Ryan PT-22 Recruit

The Ryan PT-22 Recruit, the main military version of the Ryan ST, is a military trainer aircraft used by the United States Army Air Corps and its successor, the United States Army Air Forces for primary pilot training. It was the first monoplane that the Army had used for primary pilot training, as all previous PT aircraft were biplanes.

Design and development
The PT-22's fuselage is a simple monocoque structure, with thick gauge alclad skin. The wings feature spruce spars, aluminum alloy ribs, steel compression members, with aircraft fabric covering aft to the trailing edge and aluminum alloy sheet covering from the leading edge to the spar.

The PT-22 fuel system consists of a single tank mounted forward of the front cockpit. Fuel is gravity fed to the carburetor. The oil system is a dry-sump type, with all oil stored in a tank located on the front side of the firewall in the upper section of the fuselage. The wing flaps are mechanically operated from a lever located on the left side of each cockpit. Adjustable elevator trim is provided via an elevator trim tab controllable from a handwheel mounted on the left side of each cockpit. In its original configuration, the aircraft was not equipped with an electrical system. Hydraulic brakes are provided for each wheel, controllable via the rudder pedals in each cockpit.

In order to simplify maintenance, the wheel spats and landing gear fairings were deleted in the production examples

Operational history
In 1941, as the natural development of the earlier ST series, the PT-20 and PT-21 was the military production version of ST-3 with a total of 100 built as the U.S.A.A.C.'s first ab initio monoplane trainer. The rapid expansion of wartime aircrew training required new trainers, and the Ryan PT-22, essential similar to the PT-21, was ordered in large numbers. Named the "Recruit", it entered operational service with the U.S. Orders also were placed by the Netherlands, but were never realized as the nation capitulated to Axis forces. The small order of 25 ST-3s were redirected to the United States and redesignated as the PT-22A. Another order also came from the U.S. Navy for 100 examples. The PT series was in heavy use throughout the war years with both military and civil schools, but with the end of the war, was retired from the U.S.A.A.F.

Variants

 * PT-22:Military version of the Model ST.3KR powered by a 160 hp R-540-1, 1,023 built.
 * PT-22A:Model ST-3S twin-float seaplanes ordered by the Netherlands Navy powered by 160 hp Menasco D4B, ordered cancelled and completed for the United States Army Air Corps with 160 hp R-540-1 engines, 25 built.
 * PT-22B:Unbuilt project.
 * PT-22C:PT-22s re-engined with the 160 hp R-540-3, 250 conversions.

Operators

 * Ecuadorian Air Force
 * United States Army Air Corps
 * United States Army Air Forces
 * United States Army Air Corps
 * United States Army Air Forces
 * United States Army Air Forces

Aircraft on display

 * PT-22 "Recruit" (s/n 41-15721) is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force
 * PT-22 is at the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan
 * PT-22 is at the Robins Air Force Base Museum of Aviation in Warner-Robins, Georgia.
 * A PT-22 is on display at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.
 * A flying PT-22 is on display in the Port Townsend Aero Museum in Port Townsend, Washington.
 * A PT-22 is on display in the Vintage Flying Museum at Meacham International Airport in Fort Worth, Texas, awaiting an engine rebuild.
 * A PT-22A is on display at the New England Air Museum, located at Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
 * A PT-22, N9753N, flies regularly and is on display at the Commemorative Air Force Minnesota Wing, located at Flemming Field, KSGS, in South St. Paul, Minnesota.
 * PT-22 "Recruit" (s/n 41-26796) is on display at the Air Combat Museum in Springfield, Illinois.

Survivors
Several PT-22 remain in flyable condition worldwide, as the aircraft continues to be a popular sport plane and warbird. The first PT-22 prototype is flying at Old Warden, United Kingdom, as part of the Shuttleworth Collection, designated "001"