<figure class="image-550">
 <img src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-29/alfredo-carmelo.webp" alt="A vintage sepia photograph of pioneering Filipino aviator Alfredo Carmelo standing on an airfield tarmac in front of a biplane. He is wearing a flight jumpsuit, pilot helmet, and goggles, with his name painted in large white letters on the side of the aircraft fuselage." loading="lazy">
 <figcaption>Don Alfredo Carmelo standing proudly beside his personalized aerobatic biplane later in his legendary 40-year flying career. Even as an elder statesman of the skies, the "Dean of Filipino Pilots" continued to thrill spectators with high-flying stunts well into his late seventies.</figcaption>
</figure>


While many remember him simply as the first certified Filipino aviator, Carmelo lived a massive, multi-faceted life. He was a polymath who seamlessly conquered the worlds of heavy industrial printing, daredevil aerobatics, luxury sports cars, naval engineering, and fine art.

<h2>
An Illustrious Lineage and Early Fascination
</h2>

Alfredo Carmelo was born into a family of immense prestige and history. His father, Don Eulalio Carmelo y Lakandula, was a master artist-engraver who traced his direct ancestral roots back to <a href="/articles/3077/lakandula-pre-colonial-filipino-hero-and-leader-of-tondo" class="news_link">Lakan Dula</a>, the historic Rajah of Tondo who resisted Spanish colonization. In 1887, Don Eulalio partnered with German lithographer William Bauermann to found Litografia de Carmelo y Bauermann, which became the premier and most advanced printing press in the Philippines. Alfredo's mother, Doña Maxima Santisteban Casas, hailed from a prominent family with a deep military background.


Growing up wealthy, Alfredo attended elementary school at the <a href="/articles/2987/history-of-ateneo-de-manila-university" class="news_link">Ateneo de Manila</a> before transferring to the Liceo de Manila for rigid military training, later finishing his studies at <a href="/articles/2972/the-arrival-of-benedictine-monks-on-september-12-1895-the-historical-journey-of-san-beda-university" class="news_link">San Beda College</a>.


From childhood, two distinct obsessions dominated his mind:

<ul class="k-list">
<li>
The Sea: Frequent family steamship vacations fueled a grade-school fascination with naval vessels. Though he begged his mother to let him become a sailor, she refused, steering him instead toward fine arts - a move that unintentionally gave him a creative outlet to paint the ships he loved.
</li>
<li>
The Skies: During the early Manila Carnivals at the Luneta, a young Alfredo watched American exhibition pilots twist through the air, sparking a lifelong dream of flight.
</li>
</ul>
<h2>
The European Detour and the Outbreak of WWI
</h2>

Because his father passed away early in 1906, Alfredo was groomed to take over the family printing empire. In 1914, at just 18 years old, he was sent to Leipzig, Germany - the global heart of advanced printing technology - to master the trade of lithography (a method of printing using stone or metal plates).

While attending school and studying printing by day, Carmelo spent his weekends chasing his true passion. He befriended German military pilots, frequented the weekend air shows at Leipzig, and quietly enrolled in flying lessons at the famous Lindenthal Flugschule in Halle. He watched iconic German aviators pull off complex aerial maneuvers, cementing his fascination with stunt flying.


However, his European aviation dreams were abruptly halted. Later that year, World War I erupted across Europe, forcing a panicked Carmelo family to order him back to the safety of Manila.

<h2>
Conquering the Skies: The First Certified Filipino Aviator
</h2>

Back in the Philippines, Alfredo married Elvira Ullman in 1917, the granddaughter of Felix Ullman, founder of the famous luxury department store La Estrella del Norte. Despite his business and family responsibilities, the skies kept calling.


In <time datetime="1919-11">November 1919</time>, the Americans opened the country's first formal aviation school: the Philippine School of Aviation (also known as the Curtiss Flying School) under the instruction of American pilot Alfred Croft. Alfredo immediately signed up as a civilian trainee, joining a small, elite class of only six students.


Carmelo's natural affinity for mechanics and spatial awareness made him an absolute natural. To accelerate his training, he didn't just rent planes - he purchased his own Curtiss JN-4D "Jenny" biplane.


Just two months into his training, on <time datetime="1920-01-09">January 9, 1920</time>, Alfredo climbed into the cockpit of his plane alone. He successfully executed two historic solo flights over Manila Bay and Cavite without supervision. By doing so, he earned Pilot Certificate No. 1, cementing his place in history as the first licensed civilian pilot in the Philippines.


Alfredo didn't just settle for straight-line flying; he fell in love with aerobatics, which he famously described as the "real art of flying." He thrilled thousands of spectators at local and international air shows with death-defying spins, loops, and dives.


His aviation career spanned an astonishing 40 years. He actively flew stunt planes until he was 75 years old, and performed his final public air show during Philippine Aviation Week in 1976 when he was 80. His accolades include:

<ul class="k-list">
<li>
The Clarkins Trophy (1954): Awarded as the most outstanding pilot of the year.
</li>
<li>
The Commanding General's Cup: Awarded during the 36th anniversary of the Philippine Air Force.
</li>
<li>
San Diego Aerospace Hall of Fame: Nominated for his pioneering contributions to early Southeast Asian aviation.
</li>
</ul>

Alfredo Carmelo: The Dean of Filipino Pilots

Discover the incredible life of Don Alfredo Carmelo, the first certified Filipino pilot, pioneering businessman, and master marine artist.

July 8, 1896: Alfredo Carmelo was born in Manila