Antonio Somoza Arnaiz was a pioneering Filipino aviator born in Bais, Negros Oriental. In 1936, along with Juan Calvo, he completed the first Manila-Madrid flight, making them national heroes in the Philippines. Upon their return, they were promoted to Lieutenant Colonels in the new Philippine Army Air Corps. Later in life, Arnaiz earned a doctorate in aeronautics engineering and served as Vice President and Director of the Philippine Aviation Corporation. After his death in 1979, Old Pasay Road in Manila was renamed Arnaiz Avenue in his honor.

1. Arnaiz Aviation History
Tan, Erica Niña
Transportation Management Class
Submitted to :
Prof. Josefino T. Larena CPS,CPE,MPA

2. Arnaiz Aviation

3. Who is Antonio Somoza
Arnaiz?

5. Antonio Somoza Arnaiz
Antonio 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.

6. 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.

7. BAIS CITY: Home of Col. Arnaiz

8. La Planta Hotel and Restaurant Bais City

9. Casa Lita Bais City

11. 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!

12. 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.

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

15. 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.

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

17. 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.

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

19. 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).

20. 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!

22. 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

23. 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.

24. 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.

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

27. 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."

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

29. 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.