A snapshot of early avation in the Philippines
In Bonifacio Global City, the first American aviators in the Philippines set up shop in 1912
The diary of Vernon Burge (1888-1971), a pioneer aviator in the United States Army Air Corps, has this interesting vignette for February 4, 1912:
Arrived Manila early morning. Went into dock about 7:30 a.m. Left transport at 9:00 a.m. and took carimetta [carromata] to Signal Corps post. Very pretty city. Fine quarters. Met several Signal Corps boys I knew. Annual carnival in progress. Big doings. Witnessed parade and aeroplane flight made by Lee Hammond, Baldwin aviator. Expect to go to Ft McKinley tomorrow. Native are queer set, wearing scarcely any clothes; women smoke same as men in the streets. Very shiftless.
He didn’t seem to like it here at first. The entry above is a prelude to what would turn out to be a history-making flight during the Manila Carnival of that year. See The Incredible True Story of The First Filipino Airplane Passenger:
In February 1912, to cap off that year’s Manila Carnival celebrations, Gov. Walter F. Hare brought to the city a group of 120 tribesmen all the way from their humble abode in the Mountain Province. Hare, who was in charge of the Philippine tribes, arranged the trip supposedly to give the indigenous people “a closer look at the huge bird that they had seen soaring with a man.”
However, news reports published later on revealed Hare’s true intentions: he wanted “to impress upon the savage tribes the absolute supremacy of the Americans.” For him to accomplish this goal, however, he needed the help of the aviator Lee Hammond.
The American pilot was in Manila to perform a series of flying exhibitions. He had been flying in the carnival for nine days when Hare convinced him to let one of the tribesmen join him in a flight.
The lucky one turned out to be Gagaban, an Igorot chief. On February 12, 1912, the brave Filipino accepted Hammond’s invitation to fly with him. Before Gagaban, no other native had ever flown as a passenger.
The aircraft that would carry out the historic flight was a “Red Devil” biplane designed by pioneer balloonist Thomas Scott Baldwin. Of course, a milestone such as this wouldn’t be complete without the much-needed photo op. An American photographer immortalized the Igorot chief by capturing a photo of him while sitting at the controls.
Other tribesmen were also delighted to pose at the camera. With the pilot and the passenger already seated on the plane, the tribesmen raised their weapons and acted as “if in pursuit of the plane carrying away their chief.”
According to accounts, Hammond and Gagaban “sat on the open in the forward edge of the lower wing, the engine facing backwards behind them.” The whole Igorot tribe probably felt uneasy as they witnessed how the American aviator took their chief on a “fast ride across the exhibition grounds” and up to 1,500 feet.
For his part, Verge had arrived in Manila to be part of a flying school to be set up first in Fort William McKinley (now privatized as BGC) and later in Corregidor. This in turn brings up an interesting aspect of flight history in the Philippines.
See Connection of Wright Brothers Plane to Philippines Aviation History:
The shipment of the “Wright Model B” plane was part of the plan by the U.S. Signal Corps to start a flying school in the Philippine islands. Lt. Frank P. Lahm, an American aviation pioneer and the U.S. “first military aviator”, who was in the Philippines with the 7th Cavalry Regiment, was assigned to operate the flying school on Fort William McKinley grounds near Manila. “Wright B” made its first flight in the Philippines on March 21, 1912.
