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The Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR is a wire-braced, low-wing monoplane, with open cockpit seating for two.
The Ryan ST or 'Sport Trainer' was designed by T. Claude Ryan who had founded the Ryan Aeronautical Company that
was more or less the successor to Ryan Airlines, the firm who had built the Ryan NYP 'Spirit of St. Louis'.
In 1930, T. Claude Ryan had opened a flying school in San Diego which became the Ryan School of Aeronautics on 5 June 1931.
As he was not entirely content with the bi-plane training aircraft available at the time, he designed the Ryan ST or
'Sport Trainer', a low-wing monoplane with two tandem seats in open cockpits. On 8 June 1934. the Ryan ST flew first
at Lindbergh Fields. Instead of the usual wooden construction that was mostly used at that time, the ST was built
predominantly of metal. The entire fuselage consisted of elliptical steel bulkheads covered with an aluminium skin.
The externally braced wings used a combination of steel tube and solid spruce spars, aluminium ribs and, apart from
aluminium sheet leading edges, were fabric covered. Fabric also covered the metal framed control and tail surfaces and
the fixed main landing gear was fully enclosed in streamlined fairings. Deliveries of the Ryan ST began in 1935, and
over the years the model was evolved into the ST.3KR (Kinner Radial) model that was fitted with a Kinner R-5 engine.
Production rates of the Ryan ST models remained low for several years, but this changed in 1940. That year was Ryan
one of three companies selected to produce primary trainers for the USAAC’s great expansion of the period. Ryan's
initial military type was the PT-16 modelled on the civil STA but finally the Ryan ST-3KR model became the basic
military model of which more than 1,000 military versions were built during World War II. The USAAC / USAAF designations
for the Ryan aircraft were PT-16A; PT-20; PT-21 and PT-22 Recruit. The US Navy designation was NR-1 Recruit. Total
production of civil and military aircraft prior to the entry of the United States into World War II amounted to 315.
Another 1,253 military versions were produced in 1942 and 1943, for a total of 1,568 aircraft of all models. Two-thirds
of all Ryan ST trainers were built for the US Army Air Corps / US Army Air Forces and the US Navy. The biggest export
customer turned out to be the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), which needed a basic trainer when war broke out in
Europe in 1939 and it's pilots could not reach the Netherlands for training. In 1940, therefore an order was placed for
84 STM-2 landplane and 24 STM-S2 floatplane trainers.
The ICAO Aircraft Type Designator for the Ryan ST.3KR is RYST.
The 1941-built Ryan ST.3KR (PT-21-RY) s/n 1127 G-AGYY / 27
is one of the top pieces under the oldtimers that are based at Hoogeveen airfield in the Netherlands. The aircraft
was built in 1941 by the Ryan Aeronautical Corporation and entered service with the United States Army Air Corps as
'41-1967'. In 1946, the '41-1967' was withdrawn from military service and finally sold on the civil market and registered
N56793. On 15 June 1983, the Ryan ST.3KR was registered G-AGYY in the UK. In 1997, the Ryan was sold in the Netherlands
and registered with the Trustee of: Nostalgic Flying on 27 June 1997. At that time, the aircraft was already based at Hoogeveen
airfield. On 5 August 2003, the registered name of the Trustee changed to: Dutch Nostalgic Wings.
On 21 February 2021, Ryan ST.3KR
(PT-21-RY) G-AGYY, painted in U.S. Army Air Corps '27' colors, was seen at Hoogeveen airfield in the Netherlands. |
