Ryan Aeronautical Company St

Single Piston

The Ryan ST is a classic American tandem-seat trainer from the late 1930s, built by the same company that produced Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis a decade earlier. Designed as a rugged primary trainer and sport aircraft, the ST featured an open cockpit, fixed tailwheel landing gear, and a Continental R-670 radial engine producing around 125 horsepower. Ryan built roughly 1,000 examples between 1934 and 1942, with many serving as civilian trainers before being pressed into military service as PT-21 and PT-22 variants during World War II. The type earned a reputation for honest handling and forgiving flight characteristics, making it ideal for ab-initio students transitioning from ground school to solo flight. Its low-wing configuration and radial engine gave it a distinctive profile compared to contemporary high-wing trainers like the Piper Cub. Today the Ryan ST is a prized warbird and vintage aircraft, valued by collectors for its historical significance and spirited aerobatic capability. The type's robust steel-tube fuselage and fabric-covered wings have allowed many airframes to survive into the 21st century, often restored to immaculate condition for airshows and fly-ins. SkyMeter has tracked flights across airframes and operators, with the largest observed operator.