Ryan ST

The Ryan ST, short for Sport Trainer, was a series of two-seat, low-wing monoplanes built in the United States by the Ryan Aeronautical Company. It was the first design of the company that T. Claude Ryan founded in San Diego, and its development began in 1933. The aircraft had two open tandem cockpits, a semi-monocoque metal fuselage and wings of mixed metal and wood construction covered in fabric. The first example flew in June 1934 and the early civil models were powered by Menasco inline engines. The design was sold as a sport and aerobatic aircraft and then widely as a trainer, serving flying schools and the air forces of several countries, from the Netherlands East Indies and China to Latin America, before it was redesigned around Kinner radial engines and built in large numbers for the United States as the PT-21 and PT-22 Recruit. Production of all models reached 1,568 aircraft.