Ryan ST - Operational History

Operational History

Most civil aircraft in the ST series were delivered in the United States, although a few were exported to South Africa, Australia and various countries in Latin America. An example of the ST-A was procured by the USAAC in 1939 for evaluation as the XPT-16. This was followed by 15 YPT-16s, the first time the USAAC had ordered a monoplane trainer. These were the first of more than 1,000 Ryan STs to serve the USAAC, its successor the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and the USN.

A large number of STMs were exported in the 1930s and early 1940s (prior to the entry of the United States into World War Two) to various Air forces, with the biggest customer being the military of the Netherlands East Indies (NEI, now Indonesia). The NEI Army and Navy took delivery of 84 STM-2s and 24 STM-S2s in 1940 and early 1941. Another 50 STM-2Es and STM-2Ps were exported to Nationalist China, while others were exported to Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua.

After the Japanese invasion of the NEI many Ryans in that country were pressed into combat, especially in reconnaissance roles, and large numbers were shot down or destroyed on the ground. Surviving STM-2s and STM-S2s that were not captured by the Japanese were shipped to Australia, where 34 entered service in the Royal Australian Air Force as trainers. Many of those that survived until the end of World War Two were then placed on the civil register in Australia and elsewhere, and some are still flying almost 70 years after they were built.