruited publisher Carlos P. Romúlo as a backer for their ambitious endeavor. However, they needed additional funding and ended up securing it from Arnáiz family friends and associates in Baís. 

Having secured money for the venture, Antonio Arnáiz returned to Manila on 17 May, 1936 to supervise modifications to the Fairchild required for the trip at Nielson Airport with Juan Calvo. By the end of the month, they were ready for their record-breaking flight to Madrid. 

On 27 May, 1936, Mayor Juan Posadas broke the traditional champagne bottle, christening their Fairchild 24 as the "Commonwealth of the Philippines."

At dawn of Friday, 29 May, Antonio Arnáiz and Juan Calvo climbed into the Roosterpit of the "Commonwealth of the Philippines" and took off at 5 AM following an exchange of waves between the pilots and the crowd of well-wishers gathered at the edge of the airfield.

They arrived at Hong Kong late in the afternoon, having braved poor weather conditions (and lacking radio equipment) to become the first Filipino pilots to cross the China Sea. In Hong Kong, they were greeted enthusiastically by prominent members of the Filipino community (including Antonio's brother Don Ricardo Arnáiz) and also by a number of Americans and Britons. 

The two Filipino pilots finally reached Spanish soil on 11 July, arriving at Barcelona. The Mayor of Barcelona presented Antonio Arnáiz and Juan Calvo keys to the city and welcomed them with a banquet at the mayoral palace. From there, they took off for Madrid and arrived at 5 PM, completing their historic journey and first-ever goodwill flight by Philippine aviators, dubbed the "Arnacal Flight."

Antonio Arnáiz and Juan Calvo with Juan's father Col. Juan Calvo, Sr. (center) 

Antonio Arnáiz and Juan Calvo were commissioned as Lieutenant Colonels in the new Philippine Army Air Corps by President Manuel L. Quezón (center) following their arrival back in Manila on 8 September, 1936.

They were welcomed as heroes back home in the Philippines and honored with countless receptions. Juan Calvo went on to a career with the Iloilo-Negros Air Express Co. (INAEC), which was founded by the powerful López family.

The Valeriano School of Aviation would eventually expand to become the Philippine Islands Aviation Corporation and selected Don Antonio Arnáiz to serve as Vice President and Director.