Ryan Aeronautical Company Pt-22 Recruit

Single Piston

The Ryan PT-22 Recruit was the primary trainer that taught thousands of American pilots to fly during World War II. Built by Ryan Aeronautical Company starting in 1941, the PT-22 was an open-cockpit, low-wing monoplane powered by a 160-horsepower Kinner R-540 five-cylinder radial engine. It served as the Army Air Forces' standard primary trainer alongside the Stearman PT-17, with over 1,000 examples delivered before production ended in 1942. The type was known for its rugged construction, forgiving handling characteristics, and distinctive radial engine sound that made it ideal for teaching basic aerobatics and military flying discipline to cadets fresh from ground school. The PT-22's design traced its lineage to the civilian Ryan ST sport trainer of the late 1930s, which itself descended from the company that built Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis. With a maximum speed around 125 knots and a service ceiling near 15,000 feet, the Recruit provided enough performance to prepare students for the transition to more powerful combat types while remaining docile enough for ab-initio training. Its tandem seating arrangement, with the instructor in the rear cockpit, became the standard configuration that influenced trainer design for decades. Today the PT-22 is a prized warbird among collectors and vintage aircraft enthusiasts, valued for its historical significance and relatively straightforward maintenance compared to later military types. Most surviving examples have been meticulously restored and appear at airshows across North America, where their radial engines and open cockpits evoke the era when these trainers filled the skies over fields from Texas to California. SkyMeter has tracked flights across airframes and operators, with the largest observed operator.