Serial Number

Model

Registration

Date of Manufacturing

ATC

Price (USD)

Engine

Propeller

Current Status

History

The airplane was first assigned to the Ryan School of Aeronautics, and then purchased on May 20th, 1935 by Ryan student, Peter Dana. He was enrolled in the Air Transport course. He purchased the Ryan as part of his “school supplies”.

Dana was the great grandson to Richard H. Dana, author of the book “Two years before the mast” and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It was the first ST ordered with a non standard (all silver) paint scheme. The special colour scheme Dana ordered was all silver with black trim as can be seen in the photographs. Dana made six crossings of the country in the ST, and one round trip from New Hampshire to Florida and return. On November 1, 1935 he experienced an engine failure, and made a dead stick landing just north of Plymouth, New Hampshire, and did some damage to the airplane. His first flight across the continent was from San Diego to New York in 25 hours, 40 minutes, a record for light planes with less than 150 hp. He also established a “tri Flag” record in the same airplane by flying from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, down the West Coast to Tijuana, Mexico on May 23rd, 1936 in 11 hours, 6 minutes flight time. He left Vancouver at 04:01 AM and landed in Agua Caliente, Mexico at 16:35 PM. He beat the previous record by 1 hour 13 minutes. The flight was 12 hours 34 minutes block to block. He repeated his transcontinental flight on July 18th, 1936, doing it in 22 hours, 6 minutes, a junior transcontinental record. Dana was 20 years old.

Most of its later life was spent in either leisure flying, or student training.

Dana finally traded the airplane in on March 22nd, 1937 to a Cessna dealer, in Brawley, California. Captain Dana was for many years one of the worlds best known airline pilots, earning respect unequalled throughout the industry.

Records indicate the California Flyers purchased the Ryan in August 1937.

They used it for student training and rental. Sometime in July 1942 it was sold to Tufts – Edgecombe. Inc. A flight school operating out of Sky Harbour Airport, in Northbrook, Illinois.

On September 24th, 1943 Lieutenant Dudley Whitman of Miami Beach, Florida purchased it. At the time it had a colour scheme of silver wings, polished fuselage, and the rudder painted in Air Corps red, white and blue. The spinner and cowl were red.

Sometime in 1944 a half share of the plane was sold to a friend, William Pawley.

Both Men were Army Air Corps, and stationed in the area. The used it strictly for pleasure.

In early 1946 Pawley was slipping in for a landing at Browns Airport south of Miami, and encountered trees on an undershoot, and crashed. He was not hurt, but the plane received substantial damage.

In the summer of 1946 Zacheray M. Cocca purchased two “cracked up” Ryan ST-As, and this aircraft was one of them. He rebuilt it in the summer of 1947, and flew it up to Lehigh Aircraft in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he based it.

It was sold again on May 27th, 1949 to Fred Caravetta and Miss Lorelle Lynch, of Mount Vernon, New York. One photo shows it based at Miller Field, Staten Island, New York in 1949.

Its eventual fate is unknown, final disposition is unknown, and it could still exist.

The papers were sold to Glenn Moore for use on the first plans built ST replica, built from the drawings of Ev Cassagneres

Ownership History

• Ryan School of Aeronautics, San Diego, California;

• Peter Dana, Holderness, New Hampshire;

• Unknown name of Cessna Dealer, Brawley, California;

• California Flyers, L.A. Municipal Airport, Los Angeles, California;

• Tufts- Edgecombe Inc., Pal – Waukee Airport, Des Plaines, Illinois;

• Lt. Dudley Whitman, Miami Beach, Florida;

• William Pawley, partner with Whitman; Zacheray M. Cocca, Homestead, Florida;

• Fred Caravetta and Miss Lorelle Lynch, Mt. Vernon, New York.

Current Ownership

See Data Sheet 103R (Replica Section)

Papers and identity sold to Mr. Glenn Moore, (Deceased 2009) of Burgaw, North Carolina.

Identity and S/N currently attached to Replica Ryan ST-A N14910, S/N 103R owned by Mr. James L. Ireland, Fort Worth, Texas.

Notes

Currently attempting to locate relatives of last known owners to verify eventual disposition of the airframe.

Registry cancelled 10,19,1955

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